Mascalzone go two boat training

ITA90 now out of the shed and back on the water

After a month of sailing against other challengers, Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team is focusing on the work with ITA 90 and ITA 77. For the rest of October the team will be two-boat testing and racing 'in-house'.

Test manager and data analyst Fabrizio Marabini explains the importance of two-boat testing:  “Two boat testing is a crucial part of an America’s Cup campaign. Racing another team helps a lot to improve sailing skills and to understand were you are compared to the others. But to understand and to measure the progress in boat speed you need to line up with a reliable benchmark, which is the old and well known boat ITA 77 in this case. Of course, the process is not so simple, because of the many variables involved, but if the wind cooperates, every day brings a lot of new information.

"Technology is essential to providing reliable data: the use of telemetry and laser gun, together with sophisticated sensors on board, allows us to understand in real time how the boat is performing. After every testing day - which usually requires six to seven hours in the water - a long debrief between sailors and designers helps to understand what has been learned, how the boat is performing, and what to do in the following days to continue progressing.”  

Or as navigator Nacho Postigo puts it:“The job we are doing now is trying to speed up ITA 90 by comparing it against ITA 77. This is a job that is strongly dependent on the weather conditions, because if you have either very light or variable wind or too much wind, you have to stop testing, because you don’t learn anything...”

Last week’s winds were from 6-18 knots, providing generally favorable conditions for testing. Vasco Vascotto continues: “The weather, for now, has given us some great days.  This was good for us because we were able to sail into the evening hours.  We are making the most of these good periods, because we know that in November and December it will become more difficult to sail, therefore we are trying not to lose any valuable time…”  



Jes Gram Hansen is pleased as well:  “I think we’ve had a good week of testing.  The wind conditions here in Valencia have been pretty good for our testing and I think we are all pretty happy with the program so far.”  

A lot of people say that testing - although a crucial part of developing a new boat to its maximum potential - is boring work. But as Gram-Hansen explains, “I think testing can be boring, but it´s an important part of development.  It’s something you have to do and when you get more deeply involved in it, you start to see the different aspects of it and it becomes more interesting.”  

And if the weather doesn´t co-operate? “We have a long, long list of things we want to test in the boats. So when we cannot sail, we just go that long, long list of jobs and we start ticking some jobs off the list,” continues Postigo.   

Or they can just go to the gym… In the mean time, ITA 90 is not the only thing being 'maximised'.  Team trainer Andrea Madaffari has developed a new fitness program for the crew including aerobic and weight training. Postigo explains, “Maddafari has set a program for all of us from now until December that is going to be quite hard. We should be training very, very hard to get muscle and get the maximum preparation before Christmas.”   

Vascotto agrees: “We are becoming a lot stronger. The boys are making great progress both in their aerobic workout and in maximising their strength.”  

As for the mental preparation in the time leading up to the Louis Vuitton Acts, Gram-Hansen explains: “Mental preparation for me is just about feeling good and relaxed.  There is no secret formula.  The LV Cup is not any different from any other event you´re doing, so it´s basically just going out there and doing as well as you can.”