Mascalzone Latino owner and skipper Vicenzo Onorato has not given up his dream of bringing the America's Cup to his native city of Naples.
According to the owner of the Moby ferry lines, Naples is a far better venue for staging sailing's most prestigious event than Valencia, where the Swiss syndicate Alinghi successfully defended the trophy last year.
In an interview broadcast by Italian radio, he said Naples offered a greater potential for spectators and infrastructures than the Spanish city.
''They say that the America's Cup pumped more than two billion euros into Valencia. Can you just imagine what would happen if Naples had those kinds of financial resources to stage such an event?'' Onorato said.
Asked how he expected to fulfill his dream, the Mascalzone chief replied: ''Well, the best way would be to first win the cup. And this is what we intend to do''.
Onorato announced last November that Mascalzone Latino would make its third bid for the America's Cup, but this may not take place until 2011.
This is because the Oracle team of the United States successfully fought in court against Alinghi's plans for the next cup and won the right to be the official challenger, scuttling any hopes of a multi-boat challenge as in the past.
Both Alinghi and Oracle have said that after their face-off the America's Cup would return to being a multi-challenger event and would be staged in Valencia, most likely in 2011.
According to Onorato, Alinghi is to blame for the turmoil in the America's Cup for trying to ''stack the deck'' in its own favor and refusing to compromise.
''It all started when Alinghi presented its protocol for the 33rd Cup which was, to be quite frank, embarrassing to the point of being ridiculous,'' Onorato said.
''They wanted to choose the race committee and the regatta judges. That would be the same in soccer as one of the two teams choosing the referee and linesmen,'' he explained.
Mascalzone Latino, which means 'Latin Rascal', made its debut in the America's Cup in 2003 in New Zealand, where it became the first boat to be eliminated in the Louis Vuitton Cup (LVC), which designated the official America's Cup challenger.
Alinghi later beat New Zealand to bring the cup to Europe for the first time.
The Swiss staged their defence of the cup in Valencia, which it chose over Naples, where Mascalzone Latino failed to make the LVC semifinals and came in sixth in the preliminary round robin standings.
Aside from the America's Cup, the Mascalzone Latino syndicate is competes in the Farr 40 boat series and for the past two years in a row has won the Rolex Farr 40 championship.
