A-Cup crew positions

(Valencia, April 3rd 2007) Below is the crew list for the Luna Rossa Challenge 2007 on the first day of racing in Act 13. What stood out was that there were seventeen people on the boat, with 5 of them in the afterguard. That’s nearly 30% of the team in ‘thinking’ positions, and the other 2/3 in ‘doing’ positions.

Here a Curmudgeon’s Observation from the past:
Committee meetings - Dark alleys into which good ideas are led and strangled

Crew
Skipper - Francesco de Angelis
Helmsman - James Spithill
Tactician - Torben Grael
Navigator - Michele Ivaldi
Afterguard - Ben Durham
Traveller* - Francesco Bruni
Runners - Magnus Augustson
Main Trimmer - Jonathan McKee
Main Grinder - Gilberto Nobili
Trimmer - Joey Newton
Trimmer - Christian Kamp
Grinder - Emanuele Marino
Grinder - Andrew Taylor
Mast / Pit - Simone de Mari
Sewer - Shannon Falcone
Mid-Bow - Massimiliano Sirena
Bow - Alan Smith

* When we saw a position called the ‘traveller’, we figured that the mainsheet traveller on an America’s Cup boat was such that it needed a dedicated person to adjust it. Now we understand that is only partly true. As is the case with each position on the typical AC two-boat team, there are at least two people who can man it, providing adequate back-up for injury, illness, rest, or performance. On the Luna Rosa team, the ‘traveller’ job is also handled by American Andy Horton, and the position’s responsibility includes being the ‘weather spotter’ at the top of the mast on light days or manning the mainsheet traveller and standing behind the helmsman with the tactician when the wind and/or wave conditions do not allow someone to be up there. In ACUP parlance, 'traveller' is the noun form for 'travel' as in one who travels up the mast or to the back of the boat.