America’s Cup Boats: What it’s like helming an AC75

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Luna Rossa — August 22, 2024. America’s Cup boat (AC75) – Race Day 1 of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta. LUNA ROSSA PRADA PIRELLI TEAM

What’s it really like to helm an AC75 in the America’s Cup – and win a race? Francesco Bruni, the Italian Skipper for the 36th America’s Cup tells us how it feels…

Helming an America’s Cup boat: Sailing an AC75

The question came from Nathan Outteridge, himself a gold and silver Olympic medal winner and an America’s Cup veteran from 2013 and 2017, when his Artemis crew lost in the challenger series to Emirates Team New Zealand.

Outteridge voiced the thoughts of many when he posed the question to Italian Francesco Bruni after the last America’s Cup in 2021: “We all, as sailors, would love to do it! What does it feel like?”

The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli co-helm replied: “It’s a great feeling. I really feel all the Italians cheering for us, and that is great, but really I have to stay focussed on the next race and think race by race.

Prelim regatta - americas cup — August 21, 2024. AC75 – Official Practice Race for the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta. NYYC AMERICAN MAGIC, LUNA ROSSA PRADA PIRELLI TEAM

How to helm an America’s Cup boat: Stay Focussed

“We have a great chance, and we can’t waste time on thinking about emotions. We have to just be super focussed.”

“Yes there was a little bit of relief. There was a lot of talk about the New Zealanders being 5, 8, 10 knots faster. That was clearly not the case today and we are glad that we can just race and try to win this.”

Bruni added: “All the Italians are really happy with the result and I received a lot of messages. But we are not satisfied – we want more.”

Helming an America’s Cup Boat: Keeping Composure

Bruni’s co-helm in 2021, Jimmy Spithill, praised his Italian team after they lost the first start, saying: “We were on the backfoot and basically after that it was going to take a mistake from New Zealand for us to win that race, but on board I’ve got to say there was great composure from the guys, we had good damage control and kept it close.

“The ability to bounce back after that, that’s the important thing, we regrouped and went out and won the next race, so that’s a good sign of strength for the team.”

Emirates Team New Zealand AC75 helm Pete Burling dodged a suggestion that his starting prowess was in doubt, especially against the aggression of Luna Rossa co-helm Jimmy Spithill, saying: “We’re really happy with our build up to the event and everyone’s done a heap of practice in boat handling and how we want to approach the start.

“I think the margins on these boats are getting smaller and smaller so any losses [at the start] are obviously very hard to come back from.”

Peter Burling - Emirates — 10/03/21 – Auckland (NZL) Peter Burling of Emirates Team New Zealand Credit: Studio Borlenghi

“We did a good job with the first start and Luna Rossa probably kicked themselves for that one and we were vice versa on the second one. We made a small mistake on the roundup. We dug deep in that that last leg of the last race and closed things up but in the end we ran out of runway.”

He said: “It’s been a little while since we’ve been racing, so it was amazing to get out there to see how many Kiwis were out there on boats cheering cheering the event on and now it’s amazing to even look at the window now and to see how many are still slowly working their way home.

“We’re very happy to get off to a good start in that first race. And then obviously, didn’t do the best job on the start in the second one and gave these guys a pretty handy lead, which we couldn’t quite reel back in.”

He praised the AC75 technical team, saying: “You can’t count the amount of changes [to the boat] on your hands and toes. There was plenty and I’m sure they will keep improving it and we’ll keep improving throughout this event as well.”

Spithill added: “It was must have been the biggest fleet of spectators I’ve seen out there, which was really cool to see.”

How to Watch the America’s Cup

The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona is free to watch on land, water and screen! So whether you’re able to get out to Barcelona to watch the action first hand, or are tuning in from across the world, you won’t miss a thing. Race days start at 2pm (14:00 CEST) and continue until 4:30-5pm depending on the schedule.