America’s Cup final: Frenchman Philippe Presti, coach of the Italians, believes that “the New Zealanders are above the rest”

Have you had time to digest your defeat in the final of the Louis-Vuitton Cup against the English team Ineos?

Oh no, I still have it in my throat and for a long time I think. We made mistakes that we shouldn’t have made. We win seven out of ten starts, so we have to score seven points or at least six points. But we made three errors of different levels with material damage, a technical problem, an untimely decision, a risky choice of sail. When you’re behind, if you want to pass, the one in front has to do something stupid, otherwise, it won’t pass. Even if you go a little faster, it doesn’t work. And there, we had a series with fairly stable and strong winds, so it was very hard to get ahead. But when you have the opportunity to master the starting phase, you have to win.

Yes but, in the end, there is little difference in performance and that’s nice. We didn’t see all the conditions, we would have liked to see the English below 10 knots but we didn’t have that type of weather. The two boats were very similar in my opinion.

How do you see the final between the New Zealanders and the English?

The New Zealanders did what was necessary to be on top, in terms of organization, planning, timing. Overall, the Challengers have been racing every other day for two months, or even every day, and we did not have the capacity to change anything on our boats. They had opportunities to do so. A priori, the conditions are ripe for the New Zealanders to have progressed since the last time we saw them on the water.

Are they that hard to beat?

I think they will go quickly. In certain conditions, there will be no photo with Ineos, particularly in light wind. On the other hand, as soon as there is stable wind and above 10 knots, the first crossing will determine the scenario a little: if you are in front, and you don’t do stupid things, it will be hard to keep up. pass. If you want to overtake, you have to go really much faster or wait for the wind to turn in your favor. We will see who is the strongest in the starting phase.

A priori, the next edition should again be run in AC75, with AC40 for young people and women: where would you like it to take place?

The principle of this test is that you have to win it to decide. So I’m going to wait until one wins the America’s Cup and decide (laughs). Then we will adapt. If it’s the English, they may very well decide to do something else. We know that if Team New Zealand wins, a priori, it will go quickly and it could take place either in Barcelona or in the Emirates.

Are you staying with the Italian challenge for the next edition?

I’m going to start again on the Sail GP program

but I can’t tell you with whom yet. Afterwards, there are plenty of opportunities presenting themselves, I have to make the right choices.

Are we talking about an AC40 circuit which should be set up?

I guess… There are six boats that belong to each of the six challenges. If Team New Zealand wins, the AC40s will be used. I don’t really know how this will be organized but it’s the right formula to continue to have this type of regatta. There, there will clearly be a battle between Sail GP and the America’s Cup in the organization of events. It’s going to be difficult to do both.

A word about the French “Orient Express” Challenge?

Hats off to Stéphane Kandler, Bruno Dubois and the entire team for finding the funding in such a short time and for creating this environment. Afterwards, they were clearly a little short for everything. The boat has the potential to win, but that is not enough. They were a little too late, a little “short” everywhere but they planted the seed. If they are smart, if they manage to unite, they are starting from an exceptional basis.

Have they already tried to bring you into the French challenge?

This is one of the choices that I will have to make… Yes, we discuss but we discuss all the time: with Stéphane Kandler, Bruno Dubois and Quentin Delapierre, we are very close. This is a big milestone for me, I have to choose. From my point of view, there are quite a few elements to consider. As they say: “To choose is to give up”.