Celebrated Italian sailor Francesco Bruni will be at the helm for Artemis Racing when it takes to the waters off the south coast of England this weekend at the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Portsmouth.
The veteran is taking over for skipper Nathan Outteridge who will be in Rio, preparing to defend his Olympic gold medal.
“I’m very excited about my opportunity, and I will do my best to be prepared for it. I’ve been spending a lot of time speaking with Nathan, sharing his secrets, trying to talk to him at the right time, to extract the good things,” said Francesco Bruni.
Outteridge, who won the 49er South American Championships last week alongside team mate Iain Jensen, is full of praise for Francesco.
“It was a difficult decision not to make the trip to Portsmouth, but we’re very fortunate to have Francesco to step in. He’s been driving our development boats in Bermuda, and has probably been spending more time sailing than I have.
"Every time I’m away at a 49er event, he keeps the Turbos sailing, and with his experience through the last campaign with Luna Rossa, I’m sure he’s going to do a great job.
“Part of the job between now and the event is to give him the rundown on the World Series boats, because they are very different to the Turbos, but he’ll have the support of Luke Parkinson, Iain Percy, Christian Kamp and Kalle Torlén alongside him, and they’re a very strong unit. We’ve been working hard to make sure that we can exchange any person at any moment. We’ve set the bar pretty high for him after Chicago, and there’s plenty of pressure on him, but I know he’ll be up for it."
Artemis Racing surprised many with a win in Chicago after disappointing sixth place finishes in Oman and New York to open the year.
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