The Trouble with Onory

What went wrong with Mascalzone Latino? The answer is rather simple: look at the owner. Onorato is the owner of a ferry line (not 'luxury' as some other media have alluded to, but a run-of-the-mill company) who likes to sail. He has always sailed his own boats, but for this challenge he had to hire expert match racers.

So when, in the last leg against Luna Rossa he took the helm as ML was leading, he was in essence pulling the blanket towards his own aura: imagine his excitement in his head at the thought of crossing the finish line at the helm, ahead of LR... Well that certainly did not sit well with Cian and Favigni. And probably most of the rest of the crew. At best, giving the lack of training with Onorato at the helm, the crew would certainly be unsure/nervous of the orders they were getting from their paymaster - which probably explains the mess-up with the spinnaker on a gybe with the finish line in sight.

Cian could certianly be depressed after the fact. Onorato's wife (who also sat as the 17th (ahem) man on ML - which according to many sailors is bad luck in its own right), the boat's communications' director, was so politically-correct with the media afterwards, it was clear she was burying her hubby's gaff. Which probably led to Cian throwing the race against Le Défi by making a simple, but probable, judgement mistake at the start. He knew very well he would never helm a boat by Onorato again.

A few days later, Onorato declared "I will try to keep very fit to justify being onboard. I think I can steer, but this time I was too busy putting together the campaign." He wants his cake & eat it too. A logical feeling being the paymaster. But will that win races?

When Larry Ellison stepped off of Oracle, the boats became very competitive. There is a strong message there for Bertarelli also...