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Alberto Bona and the Class40 IBSA Go to USA and CanadaAfter a thorough overhaul in the shipyard to prepare the boat for the 2024 transoceanic races, the third season of the Class40 IBSA will start with two monumental tests, scheduled between April and July. As holder of first place in the international Class40 Circuit and the 24-hour Class40 distance record, both achieved during the 2023 season, Alberto Bona is getting ready to participate in the Transat CIC, to be held between April and May, and in the Transat Québec Saint-Malo, scheduled between June and July, to then complete the season with the Normandy Channel Race. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240202006265/en/ "We called it the season of courage", stated Giorgio Pisani, Vice President IBSA Group and Leader of the project Sailing into the Future. Together. "But it will also be the season of maturity, for both Alberto and our project. In 2023 we achieved great sporting results, but also human ones, thanks to the commitment, consistency and resolution in completing the objectives we had set for ourselves. The 2024 season promises to be exciting: behind us, we have the experience that we strategically need to best manage the planned programme, while in our hearts is the courage to face any challenge, with the enthusiasm of the first day". "This third season with the Class40 IBSA", commented Bona, "opens with a legendary regatta. I have enormous respect for this course, which I have never done; it's a new challenge for me: a challenging route in the North Atlantic, in the first months of the season, very difficult due to wind, sea and current conditions. We are making some changes to the boat, in order to be best prepared for this first solo transoceanic. It's important work", continued Alberto, "which requires time and accurate assessments. On paper, it's the most difficult regatta I have ever done. A beautiful adventure, also for IBSA, with a season that will take us to America and on less travelled routes; a season which I hope will be greatly satisfactory for everyone. I used to dream with the great navigators' stories of the OSTAR, and I didn't think that one day I would be able to do it myself... especially with a Class40!". The season will begin on April 28, with the Transat CIC, the new name of the oldest transoceanic regatta, the first edition of which took place in 1960. Then it was called the OSTAR; later it was renamed 1 Star and today is simply known as The Transat. Legendary names in ocean sailing have won it, from Sir Francis Chichester to Eric Tabarly. "This Transat is also the regatta in which the world discovered the great talent of Ellen MacArthur, who made her debut at just 23 years of age in this very difficult race", recalled Bona. "It's a solo regatta for which I have great expectations. I'm happy to go back to solo sailing after a season spent entirely with a crew. After the 2022 Route du Rhum, finding myself alone on the Class40 IBSA with so much more experience and knowledge of the boat is a great challenge". Anticipation is huge, after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the pandemic: the regatta will therefore start again from the 15th edition, eight years after the previous one. The race will depart from Lorient, Brittany, on April 28 (the village will start celebrating on April 23), and arrive in New York, after over 3,000 miles of solo sailing. There will be a maximum of 80 boats at the start: 25 Class40s, 35 IMOCAs, 10 Ocean Fiftys and 10 vintage sailing boats, with registrations closing on January 31. The Class40 IBSA is automatically qualified, thanks to her participation in the 2022 Route du Rhum. Sailing under the Statue of Liberty will certainly be a great thrill, as will be carrying the Class40 IBSA even further north, up to Canada, with an unforgettable 1,200 mile journey that will lead to the second, and equally legendary, challenge - the Transat Quebec Saint-Malo, one of the few Atlantic regattas sailed "in reverse", from West to East, crossing the Northern waters and navigating for over 300 miles along a river, the St. Lawrence, in Canada. Now in its 10th edition - it also did not take place four years ago, due to COVID - and dedicated to the Ultim, Class40, IMOCA, Ocean Fifty and Mono and multihull categories between 45 and 65 feet, the Québec Saint-Malo is a regatta for a crew of three. Sailors will start on June 30 and - after dealing with the waters of the North Atlantic - will land in Saint-Malo, where three years ago everything began for the Class40 IBSA, with the departure for the Route du Rhum. "After the Quebec Saint-Malo", concluded Alberto, "we will be back in the La Trinité shipyard to get ready for the last event of the year, the Normandy Channel Race. These three regattas will, I hope, allow us to defend our Class40 championship title. It will be another challenging season for everyone, with thousands of miles behind and hopefully with more good results".
For more information visit www.ibsasailing.com/en/
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240202006265/en/ |