Young Azzurra at the Final Grand Prix of the Persico 69F Cup 2021

Puntaldia (San Teodoro-Olbia), 30 September 2021. Young Azzurra returns to Sardinia and takes to the waters of Puntaldia, for the last Grand Prix of the year in the Persico 69F Cup circuit. The event will be in preparation for the final of the Youth Foiling Gold Cup (Cagliari, 21 October to 3 November), an international event created as an alternative to the Youth America's Cup, which was cancelled last year due to the pandemic.

During the Grand Prix 4.1, Young Azzurra will be trying out a new crew configuration proposed by coach Gabriele Bruni following assessments carried out in August at the second leg of the Youth Foiling Gold Cup, in Limone sul Garda. Ettore Botticini will remain at the helm of the Persico 69F one-design, while Federico Colaninno will take over as mainsail trimmer, and Francesca Bergamo and Erica Ratti will alternate on board in the role of flight controller. The goal is to find the optimum formation to exploit the team's full potential, making Young Azzurra as competitive as possible.

Gabriele Bruni, coach of Young Azzurra: "With this new configuration we will be looking to have more power on the mainsail and more speed on the gennaker. The girls are very agile and during the last event in Limone sul Garda we realised how much of a difference being fast and dynamic can make on this boat, especially in unstable wind conditions. We are doing visualisation exercises to memorise all the movements and this regatta will serve as training for us.”

Michael Illbruck, YCCS Commodore: "The Puntaldia event is strategically crucial, it will allow the team to define the set up and dynamics on board, around two weeks before the final of the Youth Foiling Gold Cup. Since the beginning of the year we have been aiming to finish in the top three at this international event, and the Persico 69F Cup circuit has been a perfect training platform. Obviously, the spirit of taking part in a regatta is always to win, and that's what the team will try to do in Puntaldia. Fair winds to everyone!”

The 4.1 Grand Prix races will start tomorrow, and conclude on Sunday 3 October. Young Azzurra, already victorious in three legs of the Persico 69F Cup circuit, will face eight other teams: Flying Nikka 74, Flying Nikka 47, ChinaOne Ningbo, Uon Sailing Team – Portugal, Tixwave/Timeon, Okalys Youth Project, FIN1Racing and Balthasar.