“Italians in the Volvo Ocean Race? It can be done, aboard Azzurra.”

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s 2015 sports season presentation conference was an opportunity to have a chat with YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo, the man who in 1983 headed the consortium of companies that supported Azzurra’s America’s Cup campaign, which popularized sailing in Italy. We know about Bonadeo’s old passion for going around the world, so we asked him about the possibility for an Italian team to take part in the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Watch the video below, “We will try our best, we are in dialogue with big Italian companies interested in the project. Along with us, the Italian Yacht Club and Canottieri Aniene are also working hard. One certainty, the boat will be called Azzurra.” It would be a great way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of YCCS in 2017…

BONADEO: “ITALY AT THE NEXT VOLVO? YES, WITH AZZURRA”

FOR VOLVO NEEDS A BIG NAME TO BE A “DRIVING FORCE”
An ambitious goal with a high sporting content and capable of conveying Italian excellence, both in sailing and in companies, on a global scale, given the media impact of the VOR. “But,” warns Bonadeo, “we will have to be inspired by what happened with Azzurra in ’83, where big names like Gianni Agnelli and the Aga Khan acted as a ‘driving force’ in finding sponsors. We need a big company to give the go-ahead.” But, someone points out, most of the crew of the current Azzurra, the TP52 (by the way, the launching of the new hull in Valencia soon) that is performing well on international circuits, is made up of foreigners. “Should we succeed in sending Azzurra to Volvo, we will have a completely Italian team,” the Commodore assures. And so already the “toto Volvo” is starting, with one name above all: Giovanni Soldini?

ANDREA MURA AT VENDEE WITH AZZURRA?
Speaking of going around the world: 2016 will see the start of the Vendée Globe (circumnavigation of the globe without stopovers or stages) that will have Andrea Mura among its protagonists, aboard the new IMOCA 60 under construction at the Persico shipyards in Nembro (Bergamo). The Sardinian navigator let it be known that he would like to race under the Azzurra name: “Again, we are working hard as YCCS to be able to give Andrea maximum support.”

THE YCCS SPORTS CALENDAR