Italian Mini GP, bona wins with oceanic detachment: here are the secrets of her proto

Twenty-one minors were involved in the tenth edition of the Grand Prix of Italy Mini 6.50 – Coppa Alberti, a regatta organized by the Yacht Club Italiano that ran on the approximately 500-mile Genoa-Gallinara-Bocche di Bonifacio-Giannutri-Genoa route. The news is not so much in the victory, among the Protos, of Promostudi La Spezia’s Alberto Bona and Tommaso Stella, but in the gap the two were able to grind out over the rest of the fleet. They crossed the finish line a full 99 miles ahead of the other boats, an abysmal distance, taking 3 days, 14 hours and 30 minutes, an all-time record for the event.

THE SECRET? AN “UPDATED” SUPERBOAT
The secret lies in the experience of the skippers (especially Bona, three Mini Transats behind him), but also in the boat. Promostudi La Spezia 756 is none other than Andrea Caracci’s former Speedy Maltese, designed by Sam Manuard a few years ago. But it is a completely converted boat. Taking care of the “refit” (reductive to call it that) were the guys from Skyron Lab Design, a design studio based in La Spezia consisting of young designers, engineers, and graphic designers and specializing in pattern making and prototyping.

Skyron director Nicola Gerin had revealed the boat’s secrets to us some time ago: “With Alberto the research and development program began in March 2014,” he told us, “at a meeting in La Spezia, and from there on the project became increasingly solid and structured, thanks in part to a well-distributed commitment between the parties. The changes to be made to the boat will concern the keel and its handling, and the bow appendages, the daggerboards, which will be the real novelty, one cannot say more… ″. In terms of ergonomic study, special attention was paid to the outdoor sleeping area in order to better accommodate short sleep breaks during the crossing. The use of an ergonomic cradle ensures skipper comfort in all conditions. Current maneuvers are also designed to facilitate sail changes and steering aboard.