"It's
mostly him against me," said Peterson (10/04/02) (sources
:
CNN)
Following the official press conference, Peterson
said he, syndicate head Patrizio Bertelli and other
syndicate members clashed openly on Thursday, and he
threw doubt on Bertelli's assertion that his removal
was a team decision.
"I don't think there's much voting in the Prada organisation,"
he said.
Hours earlier Bertelli had explained Peterson's departure
to media: "Doug Peterson has not been fired, he simply
does not hold any longer the position of Design Team
Director. This is a unanimous decision that was carefully
evaluated within the team."
He said the decision was not related to Prada's poor
form in its first race.
Peterson, who designed Louis Vuitton Cup winner Luna
Rossa for Prada in the 2000 regatta, was reluctant to
elaborate on his conflict with Bertelli.
"It's mostly him against me," Peterson told a press
conference. "I don't think there's turmoil in the team.
It's a very strong team and, like I said, they're fighters."
Doug
Peterson and Prada part company (10/03/02) (sources
:
NZ
Herald&
stuff.co.nz)
In a two line statement, Italian syndicate Prada,
defending champions in the America's Cup challengers
series, said that Cup-winning boat designer Doug Peterson
was no longer part of their team.
Peterson, 57, designed yachts which won the America's
Cup for the United States in 1992 and New Zealand in
1995 and led the design project which made Prada the
challenger champion in 2000.
Prada's statement just said : "Effective from today
Doug Peterson is no longer design director of Prada
Challenge 2003 and no longer holds any operative role
within the team".
Prada head, Patrizio Bertelli told a packed media conference
in Auckland Peterson had been demoted but it was not
because the team's two-boat campaign was performing
poorly.
Bertelli said the decision to demote Peterson was due
to differences of opinion between Peterson and the team
over the boat development programme. "We keep enjoying
a very normal relationship (with Peterson)," he said.
Bertelli said Prada team members still dined and socialised
with Peterson and he was welcome to go to sea on the
team support boats. "He is not involved in the design
process any more," Bertelli said.
He said the decision to demote Peterson from his position
as design director was unanimous. "It was something
we had been thinking about for quite some time now,"
Bertelli said. "The decision had not been due to
a clash".
Within the design team, just Peterson had designed and
modelled the boats, Bertelli said. But the design team
was united, sharing the same purpose, and there was
no need to appoint a single new director right now.
"The whole design team is going to develop the boats,"
he said.
Asked about rumours of structure problems to Prada's
second boat ITA-80, due to heat when it was brought
across the equator, Bertelli said he had never heard
that rumour before.
Responding to earlier speculation about New Zealand
helmsman Gavin Brady's future with the team, Bertelli
said there was absolutely no disagreement about the
sailing team, and who was going to steer and sail during
races.
Gavin Brady, 29, wasn't among the Prada leadership
group for the first race. Rod Davis, an American-born
New Zealander, steered the Italian boat in the pre-start
and skipper/helmsman Francesco de Angelis drove throughout
the 18.5 nautical mile race.
Brazilian Torben Grael called tactics, Michele Ivaldi
sailed as strategist and Matteo Plazzi as navigator.
The same tactical group has been named for the second
match against Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes representing
the New York Yacht Club. .
Speculation surrounds the future of New Zealand yachtsman
Gavin Brady in the Prada syndicate following his omission
from the crew .
"The rumour is just a rumour," press officer Alessandra
Ghezzi said. "Gavin is still working with us, he hasn't
left the team and he hasn't been fired." But Ghezzi
did confirm that 28-year-old Brady was reviewing aspects
of his contract.
Alessandra Ghezzi said the contract review was not the
reason for Brady's omission from yesterday's crew, or
from the crew named for today's postponed race against
Stars and Stripes.
Brady had mostly been at the helm of Prada's second
boat ITA-80 during preparation for the Louis Vuitton
Cup, and the team were using their first boat ITA-74
in the first round robin series, she said.
Brady raced in Paul Cayard's AmericaOne team at the
2000 America's Cup regatta and was in the New Zealand
Challenge of 1995. He has been leading helmsman for
Prada in international match racing in the past year.
Prada
is now one of the little Team (09/18/02) (source
: CNN)
Two years have passed since the Italian syndicate
Prada emerged from a war of attrition to challenge for
the America's Cup.
But time has marched on and new syndicates have moved
into vacant team bases along Auckland's Syndicate Row,
bringing with them the financial support of some of
the world's richest men. Prada's budget, talent and
expertise, which were impressive two years ago, have
now been duplicated or even superseded by teams to which
money is no object.
The money that has flooded into the Cup has bought time
and resources. The new benchmark syndicates, particularly
Alinghi of Switzerland and Oracle of the United States,
have been able to create much larger development programs
than before.
Prada has been eclipsed, to a degree, but they remain
America's Cup trendsetters. As winners of the challenge
series last time, they have started at the highest level
challengers can reach and have had the advantage of
continuity in intervening years.
But the field against them is stronger, a fact acknowledge
by Prada's astute operations director Laurent Esquier.
"I think there are mainly two factors," Esquier said.
"The first is that Team New Zealand's knowledge or Kiwi
expertise in the whole fields of boat design, sails,
masts, appendages and good boat handling is now spread
around more broadly, particularly among the American
and Swiss teams. Some teams have benefitted greatly
from the experience of the last winning team".
"The second factor is that there are now many more
teams with the proper funding which has allowed them
to hire good people early. Last time there were only
one, two or perhaps three teams which were able to start
a full-blown design program. This time there are probably
seven. The aces are spread more evenly."
Esquier said the upcoming Cup had to be viewed as an
event quite separate from the previous regatta.
"A great deal of progress has been made," Esquier said.
"For teams like ourselves it would be a mistake to think
this Cup is simply another chapter to add to the last
Cup. "This is a totally new game. At the moment there
is a lot of posturing, a lot of frivolity, a lot of
gaming. But you have to forget that. One rule applies.
A slow boat has never won the America's Cup."
New
Website for Prada Challenge (09/04/02) (source
: Prada)
The Prada Challenge relaunched its web site with
a new design.
Definitely faster than the former flash pages, the more
streamlined and user-friendly design will provide up-to-date
information and dynamic photography for America's Cup
fans.
Luna
Rossa ITA 80 is launched (08/28/02) (source
: Prada)
With a private ceremony Luna Rossa ITA 80, the
second new America’s Cup Class yacht built by Prada,
was launched today at the Auckland operations base.
The launching ceremony began at 10.00am with the ritual
blessing of the boat performed by Father Bernard Kiely,
parish priest of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Auckland.
It was Miuccia Prada’s turn, then, to officially christen
Luna Rossa by smashing, as per tradition, a bottle of
champagne across the bow.
Luna Rossa ITA 80, covered by heavy skirts to mask the
appendages and the shape of the hull, was lowered at
sea to allow the whole crew with Francesco de Angelis
and Patrizio Bertelli to step aboard and hoist the Yacht
Club Punta Ala burgee.
ITA 74, which has been sailing in Italy, has just arrived
by ship to New Zealand.
Training at sea in the Hauraki Gulf is scheduled to
commence at the beginning of September.
ITA
80 will be launched in Auckland tomorrow (08/27/02) (source
: NZ
Herald)
Luna Rossa ITA 80, arrived last week by Plane at
the Auckland airport will be officially launched at
a christening ceremony in the Prada Challenge on August
28.
The arrival of the other ITA 74 Luna Rossa (who was
loaded on board the container ship C/S Nobility) in
New Zealand is expected soon.
Once there, the boats will start the final phase of
her preparation for the Louis Vuitton Cup races, scheduled
to get underway on October 1st.
