Eccoli arrivare (here they come). In two years, seaside residents of Naples will bear witness to the arrival of the America’s Cup entourage to the Italian city of nearly 2 million people as, for the first time in Cup history, the Louis Vuitton Cup and Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Match will be sailed off the Italian shoreline in what’s promised to be “the most colorful and enthusiastic” edition ever.
While Barcelona put on quite a show for the world’s oldest international sports trophy, the Italians certainly have a reputation for hosting first-class sailing events, and with Italian challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli finally holding court, it does promise to have the expected flair.
The announcement of Naples as host to the 38th edition followed months of silence from the defenders of Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. While the defender’s own government declined to host and finance the regatta in Auckland, several remnant teams were keen for the regatta to remain in Europe. The Spanish port of Valencia, which hosted in 2017, seemed a viable choice, but the announcement of Italy comes as no surprise given the tenacity of Patrizio Bertelli, Prada’s chairman and kingpin of the Italian syndicate. Bertelli has been trying to win the Cup for more than three decades in the hopes of bringing the regatta home. He now has the opportunity to do so in a sea of red white and green.
In the mid-May host announcement, Andrea Abodi, Minister for Sport and Youth for Italy, said that hosting “represents a tremendous opportunity for the entire country to enhance the value of its territory, to boost tourism, and to promote sports.”
For Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi, the benefits of hosting are twofold: It puts an international spotlight on the city, as well as a long-overdue injection of development funds into the port of Bagnoli, 6 miles northwest of Naples.
According to America’s Cup and Naples government officials, Bagnoli will serve as the epicenter of team bases. It’s a “strategic area where the government has decided to invest decisively, with the goal of finally returning it to the city and its citizens,” Manfredi said. “The complex work of environmental remediation and redevelopment in Bagnoli is already underway and progressing according to plan. The America’s Cup will serve as a powerful accelerator for tourism, the maritime economy, local entrepreneurship, and the development of new skills, providing a tangible preview of what this area can become upon completion of its urban regeneration.”
The America’s Cup village and event activation zone is centered closer to the city, with the racecourse itself set in the Gulf of Naples off the 12th-century waterfront Castel dell’Ovo and Posillipo at the western flank of the Gulf. Historical winds on the Gulf of Naples persist in the 5- to 10-knot range, either from the northeast or southwest, with late spring and early fall being the most reliable for consistent breeze.
Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Defender Team New Zealand, said in the announcement: “There is a raw spirit and absolute pride in Italy that seems so appropriate to have the next America’s Cup here…. Italians are the most passionate and engaged America’s Cup audience, and obviously it is the home of Luna Rossa, who are such an amazing team and strong competitor. So, from the Defender’s position, it certainly feels like we are entering the lion’s den competitively, but from an event perspective, it feels like the perfect venue to host the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup.”
