© Tommaso Ausili
Press release n. 19 – New York-San Francisco Record
Milano, February 11th 2013
Unstable wind conditions for Giovanni Soldini and Maserati
900 miles left to reach San Francisco
The arrival is expected around February 15th
42 days after leaving New York, Giovanni Soldini and his team are sailing close-hauled in the trade winds, just 900 miles away from San Francisco, the final destination of thehistoric Golden Route. The arrival is expected around February 15th.
“Everything is fine aboard but we can’t wait to arrive” says Soldini. “There are less than 1000 miles to go but the wind isn’t stable: it’s passing from 6 to 12 knots and vice versa, making our sailing difficult and demanding. We are heading towards the center of the high pressure area positioned NW of San Francisco. Then we ‘ll tack towards the land. We are already dreaming of drinking an ice cold beer”.
“I am looking forward to this homecoming with pride and positive energy”, says American Ryan Breymaier. “It is great to have had the opportunity to undertake thisincredible voyage from one side of my country to the other. I am sure that we will have a very warm welcome from the people of San Francisco, just as we had before leaving New York six weeks ago. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to pass Cape Horn for the second time under sail, and to have had such a great boat, team and sponsor to do it with. Looking forward to getting a bit of rest and making plans for a third time!”.
Giovanni Soldini and Maserati have sailed more than 12.300 miles since their departure from New York on December, 31 2012. They are attempting to break the speed record on the historic Golden Route, set by Yves Parlier on board Aquitaine Innovations (57 days and 3 hours, monohull category).
At http://maserati.soldini.it you can follow Giovanni Soldini and his team’s navigation from New York to San Francisco almost live, 24 hours a day: videos and photos sent from aboard, news and comments form the crew members. At Cartography page, the position of Maserati isupdated every hour to experience the challenge of Soldini and his team surfing from home.
NEW YORK – SAN FRANCISCO RECORD STORY
The 13225 nautical miles that separate New York from San Francisco via Cape Horn, are an historic route, widely travelled by clippers that were involved in the goldrush starting from the second half of 1800. The best result of the time was set in 1854 by Flying Cloud, an exceptional vessel from the Boston shipyards, that reached San Francisco in 89 days and 21 hours, a record that stood for more than 130 years.
After several attempts by many boats, the 60-foot Thursday’s Child of Warren Luhrs arrived in San Francisco after 80 days and 20 hours in 1989. In 1994, Isabelle Autissier aboard Ecureuil Poitou took 62 days and 5 hours. Then, in 1998, Yves Parlier on board Aquitaine Innovations has dropped to 57 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes. This is the reference record for Giovanni Soldini and his crew who will try to beat it aboard the VOR70 Maserati, from the second half of December 2012.
The overall record in the multihull category belongs to Lionel Lemonchois that made thejourney in 43 days and 38 minutes aboard Gitana 13 in 2008.
The challenge is being sponsored by Maserati as main partner and inspiration for the boat’s name, by the Swiss bank BSI (Generali Group) and by Generali itself as co-sponsor.
MASERATI
Maserati’s support and participation in this majorItalian challenge in sport and technology confirms the company’s role as a world ambassador for that level of excellence for which Italy is universally known. Maserati gives zealous expression to that excellence every day in 65 countries worldwide, through successful high-quality cars like the Quattroporte, GranTurismo and GranCabrio. The performance of Maserati cars on the road matches that of Giovanni Soldini and Maserati on water.
BSI and Generali
BSI is one of Switzerland’s oldest banks andspecialises in private wealth management through top flight global management. BSI is a fully controlled member of the Generali Group, and fields a presence on all major international financial markets, especially in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Generali is one of the world’s largest international insurance groups with offices in over 60 countries. The group boasts a robust footprint in Europe, EEC member states, Asia and Latin America, serving over 70 million customers. The Generali Group is a European leader in life insurance with assets of over 400 billion euros.
Suppliers for the attempt include Vodafone Italia, responsible for providing telecommunication services and developing the official website, official time keeper Bulgari, and Boero Bartolomeo S.p.A. producers of the special paints and enamels used on the hull.
Maserati is also sponsored by Eataly, suppliers to the boat’s galley, Beta Utensili, who have provided all the professional tools, Corderia Lancelin, supplier of the special ropes and cables, FPT Industrial for technical assistance with the engines, Jeppesen for the cartography, B&G Navico for technical assistance with on-board instrumentation, Cantiere Picchiotti of La Spezia, home of Maserati on dry land, and the Port of La Spezia, home of Maserati when at sea.
