THE SECOND SEASON OF SAILING INTO THE FUTURE. TOGETHER IS ABOUT TO START

The second, ambitious regatta season of IBSA’s project Sailing into the Future. Together is about to be launched. After the great feat of 2022, which saw Alberto Bona face the legendary Route du Rhum aboard the brand new Class40 IBSA, the 2023 programme includes a busy and demanding calendar, with over 13,000 miles of navigation, six races and a new crew line-up. New horizons to sail towards, once again in the name of IBSA’s pillars – Person, Innovation, Quality and Responsibility – with the aim of making people reflect upon the issues of environmental and social sustainability, inclusion and integration.

“We are ready for a new sporting season, which – while definitely being very demanding – we are sure will also give us great emotions”, stated George Pisani, Vice President Southern Europe of IBSA and Leader of the project Sailing into the Future. Together. “The Route du Rhum was a crucial test bench, an experience that allowed us to test not only the new Class40 IBSA, but our entire team. We now start 2023 with even greater enthusiasm for the competitions awaiting Alberto and his new crew, united and determined to do better and better”.

The RORC Caribbean 600, on February 20 –Here is the first appointment, an extraordinary 600-mile “slalom” between the Caribbean islands, departing from and finishing in Antigua, starting next Monday. It will be the official debut of the Class40 IBSA in a crewed regatta. Alberto Bona will indeed be racing together with his friend-opponent Luke Berry, a French sailor who knows the boat perfectly well, as owner of no. 1 project of Sam Manuard’s Mach 5, with team manager Luca Bertacchi and with Spanish sailor Pablo Santurde del Arco, who will be a member of the team also in the next competitions.

“Atlantic Challenge”(Défi Atlantique), on April 1 –After the RORC 600 – and with a view to sustainability – the Class40 IBSA will return to Europe to participate in the two-leg regatta, Guadeloupe-Horta (Azores Islands)-La Rochelle. With 3,500 miles of navigation in about 20 days, the Défi Atlantique will be the first oceanic test bench of 2023, one in which Alberto will compete together with Pablo and a third sailor, still to be selected.

Normandy Channel, on June 4 – In June, the Class40 IBSA will be the protagonist of one of the most complex and fascinating regattas for North-loving sailors. The Normandy Channel is a 1,000-mile regatta for a crew of 2 – with Alberto Bona and Pablo Santurde on board – starting and finishing in Caen, a route between lighthouses, capes and islands in the Celtic Sea, with breath-taking views and challenging conditions.

Les Sables-Horta-Les Sables, on June 27 –At the end of June,another 3,000 miles for Alberto and Pablo, who will participate in the two-leg ocean regatta, to be completed in about two weeks.

Rolex Fastnet Race, on July 22 –Just one week after finishing the last race, Alberto, Pablo and a third crew member will take part in the legendary Rolex Fastnet Race, one of the toughest, most iconic and best-loved regattas for sailors from all over Europe, departing from Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, Great Britain, and finishing in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France.

Genoa Boat Show and Barcolana, September 21 and October 8 – The end of the summer will be used for training and test regattas and will see the presence of Alberto Bona at the two main Italian nautical events.

Transat Jacques Vabre, October 29 –Finally, the second half of 2023 will be dedicated to the great objective of the season, an event eagerly awaited by all European ocean sailors. Starting from Le Havre on October 29, the regatta will end in Martinique, after 4,250 miles of navigation with a crew of two.

“It will be a demanding season, one which I would define “herculean”, also considering that we will go far north twice,stated skipper Alberto Bona.“Many ocean sailors will make the same choices I made in terms of calendar, and therefore there will be more opportunities to compete and improve. The Route Du Rhum left me with great determination and a desire to improve myself. These months we have been working a lot on the boat, the sails, the electronics. We will make further improvements and we will all work hard to have a well-functioning team, one characterised by important additions, compared to last season. Thirteen thousand theoretical miles is a lot aboard a Class 40, but I have only one thing to say: I have an incredible desire to start and make the Class 40 IBSA run”.