ML opens its Portoferraio HQ (11/14/01)
 (source : nautica.it)
Last week, Italian's Mascalzone Latino Challenge has leased headquarters in the Chancery development in Auckland's central business district. The second Italian entry in the cup will bring between 70 and 100 people here and occupy a 600 sq m office floor above Zarbo and across the road from the Ascott Metropolis apartment tower, where the crew and support staff will stay.

Today, Vincenzo Onorato threw his Portoferraio (Elba Island) HQ for Mascalzone Latino Challenge open to the media today. At this occasion, it's for the first time mentionned that the building Team is working to built the new boat, designed by Giovanni Ceccarelli, who is to be delivered on april 2002.
 
 Busy season for Paolo Cian (10/16/01)
 (source : mascalzonelatino.com)
Paolo Cian, Mascalzone Latino skipper, will be competing on the international match race tour from march 2002 until the beginning of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

First destinations, are Australia and New Zealand in march where the Paolo Cian will be representing the second Italian America's Cup Challenge in the Sun MicroSystems Australia Cup 2002 (that will be held in Perth from the 12th to the 17th March) and in the Steinlager Line 7 Cup (that will be held in Auckland from the 19th to the 24th March).

The second stage of the tour will be on the old continent from March until July 2002. Italian Skipper will try to conquer the Elba Cup (in Portoferraio in march), the ACI Cup in Croatia (that will be held in Split from the 26th to the 31th May), the Pedrini Cento Cup in Italia (that will be held in Gargnano from the 13th to the 17th June), the Blurimini Cup (that will be held in Rimini from the 6th to the 9th June) and, final stage of this campaign, the trofeo challenge Trombini in Ravenna from the 10th to the 15th July.
 
 Flavio Favini takes the Vascotto place (10/08/01)
 (source : mascalzonelatino.com)
Winner of six World title in different classes (Minitonner, J22, Quarter Tonner, 6m SI and, the last, Mumm 30 and IMS 50' in 2001) and of the '95 Admiral's Cup as skipper, the Italo-Swiss skipper joins the Mascalzone Latino America's Cup team as tactician.

He will be tactician of the team, place that was originally part of Vasco Vascotto who rencently "divorced" of Vincenzo Onorato.
 
 "Incompatibilities" in the Team Onorato (09/18/01)
 (source : mascalzonelatino.com)
Over the past couple of weeks there have been rumours that Vasco Vascotto had been fired from the Mascalzone Latino team.

Today, Vincenzo Onorato - Skipper and president of the challenge as the owner - publishes a Press release in wich he confirmed the presence of incompatibilities with the former tactician for Paul Cayard's Il Moro di Venezia syndicate in the 1992 Cup.
 
 First outings for Mascalzone Latino X (07/02/01)
 (source : mascalzonelatino.com)
First outings in the warm Tuscan waters for the former Bravo España-ESP-47 (rechristened Mascalzone Latino X) today.

During the summer, all team will be working away from the base in Portoferraio (Elba Island) with Vasco Vascotto, Paolo Cian, Alberto Fantini , Jacopo Bagnaschi, Santino Brizzi, Michele Paoletti, Pierluigi Fornelli, Antar Vigna, Francesco De Vita, Andrea Ballico, Carlo Castellano, Maciel Cichetti, Federico Michetti, Davide Scarpa.
 
 Onorato unveils Mascalzone Latino (05/21/01)
 (source : yahoo.it & Pegis, le 21 mai 2001)
"We are serious, and having fun". It's the slogan selected to aim high with a challenge rigorously "made in Italy". Objective: The America's Cup, casting an all-Italian team, from the crew, to the boat, to the management. Even the sponsor, TIM, the only wholly Italian mobile telecommunications company.

Today in Milan, the adventure of Mascalzone Latino has started, the Italian team that will take part in the XXXI edition of the tournament that has as a prize the legendary America's Cup. "For years we have thought of yachting as being exclusively the preserve of foreigners, we are an all-Italian team with something that can't be bought: determination and a desire to achieve", said Vincenzo Onorato today in Milan. Skipper and president of the challenge as the owner, Onorato has chosen as the name of the team the title of a song by a songwriter, like himself, from Naples. "

They approached us for the first time only four months ago, and we immediately found it very interesting", explained Marco de Benedetti, finance director of TIM, sole sponsor of the Italian America's Cup challenge - "an important adventure which we are convinced will be another Italian success story".

For TIM, which for three years has been sponsoring the soccer Series A league, and the league cup this entails another substantial involvement in the sporting world, a considerable portion of the 400 Billion lire (USD 180M) which the telecoms company (7.929 Million Euro turnover in 2000) destined towards sponsorship and advertisement every year. Advertisements which, as chance would have it, have used the sailing theme for some time. .
 
 New name for Mascalzone Latino ? (04/21/01)
 (source : yahoo.it)
A new America's Cup rumors about the second italian challenge, leaded by Vincenzo Onorato. It seems that the Mascalzone Latino, former ESP-47, could be rechristened TIM (as Telecom Italia Mobile ?).

No confirmation for this time...
 
 Introducing Mascalzone Latino (02/22/01)
 (source : faravela.net)
At a press conference today at the Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia di Napoli, Vincenzo Onorato announced that the Second italian Challenge has now been accepted.

Oronato also introduced his crew, which will include :

- Paolo Cian (skipper),
- Vasco Vascotto (tactician),
- Alberto Fantini,
- Antar Vigna,
- Andrea Ballico,
- Carlo Castellano,
- Santino Brizzi,
- Maciel Cicchetti,
- Davide Scarpa,
- Jacopo Bagnaschi,
- Francesco De Vita,
- Federico Michetti,
- Miki Paoletti
- Pierluigi Fornelli.

The Design Team will be conducted by Giovanni Ceccarelli and include Marco Savelli and Francesco Cruciani (sails).
 
 Oronato Challenge is well-engaged (12/06/00)
 (source : Yahoo.it)
Monday morning, the first training boat for the Oronato Challenge for the America’s Cup has arrived at Portoferraio (Italy) on the Isle of Elba (between Italy and Corsica) from Cartagena (Spain). The Oronato syndicate purchased Bravo España, the spanish challenger boat that compete the next Louis Vuitton Cup. The IACC, soon to be renamed "Mascalzone Latino X", will be used as a training boat in Italy in preparation for America’s Cup 2003.

Vincenzo Onorato revealed many details of his well-engaged challenge.

The second italian Challenge race crew for the America’s Cup includes Vasco Vascotto, tactician on Mascalzone Latino-Yasuda Kasai during the IMS Worlds, and Paul Cian, one of the best italian Match Racer.

On the design side, Onorato has secured the services of Giovanni Ceccarelli, whose boats have won IOR and IMS regattas the last two decades. He also designed the two 52-footers that were used to sail the Nations Cup match-racing event off Trieste, on the Adriatic coast of Italy.

The headquarters of the challenge will be Portoferraio, on the Isle of Elba between Italy and Corsica. This is Onorato's current home and headquarters for Moby Lines. But the challenging club will be Reale Yacht Club Savoia (from his hometown of Naples).

Vincenzo Oronato said that the Cup budget is now sufficient and that the Team have secured the former Watchout base, in Auckland’s Viaduct Basin. However, he hasn't officially announced a campaign and says he's "at the end of the feasibility stage".
 
 Oronato launches a new italian Team (10/22/00)
 (source : Nautica On Line)

Like the Prada Challenge, Vincenzo Onorato from Naples revealed many details of his planned italian challenge yesterday In the Genoa International Boat Show.

Onorato, 42, has a successful racing career that began in 1978. Earlier this year he finished second in the Farr 40 division at GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race Week and sixth at the Boats.com Farr 40 World Championship. Last year he finished runner-up at the Farr 40 World Championship and was also part of the European Team that finished second at the Admiral's Cup. He owns the shipping company Moby Lines, which operates a fleet of ferryboats in the Mediterranean Sea and tugboats working in harbors around the world.

Although Vincenzo Onorato said he's still studying the viability of a syndicate, his syndicate has purchased a very good training boat, Bravo España 2000 (ESP-47), soon to be christened Mascalzone Latino ("Latin Rascal")

.On the design side, Onorato has secured the services of Giovanni Ceccarelli, whose boats have won IOR and IMS regattas the last two decades. He also designed the two 52-footers that were used to sail the Nations Cup match-racing event off Trieste, on the Adriatic coast of Italy.

Onorato tried to sign a 100 % italian crew (with Luca Devoti, Finn Silver medals in Sydney) but he said "in Italy, there aren't many sailors capable to cover the role of skipper in an America's Cup syndicate" (Tommaso Cheffi - tactitian of Il Moro di Venezia in the 1992 America's Cup ? Vasco Vascotto - tactician on Mascalzone Latino-Yasuda Kasai during the IMS Worlds if he can't raising the money to build his own campaign ?).

The headquarters of the second Italian challenge will be Portoferraio, on the Isle of Elba between Italy and Corsica (with 3 challenging clubs : Yacht Club Savoia di Napoli, la Lega Navale di Portoferraio and Yacht Club di Olbia.