From the Monsoon Cup to his Future in Match Racing: Francesco Bruni Outlines his Vision

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing Team may not be in the reckoning to win this year’s ISAF Match Racing World Champion crown however that has not dented the ambition of this inspirational Italian to win the second most prestigious prize on the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) - the Monsoon Cup.

“The Monsoon Cup is the most prestigious event on the World Match Racing Tour and we want to win it to prove our worth. That is why we are participating in it.”

The WMRT took the chance to sit down with Francesco Bruni to hear his views on the Monsoon Cup, who he thinks will win the ISAF World Match Racing Tour this year and what the future holds for him and match racing.

You are currently in 7th place on the standings ISAF WMRT. Will you consider this season a success if you win the Monsoon Cup?

Bruni: "We have decided to participate because we want to close the season by participating in the event that is the most prestigious of the entire season-we want to prove our worth".

The top five teams in the current standings (Richard, Minoprio, Ainslie, Mirsky and Williams) are all in with a chance to win the ISAF World Match Racing Championships?? this year. Who do you think will win it and why?

Bruni: "I don’t think Richard will miss this opportunity and I hope he doesn’t. He has never won the Match Racing World Championship - he has finished 2nd and 3rd before, and this would be the proper recognition for a very successful season. He had a dip in the middle of the season which allowed other teams to come back into the fight for the championship, but Richard has the experience to win. I’ll be cheering for him.”

Francesco Bruni on day 2 of Portimao Portugal Match Cup 2010. Portimao, 24 June 2010. Photo copyright Gareth Cooke / Subzero Images

What are you and your team’s plans for the future in the WMRT?

Bruni: "I don’t know exactly what my future will be, but I want to stay competing on the WMRT. Team Azzurra has decided not to participate to the America's Cup and I hope that my future will still be in the America’s Cup. The America's Cup is a match race and the WMRT is always the best battlefield in match racing”.

Young sailors such as Adam Minoprio, Torvar Mirsky and Phil Robertson (and as we saw in Bermuda, the young American Taylor Canfield) are performing well on the WMRT circuit. Do you feel the quality of competition in the WMRT has increased over the last few years?

Bruni: "The level of competitiveness has certainly increased. The WMRT is a great mix of experienced and young sailors who are dedicated to match racing. In recent years, young sailors have won more and more - that is positive. Despite the young age of many of the sailors, the level of professionalism in the WMRT is very high. "

The WMRT recently announced several big changes and plans for the WMRT, such as an increase in prize money, a target to add six new venues to the Tour calendar by 2013 and a new boat design plan. What is your opinion on these changes and do you feel these will benefit the Tour?

Bruni: "Increasing the winning prize will make the WMRT more exciting and interesting. It is also less costly now for us as a team. As for new venues - there are venues that have invested so much and others less so, so this is a positive strategy that will improve the overall Tour venues. Those who have invested less in the past will see what additions are required."

What are your views on the announcement made by the America's Cup and do you feel this will impact at all on the future of the WMRT?

Bruni: "For me, the WMRT will live its own life because it is a circuit that is now very successful regardless of the decision of the America's Cup. The WMRT format is working very well and is very addictive. On top of this the Tour has a huge global audience"

Video: Highlights from day 3 of the AUDI Medcup Sardinia Trophy

Highlights from day 3 of the AUDI Medcup Sardinia Trophy. Cagliari, 23 September 2010. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Early Exit for Ainslie and Gilmour at Danish Open

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] Three time Olympic Gold medalist Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN and four time Match Racing World Champion Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing were among the big name casualties who were sent packing from the Danish Open today, effectively ending their dreams of winning the ISAF World Match Racing Tour Championship.

Both skippers were resigned to the fact that the Championship probably lies beyond their grasp having lost out on valuable points as reigning Champion Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, Tour leader Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra marched into the semi-finals which are set to be completed tomorrow morning.

With just three flights of qualifying remaining to be completed this morning and 7 skippers still in with a chance of making the semis there were always going to be some big names facing an early exit. Ainslie and Gilmour both went into the morning’s matches with a fighting chance of reaching the semis and faced up to each other in their opening match of the day.

Highlights from day 3 of the Danish Open. Bornholm, 11 September 2010. Video copyright WMRT

It was the experienced Gilmour who came out on top giving the Australian hope of making the semi-finals in Denmark for the second year in a row. However, both Gilmour and Ainslie lost their next matches dashing any chances they had of making it through to the knock out stages.

A disappointed Ainslie said, “In terms of the Tour and doing well we have to face that we’re probably out of it. We had a chance in all three of our races this morning but just couldn’t get into gear and get any speed. It’s been a really frustrating day but we have to take it on the chin. We’ll be at the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda (Stage 8 of the WMRT) and have a good history there so will just have to see how we sit going into the final event in Malaysia. We love being on Tour and match racing is excellent for practicing our skills.”

Gilmour, who reached the semi-finals in Denmark last year said, ”We came into this morning thinking we’d need two wins out of three and when we won against Ben we had a real chance, but we let Mirsky off the hook in the next race. He had a penalty in the pre-race start and we gave a weak one back. It's very noticeable how the standard has improved on the Tour. It’s not so much at the top but more with the rest of the field. In the past you knew you were going to have a few easy matches before the knock out stages. Now every race is a battle.”

Minoprio topped the standings at the end of qualifying which gave him the right to choose his opponent for the semi-finals, opting to take on Italy’s Francesco Bruni, who had not been in action in the morning having completed his qualifying flights on Friday.

With two flights of the first to three point semi finals taking place this afternoon, with the remaining matches being staged tomorrow ahead of the final, Minoprio’s decision to take on Bruni appeared to pay off as he opened up a 2-0 lead. In the other semi-final Richard looked to increase his strangle hold on the championships as he opened up a 2-0 lead over Mirsky.

Speaking after the day’s racing Richard said, “It has been a very good week for us so far. In the past we’ve led the Championship at this stage and then fallen away. This time we are not thinking about our ranking. We are just taking each race one by one and focusing on racing. We have improved technically this season and have a lot more experience now. We’ve been together a long time and it all seems to be working well.”

Semi-final standings
Adam Minoprio leads Francesco Bruni 2-0
Mathieu Richard leads Torvar Mirsky 2-0

Standings at the end of qualifying for Danish Open
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 9-2
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 9-2
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 8-3
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 8-3
Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team 6-5
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 6-5
Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 5-6
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 5-6
Mads Ebler (DEN) Ebler Matchracing 4-7
William Tiller (NZL) Full Metal Jacket Racing 4-7
Suzanne Ward (DEN) Team Ward 1-10
Michael Buckley (USA) MB Sailing 1-10

Italy's Francesco Bruni Takes Pole Position at Danish Open

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] Italy’s Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra, was in red hot form on day two of qualifying for the Danish Open and leads the charge for semi final places with a record of 8 wins and 3 losses, but with 3 flights to complete tomorrow morning and 7 skippers still in with a chance of qualifying the battle for the semis is wide open.

Bruni, who carried a 3-2 record over from yesterday got off to winning ways with victory over reigning ISAF World Match Racing Tour Champion Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing and followed that up with a win against Peter Gilmour YANMAR Racing. Bruni then bounced back from a loss to current ISAF World Match Racing Tour leader Matthieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing to win his three remaining races of the day.

Speaking after his amazing sequence of wins Bruni said, “It was an incredible day for us and everything seemed to work well. We’re in a strong position with 8 wins but I remember in St Moritz we thought we had done enough but didn’t go through. The competition is so tough you can’t take anything for granted.”

Francesco Bruni in perfect on the second day of the Danish Open. Bornholm, 10 September 2010. Photo copyright Loris von Siebenthal / WMRT

Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team was also on form winning all three of his races to post a 7-1 record, while Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing and Adam Minoprio are the next closest challengers with 6 wins and 2 losses each.

Home Success

Home favourite Mads Ebler (DEN) Ebler Matchracing pulled off a stunning victory over triple Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN, leaving the Englishman among the chasing pack fighting for a berth in tomorrow afternoon’s semi-finals.

“Winning over Ben was amazing for us. We try to go into every race treating everyone the same but it’s not everyday that you beat a legend like Ben, so it was a very good day for us. Ben tried to push us into an attack ahead of the start, luckily we were able to gybe in time. We got away from him at the start and were always ahead then,” said Ebler.

Classic Duel

While Friday saw calmer winds for the sailors there was no let up in intensity on the water with crews pushing themselves and their boats to the limits. Veteran World Champions Peter Gilmour and Bertrand Pacé rolled back the years with a classic fierce duel which saw the pair clash twice.

The first incident came at the first leeward mark which saw Gilmour penalized for not giving Pace room to round inside his line. Seconds later Pacé incurred his own penalty as the windward boat not keeping clear. With Pacé holding the advantage on the final approach to the finish Gilmour made a last ditch attempt to snare the Frenchman which ended in disaster as his spinnaker made contact with Pace’s backstay which cost the Australian another penalty and with it the match.

Earlier in the day the 50 year-old Gilmour collected the honour of ‘play of the day’ in a clash of the generations as he took on 20 year-old qualifier William Tiller. Having lost his first match against Richard, Gilmour was facing down the barrel of a second straight loss, with Kiwi Tiller leading down the final run. But Gilmour maintained the attack right to the end, gybing to sit on Tiller’s wind and roll over the top of him five lengths from the line.

Best of the Rest

Ben Ainslie will need his best form in his three remaining races tomorrow to secure a place in the semis having won 2 and lost 1 of his races today, leaving him with a 5-3 record. Sweden’s Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team also still has a chance to qualify, finishing the day on a 5-3 record.

Despite 2 wins today Ebler is unable to qualify for the semis along with 20 year-old William Tiller (NZL) Full Metal Jacket Racing who showed his huge potential racking up four victories today. It was a day to forget for Mike Buckley (USA) MB Sailing, yesterday’s surprise winner over Matthieu Richard, as he lost all 8 races. Denmark’s three time Olympic sailor Susanne Ward (DEN) Team Ward scored her first win of the day against Buckley but finished with a 1-10 record.

Tomorrow sees the last three flights of the qualifiers and the start of the knockout semi-finals, in which the first teams to score three points will go through to the finals on Sunday.

Standings at the end of day 2 of qualifying for the Danish Open
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 8-3
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 7-1
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 6-2
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 6-2
Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 5-3
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 5-3
Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team 5-3
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 5-6
Mads Ebler (DEN) Ebler Matchracing 4-7
William Tiller (NZL) Full Metal Jacket Racing 4-7
Suzanne Ward (DEN) Team Ward 1-10
Michael Buckley (USA) MB Sailing 1-10

AUDI Medcup - Cartagena Trophy - Day 4: When the going gets tough Emirates Team NZ get going

I often refer to Emirates Team New Zealand as the "world's best monohull sailing team" and as a result I have received quite a few emails asking when was the last World monohull sailing championship held because they seemed to have missed it. Obviously, such a kind of world championship has never been held but if there was the slightest doubt about ETNZ it was surely dissipated in today's two races.

Saturday was a very tough and testing day with rough seas and strong breeze, reaching 25 knots. The schedule called for a windward/leeward race, followed by a 22-mile long coastal race. Emirates Team NZ showed their excellent form and dominated the fleet by scoring two bullets. I don't remember how many time I must have repeated this but they just sailed flawlessly while their yacht was "flying" in the fresh breeze. Not only did they win both races but the disastrous coastal race for Team Origin gave them the opportunity to leap to first place overall in the regatta. Team Origin where around the middle of the fleet in the reaching leg but after rounding the small rock island off the coast they broke their forestay and had to sail the rest of the race with just the mainsail on. The crossed the finish line inside the port in last position, certainly not the result they wanted in a race with weight 1.5 times.

I was onboard Matador in the coastal race and I have to admit it wasn't an easy ride. We got completely soaked 4-5 times, the waves were unforgiving and just avoiding falling doing was a demanding exercise. As a result, unfortunately, I had to put a premium on securing my gear over taking spectacular photos or video.

Riding the waves onboard Matador. Cartagena, 28 August 2010. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The coastal race for Matador could be very well summed up in two sentences. The first one was voiced by Francesco Bruni, after rounding the mark at the end of the long upwind leg in second position behind Emirates Team New Zealand, and it was "The shore is good". Indeed the shore proved to be very good for Matador. The Italian brainpower onboard the Argentinean boat, Francesco Bruni and Vasco Vascotto, took the bold decision to part from the rest of fleet and go as close to the shore as possible. Not only did they find very strong breeze, I saw up to 25.5 knots in various occasions as we were almost touching the rocks, a positive current of almost 2 knots propelled them ahead to second place.

Unfortunately, the reaching leg to the small rock island of Las Palomas wasn't as successful and that's where the second sentence comes. Matador is an Argentinean boat and as a result, even if the long term tactical discussions are in Italian and the maneuvers are in English, Spanish is the prevailing language onboard. So, the second sentence that summarizes the coastal race on Matador is "El kukú cost us two places". As we were approaching the island, Matador were defending their second place but Artemis and Bigamist had threateningly closed in and were ready to grab every opportunity Matador would give them. Bruni and Vascotto had decided the next move was to do a peeling and go for "El kukú". As I was told after the race, "El kukú" is the nickname the crew has for a particular A3 gennaker they have. Unfortunately, sloppy crew work meant the gennaker couldn't come down, 2 minutes of furious yelling and shouting took place and when the gennaker was finally down, Artemis and Bigamist were ahead. Matador crossed the finish line frouth

Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy - Day 4
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 4+2+5+4+3+1+1,5= 20,5 points
2. TeamOrigin (GBR), 3+1+3+2+1+3+16,5= 29,5
3. Matador (ARG), 1+4+1+5+8+5+6= 30
4. Artemis (SWE), 5+6+2+10+4+6+3= 36
5. Quantum Racing (USA), 9+5+6+3+7+2+7,5= 39,5
6. Bribón (ESP), 7+11+4+1+10+4+12= 49
7. Luna Rossa (ITA), 2+7+9+6+2+9+15= 50
8. Synergy (RUS), 8+3+7+11+6+7+10,5= 52,5
9. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), 6+8+11+8+9+10+9= 61
10. Bigamist 7 (POR), 11+9+8+9+11+11+4,5= 63,5
11. Cristabella (GBR), 10+10+10+7+5+8+13,5= 63,5

Video: Onboard Francesco Bruni's yacht in the Korea Match Cup

Onboard Francesco Bruni's yacht in the race against Johnie Berntsson in the Korea Match Cup round robin. Jeongok Marina, 11 June 2010. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Francesco Bruni wins the Congressional Cup

[Source: Congressional Cup] Francesco Bruni and his team Azzurra crew squeezed the last bit of breath out of the 46th Congressional Cup Saturday to outsail Gavin Brady, 2-1, and deny the four-time winner an unprecedented fifth Crimson Blazer in the only Grade 1 Open match racing regatta in the United States.

Instead, it was the affable Italian who donned the traditional prize after reveling in a champagne shower and a proper dunking at the dock that blew off the tension of a hard-earned victory.

"We were very scared, especially after the score was one to one," Bruni said, fearing that Mother Nature would rule the day beyond all of his sailing skill.

Unusually capricious conditions for the venue bedeviled the four semifinalists with a simmering offshore Santa Ana desert breeze arriving at 18 knots from the east. Later, after one round of racing parallel to the sand-blown beach, the wind switched to 150 degrees onshore from the southwest but dropped to 7 knots.


Azzurra, an Italian team with America's Cup ambitions, hung tough, although pushed to the limit of three races by defending champion Johnie Berntsson in the semis and by Brady in the final.

Bruni will share his $10,000 prize with his crew of Tom Burnham, tactician; Ben Durham, main sail trimmer; Pierluigi De Felice, trimmer; Pietro Mantovani, pit and trimmer, and Matteo Auguadro, bow.

"We worked hard to win it," said Bruni, who lost 2-0 to Berntsson in last year's title match. "We weren't very focused … and this year we were this close to losing. We're really happy."

The title turned on another reversal of the Long Beach norm: the left side of the course was favored. Before each of their three starts Bruni and Brady fought hard for that privilege in last-minute luff-ups below the line, and the boat that started to leeward with a direct shot at the pin end of the line won every race: Bruni by six seconds, Brady by 2 minutes 22 seconds and Bruni again by 1:29.

In the first final match Brady, who had eliminated Bill Hardesty 2-0 in the semis, even forced a foul on Bruni, but the latter built enough of a lead by going left to drop his spinnaker and do a penalty turn around the pin at the finish.

"It was all about winning the left," Bruni said.

Eric Monnin of Switzerland won the fleet race around the harbor the competitors who failed to reach the finals

Francesco Bruni Sweeps Into Semis Of The Congressional Cup

[Source: Congressional Cup]Azzurra team skipper Francesco Bruni from Italy won five races to join defending champion Johnie Berntsson and four-time winner Gavin Brady in Saturday's semifinals, as Bill Hardesty of San Diego slipped into position to claim the fourth slot.

In the steadiest breeze of the week, 8-12 knots from the southwest, the springboard for Francesco Bruni (ITA) was a morning hearing that cost Johnie Berntsson (SWE) his bid to keep Wednesday's apparent win over the Italian in the runaway mark incident.

Instead of sinking to 6-5, Bruni then beat Berntsson in the re-sail by a comfortable 27 seconds after Berntsson's sluggish start, then dispatched, in order, Switzerland's Eric Monnin, Wisconsin's Sally Barkow (USA), Italy's Simone Ferrarese and Hardesty to sit at 11-4, two points behind Berntsson and Brady, now tied at 13-2. Brady beat Iehl by 15 seconds in the other re-sailed match.

None of that ruined Hardesty's 2-2 day but likely just delayed his clinching the last semifinal slot. At 9-6, the first-time Congressional Cup skipper needs only to win two of the last three matches of the double round robin against non-contenders Friday, even if fifth-place Dave Perry (USA), 8-7, sweeps his remaining slate. Hardesty owns the tiebreaker with his win over Perry in their second match.

Following his 5-1 record a day earlier, Hardesty opened Thursday by dealing Brady only his second loss of the week. Later he overtook France's Damien Iehl in a flag-waving, come-from-behind frenzy that got Iehl disqualified when he failed to do any penalty turns after two quick side-by-side fouls downwind.

The on-water umpires, showing little patience, flew first one, then two blue flags - Iehl's ID colour - then a black one in the array. Despite slipping to fourth place behind Bruni on the day, Hardesty was happy with that. "We just wanted to be in the top four," he said.

Berntsson, the week-long leader, pushed Brady hard but carried a pre-start penalty into a decisive skirmish at the windward mark. Brady broke off their luffing match and brushed the mark as he fell off to round it. That offset Berntsson's foul, but the latter remained stalled for several seconds until Brady was gone.

But Bruni, runnerup to Berntsson last year, may now be the one to watch. Bruni said the re-sailed win against Berntsson "was a good start of the day. But we don't want to relax."

Azzurra delivers stand-out performance on opening day of LV Auckland

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Azzurra, the Italian boat with the old name and the young crew, defeated Britain’s TEAMORIGIN in the closest of four hard-fought races on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.

Italian skipper and helmsman Francesco Bruni snatched a victory from Britain’s three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie at the first weather mark of their race as their boats rounded the mark overlapped. Sailing above the mark, Ainslie tried to luff his opponent only to see the Italian execute a swift spinnaker set, sail clear and go on to win.

“Azzurra sailed a good race today, they seem to have a knack of overtaking us which is getting very frustrating!” Ainslie said. “We were fully in contention at the top mark and tried to hold them up, we were unfortunately set up for a gybe set and they were set up for a straight hoist which allowed them to gain some distance.”

In their efforts to stay on schedule, the race committee spent a long first day on the water. In the morning, cloudy skies killed any chance of a sea breeze developing and delayed racing. The Rangitoto Channel entrance to Auckland Harbour was so glassy at late morning that Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio joked that it appeared to have been paved.

The long wait for wind ended at 2:45pm as the first pair started on the Blue Course at the mouth of the channel between Rangitoto Island and the Takapuna cliffs. The breeze was five to seven knots from the northwest. After a second race in similar conditions, the breeze switched to the south for the third race inside the harbour. The last race didn’t start until 7:10pm and finished after sunset just before 8:00pm

Race One: All4One def. Mascalzone Latino Audi Sailing Team, 00:44 – In the draw last night, the German/French boat All4One chose the starboard entry for the start and they protected the right side in the pre-start today. They split before the gun with All4One going out to the right on port tack, while Mascalzone Latino Audi enjoyed an early lead on starboard. All4One skipper and strategist Jochen Schümann said a man up the mast had spotted wind out to the right and they chose to concede an early lead to reach the stronger pressure. All4One eventually tacked to starboard to cover and Gavin Brady steering the Italian boat initiated a tacking duel. However Sébastien Col on the helm of All4One had already worked out to a controlling lead on the right that he never relinquished.

ALL4One beats Mascalzone. Auckland, 9 March 2010. Photo copyright Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz

Race Two: Azzurra def. TEAMORIGIN, 00:53N – Great Britain’s TEAMORIGI enjoyed the starboard entry in its match against Italy’s Azzurra and used it to advantage in a dialup that took both boats well above the line before they sailed back with Ben Ainslie on the British boat chasing Italian Francesco Bruni. Ainslie grabbed the right as they split away at the gun but Bruni kept it close and when they crossed for the first time Ainslie on starboard came down and hunted the Italian who tacked close to leeward and forced the British boat away. It happened again before they came into the weather mark overlapped, with Ainslie holding his opponent out from rounding. They tacked above the mark and the British boat luffed the Italian until Bruni capitalized on a miscommunication on Ainslie’s boat. Bruni was first to set a spinnaker and rolled over TEAMORIGIN forcing the British boat to gybe away. From there the Italians controlled the next three legs, finishing with a comfortable 53 second margin.

Azzurra beats Team Origin. Auckland, 9 March 2010. Photo copyight Ian Roman / Team Origin

Race Three: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Artemis, 01:40 – Dean Barker overcame the handicap of a port entry in the pre-start to grab the right side of the course off the start line. Strong outgoing current and shifty breezes played a major role as Terry Hutchinson steering Artemis took the fight to Emirates Team New Zealand but trailed by 55 seconds at the weather mark. Artemis came charging back on the run to close within 12 seconds at the leeward gate but then lost ground in lighter air under North Head. The Kiwis extended to win comfortably.

Race Four: ALEPH Sailing Team def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 03:26 – The Russian boat steered by Karol Jablonski dominated Bertrand Pacé’s French entry in the pre-start only to see ALEPH wriggle clear and lead by three boat lengths at the gun. Jablonski kept it very close, pressuring Pacé on the first beat and was only 11 seconds astern at the top mark. As the sun set over the Auckland City skyline it was also sunset for the Russians as they ran over their spinnaker at the leeward mark. The French sailed away to a comfortable victory.

Francesco Bruni talks about the LV Trophy and the Monsoon Cup

Francesco Bruni, the skipper of Azzurra, is in Kuala Terengganu with 4 members of his crew, racing in the Monsoon Cup. After following his practice race against Torvar Mirsky we caught up with the Italian sailor and talked about his team's surprising victory in the inaugural event of the Louis Vuitton circuit, his participation in the closing event of the World Match Racing Tour as well as the general state of affairs of match racing in Italy.

Valencia Sailing: Let's start with the LV Trophy in Nice. I suppose that winning the regatta is a stupendous result for you.
Francesco Bruni: Absolutely. It was an unexpected result, but we were well prepared. The fact we had raced in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland was important, we chose a crew that already had America's Cup experience and finally we also had some training in Valencia before the event. We carried out a good preparation job for the event. We went to Nice convinced we would have a good result but we didn't think we would leave with a victory.

Valencia Sailing: You said the result was unexpected. What result did you have as an objective when you went to Nice?
Francesco Bruni: Our objective was initially to repeat the good performance we had in Auckland last February, to show and confirm that it was not an isolated case. Regarding the leaderboard, our objective was to reach the semifinals because we knew there were many teams that were, potentially, ahead of us; BMW Oracle, Team New Zealand, Artemis, Team Origin, even ALL4One. It was the same number of potential teams as in Auckland, the only difference being Artemis taking the place of absent Alinghi. As I said to my crew, if we can repeat the performance we had in Auckland that would be good.

Then we reached the semifinals and as we say in Italy, appetite comes with eating. So we said, it would be nice to beat Team Origin. We beat them in the first race, then we lost in the second one due to an error at the start with strong winds. We finally won the last race and at that stage we were, obviously, satisfied. We approached the final against Team New Zealand relaxed, thinking we had nothing to lose and that was in my view the best psychological attitude possible. We were in ease and we were thinking "we are here, we have had a great performance and we achieved much more than what we had expected". But since we were at the final, we thought we would try and achieve something even better. I was also feeling more confident because we had light conditions in the finals and I knew we could be more competitive.

Valencia Sailing: That was also a general comment throughout the event, that Italians perform much better in lighter conditions. Had the wind been stronger in Nice would your result have been different?
Francesco Bruni: Potentially yes, but don't forget that in Auckland we also had some exceptional races in strong breeze. We raced Team New Zealand twice in Auckland. They won the first race with 15 knots of wind while we beat them in the second one with 13-14 knots of wind. So, going to Nice our score was tied at 1-1. I think that it wasn't a mathematical certainty that in a strong breeze we wouldn't perform well. It's true though that we had one race in strong breeze, the one against Team Origin, and we were badly beaten but it was mainly due to the fact it was 2 weeks we were sailing in light winds and to making the switch wasn't that obvious. I was a little bit out of phase as well but I'm still convinced and I repeat it that it's not a mathematical equation, strong breeze equals bad performance for Azzurra. For the moment, the equation is light breeze equals strong performance but the contrary has to been proven.

It is true that in general lines, Italian sailors sail usually very good in light conditions, in a large number of classes or the Olympics, because our country rarely has strong winds. Yet, in Auckland we were fourth in strong breeze. That doesn't mean we don't have to improve our sailing in stronger winds. It's a point we have identified we have to work on.

Valencia Sailing: Given Azzurra's intention to participate in the entire LV circuit, hasn't this initial victory raised the bar too much? You will now return in Auckland in March as winners of the Nice trophy and the expectations will certainly be very high.
Francesco Bruni: I have had that thought as well. It is obvious it will create some problems. Winning is difficult by itself, but winning twice is even more difficult. In fact, it is my intention to make it clear to everybody (crew, sponsors, management and the media) that it will be extremely difficult to repeat our performance in the next regatta. It's a question I have reflected upon longly.

Valencia Sailing: What is Azzurra's long-term plan? Is it limited to the LV Trophies or will it take part in a conventional America's Cup, if and when it takes place?
Francesco Bruni: Our long-term objective is that. The problem though is that there isn't any clarity in the current situation. Look at all the other teams that had to scale down or even disappear. For that reason, we have decided to take a step-by-step approach. We start with the Louis Vuitton Trophy and we invest into that even. Then, depending on what the 34th America's Cup looks like we will take a decision. We will not participate at all costs!! If for example the protocol is not fair and it's not an interesting game where you have at least some chances in winning then we will not do it. We'll do something different. I only hope that whoever wins the 33rd match doesn't repeat the same errors of the past.

Valencia Sailing: Are other classes, such as the TP52's, under consideration by Azzuurra?
Francesco Bruni: Not the TP52's. Our project, the rebirth of Azzurra is still in its very early stages and we are already investing a lot of resources for the 5 events of the Louis Vuitton circuit, and if you also add the training sessions before the events it will become very precipitated to think about the TP52's. Don't forget that we would be starting from zero if we entered the TP52 circuit. We've never had one before and it would require time and money we can allocate elsewhere. For the moment we focus on the World Match Racing Tour, to sharpen our match racing skills, and the LV Trophies.

Valencia Sailing: What about the RC44's? As a sailor is the circuit interesting for you?
Francesco Bruni: It's an interesting class and circuit and I like the mixture of match and fleet races. Nevertheless, we see that it has reached a limit in the number of teams and we don't see it growing. I doubt Azzurra would enter that circuit at this moment. We would rather do a few things well than a lot of thing bad. If at any stage there is an RC44 owned by an Italian we might have some of crew onboard but there will not be an Azzurra RC44 team. We want to have one project and be successful in that.

Monsoon Cup - Day 1 - Preview: Let the battle begin, weather allowing

Good morning from rainy Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Well, they don't call it the Monsoon Cup for nothing. Torrential rains have been pouring over the city for the last 24 hours and from what it appears as we are writing this (8am local time) it will not end any time soon. My, and obviously everybody else's, hope is that the adverse weather won't seriously affect the racing schedule.

Tuesday's training session was, unfortunately, marked by the heavy rain and the painstakingly light wind conditions. It was tough watching the world's best sailors drift in a very light breeze, topping 4 knots probably, and get wet soaked. My photos are also of dubious quality. I was on Francesco Bruni's boat, hoping to capture what could be an intense match race with young gun Torvar Mirsky but I was left with no option but to seek refuge in the boat's pit.

According to the initial schedule, the round robins begin at 4pm but in the skippers briefing at 10am it is possible the schedule is altered and the morning practice session gets replaced by racing.

Francesco Bruni helming his yacht in very light and rainy conditions. Kuala Terengganu, 1 December 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Pierluigi de Felice and Benjamin Durham in action during their practice race. Kuala Terengganu, 1 December 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Torvar Mirsky and Keith Swinton through to Sunseeker Australia Cup semis

[Source: Sunseeker Australia Cup] Day 3 of the Sunseeker Australia Cup had a blustery easterly of 16-20 knots at the start of racing at 0900 when the quarter finalist opponents went out on the water in Matilda Bay.

With a forecast temperature of 35 degrees in Perth it was only a matter of time before the easterly started to fade and the sea breeze set in, which it eventually did after the race officer John Rosser relocated the course from Matilda Bay in front of the Royal Perth Yacht Club to the Perth Water racecourse at the foot of the Perth CBD.

The sea breeze eventually fought off the easterly and settled into a 10-12 knot south westerly at 3.00pm. With the quarter finalists Francesco Bruni up against the winner of the round robin Torvar Mirsky and dual World Champion Ian Williams matched against local Keith Swinton in the first to win three match quarter finals.

Torvar Mirsky sails to victory in quarter final race against Francesco Bruni. Perth, 28 November 2009. Photo copyright Sail World Australia

Torvar Mirsky (Aust) V Francesco Bruni (Italy)

Winner from the Round Robin, Torvar Mirsky was probably regretting his decision in selecting Italian Francesco Bruni for the quarter final match, as Bruni completely outsailed Mirsky in the first two matches to go 2-0 up in shifty 8-12 knot SW breezes.

Mirsky then went on to claw back a well deserved win in the third match. In the fourth match, with Bruni sitting on match point, Bruni had the slight advantage on the beat but incurred a penalty for tacking too close to Mirsky. Mirsky did a great job to keep the match close and with Bruni trying to clear the penalty around the finish mark, crashed his bow into the side of Mirsky before he had completed his penalty to incur a second penalty gifting the race to Mirksy to even the score up at two all.

Subsequent to the finish, the umpires deemed the damage to be significant and deducted a full point penalty from Bruni, making the scoreline Mirsky 2, Bruni 1. In the final match of the day, with the sun creeping closer to the horizon, with Mirsky now 2-1 up on Bruni with the collision from the fourth flight, Mirsky dominated in a fading 8-10 knot south westerly. And although Bruni tried every trick in the book, he couldn’t make in-roads on the slender Mirsky lead to allow Mirsky to advance to the semi final stage, with a 3-1 win.

Young gun Keith Swinton upsets the form book and eliminates Ian Williams. Perth, 28 November 2009. Photo copyright Sail World Australia

Keith Swinton (Aust) V Ian Willams (Great Britain) – ‘Major Upset’

In the Swinton versus Williams quarter final match one, Swinton did a nice job of getting a penalty on Ian Williams in the prestart and kept the match close so on the final run, Williams were in front and slowed down to try and clear the penalty and in a luffing manoeuvre whilst going through the penalty tack with Swinton but the umpires deemed that he didn’t do it in the one smooth manoeuvre, so kept William’s penalty flag up and in a tight tousle to the finish Williams incurred a second penalty just on the finishing line to give Swinton first blood.

In the second race with Williams comfortably in front at the bottom mark his port winch failed with a pawl jamming making the winch inoperative and with Swinton throwing a series of tacks at Williams, his lead quickly evaporated. Swinton went on to win the second match. In the third match, Williams led from start to finish in a closely fought match to claw back a win to make the score line 1-2. In the fourth match, although close, Swinton dominated to advance three wins to 1.

The surprise entry into the final day of racing is Australian Keith Swinton who, in the upset of the tournament, knocked out favourite Ian Williams in three consecutive matches. The young Perth contender, who won only 3 of 9 matches in the initial Round Robin competition, rose to the occasion in the semi finals knocking out reigning double World Match Racing Champion Ian Williams.

Executive officer of Swan River Sailing and former Australia II America’s Cup crewman, Skip Lissiman said the slightly warmer conditions meant a delay in afternoon racing but added the delay was worth the wait.

“We were forced to delay racing on Perth water till 3.00pm but the wait was worth it ensure the skippers had to creative to force wins from each other. There was slightly less wind today which has ensured the competitors have had a full range of conditions over the past three days of the Sunseeker Australia Cup. This provides them with exceptional practice for the Monsoon Cup next week in Malaysia,” he said.

“We are looking forward to a thrilling finals competition tomorrow between some world class skippers and their crews. The crowd on the shoreline had a bird’s eye view and we expect a big crowd for tomorrow’s final action,” he said.

Emirates Team NZ, unbeaten, leads Louis vuitton trophy

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Italy’s Azzurra of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda won today its first match of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur while Emirates Team New Zealand survived a hair-raising finish to keep its record perfect.

Azzurra scored the victory it was denied on Saturday when it defeated BMW ORACLE Racing of the U.S. Two days ago the Italian crew, led by skipper Francesco Bruni, was 200 metres from the finish line when the 20-minute leg time limit expired.

Today, the Italians scored an emphatic win of 2 minutes and 56 seconds to the pleasure of YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadero, who rode with his team as 18th man, and displeasure of BMW Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who was among his team’s afterguard.

“The team did a very good job all over the course,” said Bruni, the skipper from Sicily. “We didn’t feel robbed Saturday; we understand rules are rules. We wished the race committee had shortened the course, but we’re all learning. We are very happy about this point, it was very important for us.”

The two crews took split tacks onto the racecourse with BMW Oracle on starboard and Azzurra on port. Each crew got the side it wanted, but the wind shifted to the right and gave the Italians an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish.

“They got the first good shift and we were behind from there,” said BMW Oracle strategist Cameron Dunn of Australia. “We were happy coming off the line where we were, but the conditions were changing very quickly. When we came back at them the wind shifted right and they were wound up to layline. From there it was a soldier’s course, marching along. They sailed very well, so good on them.”

Emirates Team New Zealand entered its match against Russia’s Synergy Team with a perfect 2-0 mark while Synergy was 0-1. For a while it appeared that each team’s zero would be wiped from its scoreline. In the end this turned out to be the most exciting match of the regatta still in its early days.

Synergy led Team New Zealand by four to five boatlengths within 10 lengths of the finish line in very light and shifty winds. Then the Kiwis found a private puff and rolled over the top of the Russian team, which was dead in the water, and won by 22 seconds.

The Kiwis kept their record perfect at 3-0 and Synergy dropped to 0-2. The loss was crushing for Synergy skipper Karol Jablonski of Poland, who rallied his crew to lead the match after being over early at the start.

“Yeah it hurts,” said Jablonski, a match race world champion and three-time DN Ice Boat world champion. “I knew it was going to be tough to the finish because I could see the finish line and there was no wind at it. Everything can happen in one puff. We couldn’t do anything.”

The Kiwis kept their heads down and persevered. After rolling Synergy the spinnaker blew back into the rig, so the crew dropped it on deck and crossed the finish line without a headsail.

“We’ll take the point, but it’s not the kind of conditions we want to sail in,” said Dean Barker, Emirates Team New Zealand skipper. “We worked hard to get back at them. They would gain, then we would take back some of it, but it looked like there was no way around them.”

The two matches were the only ones completed as regatta organizers were once again frustrated by very light and shifty winds. Racing for the day was postponed at 1430 CET when the Bay of Angels was calm. Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio holds out the hope that tomorrow he can complete four flights, or eight races.

“If the breeze cooperates we can do four flights; that’s not an issue,” said Reggio. “We’re starting to see the sun shine now and we haven’t had that all weekend. We’re hoping the sun will do its work and make the area come true to form with a northerly in morning and southeasterly in afternoon.”

Exceptional day for Francesco Bruni on Day 2 of St. Moritz Match Race

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] No. 50 in the ISAF ranking, the Italian skipper was on fire today. Sailing alongside Rod Davis, he made no mistakes and won six out of six races!

Chief umpire Bill Edgerton took some time during this morning’s briefing to remind the teams that crashing boats is not necessary to secure a penalties against your opponent and that points would be deducted from a teams score if they were found to have caused damage. The skippers took heed, and Sébastien Col (FRA) commented that “these boats are very lively and manoeuvrable, which incites you to go for the contact and keep the pressure on your opponent. As a consequence, there were several light contacts yesterday and quite a few penalties.”

Video highlights from the second day of the St Moritz Match Race. St Moritz, 3 September 2009. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

After a short delay for the weather to improve the Race Committee got racing under way just after lunchtime and benefited from a good breeze – although quite shifty and not as strong as yesterday – to complete eight flights. Altogether the twelve teams racing in St. Moritz Match race have finished 18 flights in two days out of the 22 required to complete the Round Robin.

Francesco Bruni (ITA), Joe Fly Match Race and Peter Gilmour (AUS), YANMAR Racing are the great winners of the day. The Italian sailor won all of the six matches he sailed today whilst Gilmour managed to win five. The Australian veteran demonstrated once again his impressive capacity to progress through the event after a rather disappointing first day.

At the other end of the leaderboard, Björn Hansen (SWE), Onboard Sailing Team suffered from a shocking day, loosing all of his matches whilst local favourite Eric Monnin (SUI), Swiss Match Race Team, finally managed to grab a point.

The French Match Racing Team sailors Mathieu Richard (FRA) and Philippe Presti (FRA) both managed to win a race whilst Sebastien Col (FRA) grabbed two precious points.

Arguably the leader of the Round Robin so far remains Ian Williams (GBR), unbeaten after two more victories this afternoon and with the ability to end the round without loss.

An unfortunate incident happened to Dan McLean, bowman onboard Team Joe Fly, who dislocated his shoulder when he fell overboard. The courageous sailor managed to knock his shoulder back into place and carried on racing as if nothing had happened.

Francesco Bruni was on a roll in the second day of the St Moritz Match Race. St Moritz, 3 September 2009. Photo copyright Loris von Siebenthal

They said:

Sébastien Col: “The conditions are typical of St. Moritz although the wind is lighter than yesterday. You need to be opportunistic and you must not try to understand everything or to anticipate. The only rule is to play with the wind in real time instead of trying to imagine what’s going to happen. It’s also good to remember that a race is never over until the finish line.”

Peter Gilmour: “I think that we were still lacking some practice on these boats yesterday. We needed one more day than the others to get comfortable with it. I haven’t sailed much recently and I needed this time to adapt. We were therefore not too frustrated at the end of the first day and the progress we’ve made today is satisfying. We very much enjoy sailing here in St. Moritz.”

Francesco Bruni: “I wasn’t expecting such a good result. I did notice that we were sailing very well yesterday, probably better than our results were showing. My feeling is therefore very positive. Today we won against the best teams and I am very pleased with this. Rod Davis does a great job and the team works very well; It is a real pleasure when things go that well.”

Peter Gilmour lies third after the end of the second day of the St Moritz Match Race. St Moritz, 3 September 2009. Photo copyright Loris von Siebenthal

St Moritz Match Race provisional results after 18 flights:

Name of the skipper, ISAF ranking, Nationality, Number of victories / losses

Francesco Bruni (50) ITA, Team Joe Fly Match Race; 8/3
Ian Williams (4) GBR, Team Pindar; 7/0 (-0,5 point penalty)
Peter Gilmour (11) AUS, YANMAR Racing; 6/5
Philippe Presti, (7) FRA, French Match Racing Team; 5/3
Sébastien Col (3) FRA, French Match Racing Team; 5/3
Torvar Mirsky (6) AUS, Mirsky Racing Team; 5/2
Adam Minoprio (1) NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch; 4/2 (-1 point penalty)
Matthieu Richard (2) FRA, French Match Racing Team; 4/4
Alvaro Marinho (17) POR, Seth Sailing Team; 3/7
Johnie Berntsson (9) SWE, Berntsson Sailing Team; 3/7
Björn Hansen (10) SWE, Onboard Sailing Team; 2/8
Éric Monnin (31) SUI, Swiss Match Race Team; 1/9