'Sailing into the Future. Together': the project goes on

Launched last March 17, on the occasion of the 2022 edition of the Sport for Nature Awards, IBSA’s project Sailing into the Future. Together continues successfully. It consists in the sponsorship by IBSA of the construction of a Class40 boat, which will participate in several international solo regattas. At the helm of the endeavour will be skipper Alberto Bona, who has already started his preparation for the prestigious Route Du Rhum – Destination Guadalupe, scheduled for November.

Alberto has in fact recently concluded the 19^th edition (2022) of the Solo Maître CoQ, the first regatta that opened the Championnat Figaro de France Elite de Course au large. He competed alone, on an IBSA-branded Figaro Beneteau Class: a challenging training opportunity, which allowed him to work on his physical and mental preparation, while competing with a different boat from the one he will use in the Route du Rhum.

PREPARATION AS A TEAM WORK

For a sailor, preparation does not only mean physical training, but also managing mental and emotional issues. Regattas can last several days and nights, even weeks in the longer championships, and this adds up to the constant pressure of racing and competing. And – in Alberto Bona’s case – solo.

On land, however, Alberto is certainly not alone, followed as he is by a team of trained and competent people; like Sidney Gavignet, technical manager, coach and mental trainer who, in the recent Solo Maître CoQ, supported Alberto in doing his best considering, for example, that competing with the Figaro3 involves more melee and greater stress, due to the shorter duration of the race, than long crossings such as the Route Du Rhum. The challenge, in the case of the Solo Maître CoQ, was harder, concentrated as it was in 4-5 days: it was therefore essential to maintain an adequate psychophysical balance.

Also essential, in Alberto’s team, is the support of athletic trainer Andrea Madaffari, who helps the skipper develop and maintain his muscular and physical state. Andrea follows Alberto with a daily “on land” preparation, to be carried out even before setting sail. In fact, a sailor does not train only on board, pulling, hauling and hoisting: precisely because only certain movements are performed on a boat, the athletic trainer makes sure that the skipper follows compensatory activities for all muscle groups.

SAILING AS A METAPHOR FOR IMPROVEMENT

IBSA embraced this new adventure because it believes in sustainability – of which sailing is the expression par excellence – and in the values ​​of sport. Alberto Bona’s sports enterprise will launch the company towards new opportunities to be close to people and to promote environmental and social sustainability initiatives. At the same time, the project expresses the philosophy that permeates the company, leading it towards a continuous improvement, for itself as well as for the people it wants to be close to.

Sailing into the Future. Together is a journey that embodies IBSA’s values, while telling the story of a company that accepts new challenges with commitment, capability, resources and innovation, navigating towards the future without ever losing sight of the route set, as Alberto Bona himself tells us in this video shot last March 17, on the occasion of the 2022 edition of the Sport for Nature Awards: