Alberto Bona and IBSA win the 2023 Class40 championship

With 1,077 points gained in five regattas, Alberto Bona and IBSA close the Class40 Championship 2023 with a brilliant first place, followed by Ambrogio Beccaria (896 points) and Erwan Le Draoulec (807 points).

The Class40 title is much coveted and fought for: over the years, the trophy has been won by some of the leading ocean sailors, and is a milestone in any sailor’s prize record. It’s the third time in the history of this championship that an Italian sailor wins the Class40 title: Bona’s triumph comes 14 years after historic 2009 victory by Giovanni Soldini and after the title obtained by Pietro Luciani in 2019, as co-skipper with the French sailor Catherine Pourre.

The feat accomplished by Alberto Bona – skipper of the project Sailing into the Future. Together – is therefore destined to be historical, also because it includes the still unbeaten 24-hour speed record, which he achieved last June 29, during the regatta Les Sable-Horta-Les Sable: 430.47 miles covered in a single day.

“We achieved our first goal of the season”, commented Bona. “We accomplished a feat that only two years ago was only an ambition, a dream. This victory speaks of sporting performance, planning ability, joint team work, and great trust on the part of IBSA”.

“As partners of this project, we are very satisfied with this result”, remarked Giorgio Pisani, Vice President IBSA Group and Project Leader of Sailing into the Future. Together. “We entered the world of sailing less than 24 months ago, and today we achieved a victory that rewards long-term planning and work, all in line with the way of thinking and working of a corporation like IBSA. Alberto has grown a lot in these two years: he achieved excellent results, and led us to share his passion for sailing, which has also been expressed in other important projects, such as those dedicated to inclusive sailing”.

“To achieve this result, we worked very hard, carefully choosing the calendar and planning an intense and very long season. I share this first place with Pablo Santurde del Arco, my co-skipper, with whom I sailed all season: I intensely remember every mile covered and, even if the memories of the Transat Jacques Vabre are the most vivid and recent, the arrival of the Les Sables D’Olonne remains the best of this year, the epilogue of a perfect regatta and a great team work”, concluded Alberto.