Alberto Bona and the Class40 IBSA cross the finish line of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo in 6th position

A DIFFICULT AND EXCITING TEST

A great sporting feat, that brought the Class40 IBSA from the St. Lawrence River in Canada up to the deep North, among almost frozen seas and whales, 350 miles from Greenland, and then down at dizzying speeds to Portugal, to then enter the English Channel and sail along Brittany until the finish line.

“It was a very fascinating test”, recalled Alberto. “For the first time I sailed so far North that the sea had a very particular colour, a deep blue; it was dense and full of life, with whales following us for hours on end. A new experience, one that I am very satisfied with. In less than 15 days we saw all the landscapes and weather conditions of our hemisphere: from the river to the ice, from the central Atlantic to the English Channel, from calm to storm. Not an easy adventure to face”.

What defined the regatta from a sporting point of view was the choice to undertake a Northerly route at the exit of the Newfoundland banks.

“After the little wind of the first five days”, reported Bona, “with uncertain weather and forecasts, we let ourselves be seduced by the option of heading far North to navigate the great lows. A choice which, in sporting terms, turned out to be riskier than expected, since those who had remained on a more conventional route could count on a more straightforward route, with fewer miles to travel and still a good wind”.

Last July 8 the instruments indicated a 240-mile gap, but calculations on board were even worse, with a potential gap from head of the fleet of 400 miles: “An unacceptable condition in a regatta”, commented Bona, “which led us to react; and we did it well”.

COURAGE, COMMITMENT, CLEVERNESS AND CHANCE

On dry land it would be called resilience; in the midst of the ice and chased by whales it is called courage and determination: Alberto Bona finds a depression that was forming, hooks up with it and rides it; an upwind beat is born in the middle of a storm that allows the Class40 IBSA to recover over 200 miles in three days, intercept the fleet and get back into the game, pointing the bow back towards the Channel.

On the afternoon of July 9, terrible news shakes the entire fleet: Alberto Riva’s Class40 Acrobatica has almost sunk following a collision with a cargo ship. The boat drifts and the crew is saved by the same freighter, which disembarks them in the Azores.

“These are terrible things”, commented Bona, “and when it happens every navigator’s biggest nightmare materialises, but we are truly relieved to know that the crew is safe”.

However, the race continues and, having rounded the small Breton Island of Ouessant, after 2,800 miles the fleet enters the English Channel and the first ten boats find themselves less than twenty miles apart from each other.

The competitive spirit takes over, the last hundred miles are a naval battle: the Class40 IBSA wins her last duel, gains one more position and presents herself at the Saint-Malo finish line in sixth position.

A SPECTACULAR ARRIVAL

The last beat, with a flat sea and twenty knots of wind, is a pure spectacle for the public gathered on the finishing line, along the port breakwater: the race ends where the sea ends, in the Bay of Saint-Malo, where the great explorer Jacques Cartier, to whom the regatta is dedicated, returned home at the end of the 16^th century after discovering the island of Newfoundland.

“The entire IBSA”, announced Antonio Melli, Vice President of IBSA Group, “followed this regatta with great interest, the difficulties experienced by the crews, the withdrawals and the wreck. Seeing that our Class40 – with Alberto Bona, Pablo Santurde del Arco and Luca Rosetti – completed the feat with an excellent result is a great satisfaction. We saw the commitment and determination, and we are honoured to have been protagonists of this regatta, which inspired all of us deeply: a great sporting and human undertaking”.