It squeaks when there is little wind and roars when it sails to the limit”, it was said of the schooner that in 1851 defeated the British squadron. Design and technology have been –with the permission of the sailors– the key piece that has made the difference since the origins of this mythical event. “Knowing what the other teams are doing and spying on them has also always been part of the history of the America’s Cup,” acknowledges Dan Bernasconi, designer, Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) technical director and creator of the anti-espionage program, which has been running for years. one year. A design change can be definitive, the winning card. Hence the extreme discretion of all the teams in the development of their boats and at the same time, the interest in knowing what the competitors are doing.

“Each team had always had its own spies,” explains Bernasconi. Nothing illegal. The sea is free and no one can be prohibited from sailing, jumping into the water and taking photos and videos, even diving, “but it was ridiculous and could even be dangerous… if there were six teams, each boat was chased by five… It was crazy and it was also very expensive,” he adds. The defending team that has the power to set the rules considered doing something about it after the victory in Auckland in 2021.

And that was how the head of the team of designers (made up of 85 engineers and technicians) and specialized in hydrodynamics and performance optimization got down to work. Beyond the confidentiality contracts signed by engineers, mechanics, sailors and every last member of each team, the anti-espionage plan pursued a double objective: on the one hand, to avoid persecution during training and on the other, to provide information not only to the participants, but also to the fans of the Copa del América. Having images would encourage interest and expectation for a regatta that is held every three or four years. “There were channels to follow the day to day of the competition but then until the next appointment there was almost nothing… we also wanted to engage the public and it was difficult if we didn’t have anything to offer…”, says Bernasconi.

The program launches a new figure: the recon or, in other words, the official spy. One per team, who follows the training and sends the images and an interview to the central base, until now in Auckland and then in Barcelona, ??where they are edited and distributed. In this way, the defender, the challengers of the Cup and the general public can follow the day to day of each team. The system was launched a year ago and the result is evident, with a greater impact on networks, the media and specialized channels.

Bernasconi drew the rules of the anti-espionage program. Who better to protect the work of engineers and designers? He, who has directed the technical team of Emirates Team New Zealand that in 2017 won the America’s Cup against the Gate Yacht Club and who defended it in 2021 in Auckland against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. He knows the dedication that the development of these boats requires to risk being copied.

Bernasconi worked as an engineer at Maclaren, where he spent six years, when he sent letters to various America’s Cup teams: “I had always wanted to work with boats… but only Alinghi answered me and it was to tell me that the only way to enter was doing a doctorate in Mathematical and Aerodynamic modeling”, he says. He wanted to change and enrolled in Cambridge. He finished his doctorate in 2007, six months before the Valencia Cup, in which he participated with the German team and then joined Alinghi, with whom he participated in the 2010 edition. After the Swiss decision to stop , in 2011 he signed for ENTZ, although he is still involved in the company he co-founded, SumToZero, which develops foil and yacht design software used by most of the America’s Cup teams.