Alla Grande is setting sail

Ambrogio Beccaria is ready to set rail aboard Alla Grande, his Class40 sailing boat that is Italian to the core and was built with the help of Mapei as Global Sponsor.

The vessel was launched in Calata Gadda in the heart of Genoa old city port under the watchful eye of the team that has helped the sailor undertake this ambitious project and an exceptional godmother, Roberta Oriani, mother of Ambrogio. The boat, designed by Gianluca Guelfi in partnership with Fabio D'Angeli, will be transferred to Sicily over the next few days ready for the forthcoming edition of the Palermo-Montecarlo regatta.

Alla Grande is an avant-garde, high-performance, safe vessel designed for ocean sailing and ready to sail solo around the world. This vocation for innovation and constant commitment to scientifically-driven research were an instant hit with Mapei.

"Alla Grande is like a spaceship! - so Ambrogio Beccaria told - I am really pleased. Together with Guelfi we chose a boat out of the forty we analysed that was the easiest to sail in tricky conditions and handled the best. Furthermore, we designed the sails before designing the boat, which meant we knew exactly what kind of boat Alla Grande would be.

We constantly combined Guelfi's scientific approach with my more empirical input. I wanted a boat that could fly across the water without a foil, i.e. a boat whose bow is always out of the water. I hope I succeeded! Now we will put it to the test out at sea. "

This first adventure is the culmination of six months’ work at Edoardo Bianchi's new SanGiorgio Marine shipyard. The work involved a team of ten people captained by Gianluca Guelfi and Fabio D'Angeli together with Alberto Ferrari, the shipyard manager, Alberto Riva, an ocean sailor who took care of the on-board electronics, Tommaso Stella, in charge of the ropes in partnership with Gottifredi and Maffioli, Bernardo Zin, the boat captain, who oversaw all the construction operations and organisation of the work, and Albane Seassau, who was in charge of the safety equipment and systems.

Mapei is proud to be involved in this maiden voyage and hopes Ambrogio will have the wind behind him in the firm belief that that everything will go great (Alla Grande)!