Team Principal of the Defender of the 37th America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand, Matteo de Nora is the man who in 2003 created the Mates, a group of New Zealand patrons who succeeded in changing the future of the Kiwis in the America’s Cup. Ida Castiglioni, doyenne of nautical journalism (and the first Italian woman to cross the Atlantic solo, in 1976) who has followed the America’s Cup for several editions, interviewed him for us.
De Nora – the man the New Zealand team can’t do without, Italian origins, a degree from Bocconi – reveals all the behind-the-scenes details of the Cup, some secrets of the new AC 75 flyers, the Kiwis’ most feared challengers.
Matteo de Nora, Team New Zealand’s key man.
“When I took over the team in 2003 after defeat,” Grant Dalton, the CEO of ETNZL, repeated to me a couple of months ago, “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold on for more than a month. To begin with, we needed someone to pay the bills. So I called Matteo on the phone.” De Nora, who holds a Canadian passport and resides in Monaco, does not come from a family of sailors, but at some point in his career path, sailing became his life choice.
He was born and raised in the United States. His mother is Swiss and his father Vittorio, an Italian from Altamura (the son and grandson of educated engineers who loved science), is an electrochemical engineer and professor of physics and chemistry at the Milan Polytechnic. Vittorio, called ‘the professor’ was a true genius, who carried on theoretical and practical experimentation in the 1930s in the most important universities, in Europe and the United States. He is the younger brother of that Oronzio de Nora who invented Amuchina.
The young Vittorio de Nora, in 1939 decided not to put the results of his research into the hands of the Axis and took refuge first in Switzerland and then in America, where he turned his theories into practice by designing and building complex industrial plants in the field of electrochemistry. At the same time he filed hundreds of patents.
Matteo de Nora, college in Connecticut at the Choate School (same school as John F. Kennedy), graduation from Bocconi in Milan, followed by an MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management in Boston, has devoted the early part of his life to founding and managing companies, holdings and patents, strengthening the family business, which is huge, complex and scattered around the world.
De Nora experimented with ‘big’ sailing in the late 1990s in New Zealand on Imagine, a 34-meter, Ed Dubois-designed yacht built in 1993 by Alloy Yachts for Swiss banker Bernard Sabrier. When his friend decides to have a new boat built, Imagine becomes the boat on which Matthew sails around the world four times and, sailing across oceans, takes him as far as the Arctic and Antarctic.
In 2010 he had Imagine II, a 44.2-meter super yacht, built once again in aluminum by Alloy Yachts, again designed by Ed Dubois.
As early as 1995, de Nora is in San Diego among the enthusiasts celebrating New Zealand’s conquest of the America’s Cup, but his involvement with the team becomes total in 2003 when he pledged to put together the Mates, wealthy financiers, friends of the team and New Zealand, determined to help a team of experienced and motivated sailors. A team that came into crisis after the assassination of Sir Peter Blake (in 2001 on the Seamaster, down the Amazon) and especially after the betrayal of Russell Coutts, who sold out (including crew and technology) to Alinghi‘s Swiss Ernesto Bertarelli). The Mates will become the financial heart of the new team; Matteo will be its soul.
Thanks to Grant Dalton and Matteo de Nora, named Team Principal, the Kiwi challenge regains strength. Thanks to having a leading country in sailing-related technology behind it, and with Belgrano’s team membership, the New Zealand boat is a challenger in Valencia in 2007 and is a challenger again in San Francisco in 2013, stopped one point short of success. Winning the Cup in Bermuda in 2017, achieved through commitment, creativity, sacrifice and hard work represents the beginning of a new era.
“Without Matthew,” Grant Dalton had commented after his victory in San Francisco, “Team New Zealand would have sunk many times: in 2003, in 2007, in 2013, and then again in 2014 and 2015…..”
The interview with Matteo de Nora
How is the financial situation of the team today?
Keep in mind that we must always separate the financial situation of the team from that of the event. At present we have covered the expenses of both independently and through different sponsors. Of course you can always spend more especially with the team, but our goal is to make it a self-sufficient team that spends what it has.
Was deciding to defend the Cup in a sea far from the ocean of New Zealand the right choice?
Not making it this time in New Zealand was definitely not only the right choice but an unavoidable one. Then, of course, there were other options besides Barcelona, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. We will take stock of Barcelona at the end but certainly all parties are cooperating.
Does this choice also arise from the economic situation in New Zealand after Covid?
Yes, definitely, but not only by that. Sponsors, Challenger, and Team New Zealand itself needed a change of location in our opinion. At least for this time.
You are the Team Principal of the New Zealand team. What functions and commitments does this role entail?
Everyone plays the role in their own way and according to the culture of the team. In my case I act as a lightning rod and try to think medium-term, since Grant is so busy with short-term problems.
You care a lot about team cohesion. After seven years of building boats and training in New Zealand (where most of the crew has homes), you are now back again racing abroad. What changes in this trip to Europe?
In fact, part of the team has always traveled for other events outside of the America’s Cup (World Record, SailGp, etc.). In total, the transfer is less than 4 months. I don’t see the disadvantages, at most some advantages. Racing at home is no longer a determining factor.
After experimenting with the use of cyclors on the winning 2017 catamaran in Bermuda, what are your motivations for reintroducing the cyclor formula on these monohulls?
Having a lightweight boat is one of the main design goals. In this edition of the Cup there are 4 cyclists instead of 8 grinders, which contributes significantly to this purpose.
Has the reintroduction of cyclists led to a large turnover in the crew?
No, indeed. Four of the current riders were grinders in the last edition.
The new tonnage rule has generated very different hulls from those seen in Auckland. What was your goal?
As for the shape of the hulls, the class rule has not changed much. The boats are about 1,000 kg lighter (6,500 kg instead of 7,500 kg) than in the previous campaign (so they can start flying with less wind). The bowsprit was eliminated since the Code Zero does not give much advantage on these boats.
For this edition, each consortium was only allowed to design and build one boat. Do you think this formula could have further evolution in the next edition of the America’s Cup? In your opinion, has the formula not yet been fully expressed?
Each time, solutions are sought to lower costs and encourage new Challengers. Further developments are very likely but still the formula will be decided between the winner and the Challenger of Record.
What do you think of the hulls in the race? How are they different from those in 2021?
There are three main parts: the sails, the hull and the foils, besides the mechatronics of course. Foils are the part that can have the most influence on performance and is most sensitive to sea conditions. The most obvious differences are the reintroduction of cyclists and the removal of paterazzi.
Which challengers are you most afraid of?
They all need to be respected. At the moment it would seem that Luna Rossa and American Magic are the best performers, but things can change very quickly.
Who would you rather have as Challenger?
For the history of the America’s Cup, the British or Americans would be the top.
How did the wave that characterizes the race course in front of Barcelona determine the shape of the keels in the new hulls?
The teams definitely designed the hulls considering the possibility of sailing in rough seas. Broadly speaking, we noticed two approaches: some teams seem to have taken it for granted that they will always sail out of the water by focusing mainly on hull aerodynamics, while others have made some concessions to hydrodynamics.
In 2003, when Team NZ emerged shattered from its challenge with Alinghi, morally defeated by the betrayal of Russell Coutts, saddled with bills to pay, you took matters into your own hands, gathered a team of financial backers, and returned-in a short run-the team to success. You have devoted your life and a lot of money to this amazing project. What were the hardest moments?
I think I have done my part, but all the pieces are important for a team to work. The conductor evidently is Gran Dalton. Thinking about it, the hardest moment was when the catamaran capsized in Bermuda in 2017. But it was also a great moment of resilience and team cohesion, which moved me.
In 2007 your team also made it to the finals thanks to the very light hull, in whose design, as well as the study of materials, Giovanni Belgrano, a Genoese engineer transplanted to England, had worked. The story goes that in 2003 he was called by you to be part of the team when there were only bills to pay in the till and that he accepted the assignment without the certainty of being paid. Is that so?
Gio arrived almost on his own. It is absolutely true that he put his soul into the project, and for me, being part Italian, it was like having a friend from day one. Both of us have a connection with New Zealand.
Still in Valencia, I seem to recall that the batteries on your boat were of particularly light weight, designed and engineered by your own company, Eltech Systems Corp.
It’s been almost 20 years and I don’t remember the exact details. Eltech supplied special materials to several battery manufacturers. One of these was particularly helpful to us.
In September 2005, after the Louis Vuitton preliminary races in Trapani, NZ’s masts were stranded in Palermo due to a strike and arrived in Valencia carried on deck by Imagine, your sailboat. Was it a bit complicated?
Yes, but not terribly complicated. There was also a fun side. The important thing was that both Imagine and the trees arrived in one piece.
Giovanni Belgrano, after Oracle’s 2010 challenge against Alinghi in New Zealand, began designing and experimenting with foils on small catamarans, then transferred the technical innovation to the AC72 ahead of the 2013 Cup. It must have been a great time. Did you and Dalton believe it right away?
It was a group effort that began in 2011. Grant was sure they should be tried, and I, as is often the case, trusted Grant.
Grant Dalton recounts that in 2013, in San Francisco, New Zealand lost to Oracle because there was less wind on the race course than the designers had anticipated and for which the boat had been designed and built. I seem to recall that two decisive races (because they would have confirmed the Kiwi victory) were aborted due to low wind when the New Zealand boat was leading. Grant told me that–in those conditions–your team had a slow boat carried by a very good crew, as opposed to Oracle, which had a fast boat and a less performing crew. How did it go?
When they lowered the wind limit at which one could race, they did not increase the time limit for racing. This was the key to Team New Zealand’s defeat, and it is this that left Oracle time to improve.
The New Zealand team has always pursued pushed experimentation. This was realized after their 2017 victory in Bermuda. Looking ahead to the 2021 edition, by repurposing the same boat, you could have had significant advantages over your opponents (a year’s planning, for example). But no, you made a courageous decision by proposing a revolutionary and ingenious monohull that truly represented a turning point in the way sailing is done. Who pushed toward the choice of this innovative class formula?
Grant Dalton. However, this way of thinking is part of what had been the blueprint for Team New Zealand, but it generally represents the Kiwi way of thinking. Perhaps because, isolated as they are from the world, they have often resorted to ingenuity to survive.
For this edition of the Cup, the role of cyclists is interesting. That seems to me quite different from what they had on board in 2017, when with their hands they were more than active in maneuvering. In Bermuda there were 4 cyclists out of 6 crewmen, now we have 4 cyclists out of 8 on board. Is it plausible that in Barcelona the 4 cyclists are only engaged in producing energy? And that all maneuvering of the hull is the responsibility of only 4 crew members?
Cyclists are the engine of the boat. Their role is to power the hydraulic systems that allow trimmers to adjust sails and mast; in this respect there is no difference from Bermuda. Each team then decides whether and-if so-who to entrust with adjusting the systems. In Bermuda some of our cyclists had a dual function, on this boat we are still testing different solutions.
On the design team, who replaced the brilliant Belgrano (who became a consultant to Ineos in last year’s America’s Cup)?
The area dealing with structures is now led by Jamie Timms (former chief structural engineer at RocketLab) and Dave Olsen. I would love it if Gio was here too!
In every America’s Cup in which they have participated, the New Zealanders have always surprised with a technical innovation, starting with Fremantle with Chris Dicxson’s fast Plastic Fantastic. So, should we expect a Kiwi surprise for this edition as well?
Regulations are getting more and more precise, so the surprises are always in the details: which today are in the foils and below deck.
Ida Castiglioni