Alberto Bona and IBSA win the Class40 championship

With 1,077 points in five regattas, Alberto Bona and the Class40 IBSA close the 2023 season ranking with a brilliant first place, followed by Ambrogio Beccaria (896 points) and Erwan Le Draoulec (807 points). In the history of this championship, it’s the third time that an Italian sailor wins the Class40 title: Bona’s triumph comes 14 years after Giovanni Soldini’s historic victory in 2009, and the title obtained in 2019 by Pietro Luciani, shared with the French sailor Catherine Pourre.

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, a feat destined to be historical, also because it includes the still unbeaten24-hour speed record, which was 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”, remarked Giorgio Pisani, Vice President IBSA Group and Project Leader of Sailing into the Future. Together, “we are very satisfied with this result. 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”.