Established 1982 Team principal(s) Riccardo Bonadeo | Nation Italy Skipper Francesco Bruni | |
Yacht club Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Notable victories Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur | ||
Azzurra is a yacht racing team that competes in America's Cup style sailing out of the yacht club Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
Contents
Early history
Managed by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and funded by Aga Khan IV and Gianni Agnelli, Azzurra began to compete in 1982. They competed in the 1983 Louis Vuitton Cup in Newport with Azzurra (I–4), but were not able to advance to the 1983 America's Cup. Ambrosini was involved with the construction of the yachts. Skippered by Cino Ricci and with Mauro Pelaschier on the helm, the original Azzurra team won 24 of 49 races and developed a large and loyal following in Italy.
After finishing fifth in the 1985 World Championships with Azzurra II (I–8) Azzura financed the construction of two more boats for the America's Cup, Azzurra III (I–10) and Azzura IV (I–11). The yacht club was the challenger of record for the challenge, and did a very impressive job organizing and administrating the two-hundred and twenty-three races of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Their own boat did not advance out of the round robins section of the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup.
Azzura did not compete in the 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup which was instead won by another Italian syndicate, Il Moro di Venezia.
Re-birth
The team was relaunched for the Louis Vuitton Trophy, with the aim of competing in the 34th America's Cup. Azzura won the first series in Nice Côte d’Azur, defeating Team New Zealand 2–0 in the final.