PHOTOGALLERY Once upon a time, Vento di Sardegna…

Do you recognize her? The colors have changed, but the profile is unmistakable. This is the former Wind of Sardinia: the boat with which Andrea Mura was to participate in the Vendée Globe, the solo round-the-world race on IMOCA 60s. The Sardinian sailor’s former dream now belongs to wealthy Dutch businessman Pieter Heerema (64 years old with experience on Dragons and RC44s): she has been renamed No Way Back and is yellow, white and blue after a restyling carried out at the CDK Technologies shipyards in Port-La-Forèt. Heerema, a layman of the oceans, will be coached by Michel Desjoyeaux for the Vendée, which will start from Les Sables d’Olonne on Nov. 6 this year. Below are photos of the boat (from the CDK Technologies Facebook page)

ONCE UPON A TIME SARDINIAN WIND

AS ALWAYS, A QUESTION OF MONEY
I wonder how Andrea Mura will feel, seeing his jewel in the hands of another sailor who can count on a penny of his ocean experience (but much greater economic resources). Below we tell you how, after having the bolide (designed by the Verdier/VPLP gurus) built at the Persico Marine shipyard in Nembro (Bergamo, Italy), one of the most advanced in the world, he was forced to put it up for sale due to lack of funds. Seeing the potential of the latest generation boat (equipped with foil) “le Professeur” Michel Desjoyeaux immediately took the opportunity to purchase it.

SEPTEMBER WE HAD TOLD YOU THE STORY LIKE THIS
You have a dream. You sweat tears and blood to reach it. And you see it shipwrecked when you thought you had made it. Who knows how Andrea Mura will feel now: Le Sarde Srl, a management company created to support the Sardinian sailor’s challenge to the Vendée Globe (the solo round-the-world race, the Everest of sailors), announces the sale of the IMOCA 60, designed and built specifically for this race. Goodbye Vendée, goodbye Jacques Vabre. Mura’s enthusiasm, his putting everything on the plate, his very high technical tare, and sympathy were not enough. He had once told us, “Once I am on the starting line, I have no problem, I can sail. I don’t fear the ocean. I fear the economic difficulties and the sacrifices to be made to participate in ocean races.”

We had heard from him in July, Andrea: the Sardinian skipper (winner of Ostar, Twostar, Route du Rhum and Quebec-Saint Malo, our 2014 Sailor of the Year)had “accused” the Sardinian region of abandoning him and told us that the Vendée Globe at risk.”

A BUDGET PROBLEM
And indeed, Le Sarde’s statement reads, “It was a difficult decision resulting from unsuccessful attempts to raise the remaining portion of the funds needed to support the 4-year sports program. Although Le Sarde had in fact found the necessary funds to build the boat, it was then not possible to identify a main sponsor in time for the set up and preparation for the 2015 Transat Jacques Vabre (starting at the end of October), a race valid for qualifying for the 2016 Vendée Globe″.

A JEWEL OF ITALIAN TECHNOLOGY
“An even more difficult decision,” the statement continues, “considering that this boat, a new IMOCA 60, is truly a jewel of Italian technology, built with innovative technologies, and that the Vendée Globe is an extraordinary vehicle of communication, unparalleled in the panorama of solo offshore racing. We are confident that the Italian IMOCA 60 will run the upcoming regattas at the highest level and we wish the best to the new team. Le Sarde Srl would like to thank the team of professionals who worked tirelessly and with incredible skills to prepare the boat, the Persico Marine shipyard that built yet another nautical jewel, the Verdier/VPLP designers, the Andrea Mura sailmaker who developed the sails for the boat, the Shore Team, the technical partners who had nonetheless believed in the success of the challenge, the press that always gave proper visibility to the various stages of the project (with a special mention for La Gazzetta dello Sport, MAIN Media Partner), and last but not least skipper Andrea Mura, who obviously does not give up and declares: “There is bitterness about this stop, but my nature always leads me to seek new challenges. Andrea Mura does not end with the Vendée project, I already have new competitive goals to reach and records to break.“.