Tuesday 25 September 2007

The Afterguard - Back To The 'Fuxia'

To many of our readers it might seem a simple enough thing to do, but there are days when keeping The Afterguard abreast of happenings in the America's Cup is just plain arduous.

Today, however, isn't one of those days...

Sadly too late to meet our weekend deadline for our interview with Fuxia Challenge's Institutional Relations Director, Paolo Rivelli, we are extremely pleased to have the following statement (reproduced as written) on behalf of Fuxia Challenge's Patroness, the beautiful Ornella Muti:

The Afterguard's loyalty to TEAMORIGIN is sorely tried:
Miss Ornella Muti

Ornella Muti
Photo © 2007 www.ornellamuti.it

"It is wonderful for Miss Muti to partake of this event - It flatters her and she is so happy to be involved - how could she say no to an all-female challenge like this? The colour of the event inspires me!!! She is deeply in love with this project and will be doing everything to be useful to the team"

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this is wonderful news. Similar initiatives took place in the past in different sports (i.e. there was a frustrated all-female team at the "24 heures de Le Mans" in car racing).
However, "this is a man's world" as the song says. And I'm not talking about an endurance issue: I'm talking about sponsors and other commercial aspects.
Supporting a team like this would be a great idea in terms of marketing, communication and brand awareness. But once in the water, above all, you want them to win... And there you go: you need expertise, know-how and muscles. Tons of muscles. Especialy if the upcoming 90ft box rule seems to be as tough as expected, 21 "iron-men" won't be enough!

The Editor said...

Hi Brian,

You might well be right, the new rule is likely to be more demanding than ever... perhaps it's all the greater a design challenge to give Fuxia Challenge a fighting chance?

We'll just have to see how it all goes - Fuxia have a lot to achieve in only a little time before they even reach the water.

Anonymous said...

But Ornella Muti is LUISA RIVELLI and Paolo Rivelli who is really? Perhaps her brother?
I am an italian woman and I think that is very ridiculous.

The Editor said...

Thank you for your comment. We do not believe Ornella Muti and Paolo Rivelli are as closely related as you suggest, but related indeed they are. Ornella's real name is clearly published on her website.

The Fuxia campaign is strongly based on marketing strategy; is there anything intrinsically wrong in using family ties to leverage more media coverage?

Anonymous said...

ornella muti is the most wonderful woman in the world.....BRAVI!!!!!