Azzurra is a

yacht racing Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or ...

team that competed in the America's Cup, the Audi MedCup and the

52 Super Series The 52 Super Series is a high-performance, monohull yacht racing circuit. The "Box Rule" associated to the TP 52 Class, means that boats must, literally, be able to fit within a box of certain dimensions. This means that there are no time allow ...

for the Italian

Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Yacht Club Costa Smeralda was established by the Aga Khan in 1967. It is situated at Porto Cervo in Costa Smeralda, northern Sardinia and provides services for recreational sailors. The club challenged for the 1983 America's Cup with ''Azzurra' ...

History

Funded by business magnate

Aga Khan IV Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...

and industrialist

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...

, and managed by businessman

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (; born 31 August 1947) is an Italian businessman, former Chairman of Ferrari, and formerly Chairman of Fiat S.p.A. and President of Confindustria and FIEG. He comes from an aristocratic family from the region of Piedmo ...

, Azzurra began to compete in 1982. They competed in the

1983 Louis Vuitton Cup The 1983 Louis Vuitton Cup The Louis Vuitton Cup was the name of the Challenger Selection Series sailing competition from 1983, named after its sponsor, Louis Vuitton. The winner of the competition became the challenger to compete with t ...

in Newport with ''

Azzurra Azzurra is a yacht racing team that competed in the America's Cup, the Audi MedCup and the 52 Super Series for the Italian Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. History Funded by business magnate Aga Khan IV and industrialist Gianni Agnelli, and mana ...

'' (I–4), but were not able to advance to the 1983 America's Cup. Aircraft manufacturer Ambrosini was involved in the construction of the yachts. Skippered by Cino Ricci and with

Mauro Pelaschier Mauro Pelaschier (born 29 April 1949) is an Italian sailor. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enter ...

at the helm, the original Azzurra team won 24 of 49 races and developed a large and loyal following in Italy. After finishing fifth in the 1985 World Championships with ''Azzurra II'' (I–8) Azzurra financed the construction of two more boats for the

1987 America's Cup The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-sixth challenge for the America's Cup. The American challenger ''Stars & Stripes 87'', sailed by Dennis Conner, beat the Australian defender ''Kookaburra III'', sailed by Iain Murray, in a four-race sweep ...

, '' Azzurra III'' (I–10) and ''Azzurra IV'' (I–11), and competed also in the

1987 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2nd Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1987. The winner, Stars & Stripes, went on to challenge for and win the 1987 America's Cup. Teams Twelve syndicates from six countries (Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand ...

reaching the round robins stage. In 2009 and 2010, the team sailed for the

Louis Vuitton Trophy The Louis Vuitton Trophy was a series of four match race regattas in International America's Cup Class boats, held between November 2009 and November 2010. The Louis Vuitton Trophy was organised after the success of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Se ...

, and was relaunched for the Audi MedCup and the

External links

Official website
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 America's Cup teams Sailing teams 1982 establishments in Italy