Alberto Bona’s debut at the Malouine-Lamotte on the Class 40 IBSA: “The speed is there.”

St. Malo – After qualifying for the Route du Rhum, Alberto Bona ‘s campaign toward the legendary solo regatta (starting next Nov. 6) continues at its best, constituting the first major goal of a long three-year plan.

Alberto debuted with a good eighth place in the first regatta Malouine Lamotte – solo and crewed together with Sam Manuard, the boat’s designer, and Nicolas Groleau its builder.The event was full of excitement and was an important time to tune in and get to know his Class40 IBSA better.

Alberto Bona, good first at the 40′
Malouine Lamotte

Only Italian to start the 40′ Malouine Lamotte, Alberto obtained two fifths and one 11th place in the three trials: a 24-hour “long” one and two shorter coastal ones, in which the goal was to test the hull, see it in action against opponents, and taste again, after so many months in the yard, the adrenaline of competition.

“We learned a lot ,” said Alberto Bona . As is always the case in these tests. We will improve and improve again, but the key element is about the performance of the boat: the speed is there. In the trials we were always in contact with the other boats, and this is the most important factor“.

Now the Class40 IBSA returns to La Trinité-sur-Mer, Alberto’s base of operations in the coming months, where he can continue to train, refine and engage on the small details that make big differences in racing.

The project

“Sailing into the Future. Together” began in January 2022; the partnership between IBSA and Alberto Bona was born on a common basis and values, and aims to use sailing as a corporate communication vehicle, towards the market and the boating world. Ingenuity, courage, innovation, and responsibility are elements that unite IBSA and Alberto, and the Route du Rhum challenge, in addition to the sporting competition, also metaphorically represents the company’s history, philosophy, and vision, which is always focused on the future and part of a path that brings IBSA ever closer to the theme of environmental and social sustainability, inclusion, and integration. The transatlantic regatta is the first stage of the three-year program “Sailing Into The Future. Together” that the Swiss pharmaceutical company has initiated with Bona.

The boat

The IBSA hull with which Alberto Bona will participate in November’s Route du Rhum is a state-of-the-art Class40 with a scow bow. Designed by French naval architect Sam Manuard and built by JPS Production shipyard, the boat is a Mach 5 model, the latest evolution of Manuard’s Class40s. The features: rounded bow, made with the aim of increasing performance in carrying gaits; water lines and appendages designed to make the hull a fast all rounder even upwind; large and protected cockpit to face sailing in positions as comfortable and safe as possible.

Skipper Alberto Bona

Alberto Bona , from Turin, graduated in philosophy. As a college student he won the Panerai Trophy with Stormvogel, a fast ULDB and historic boat with which he crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, winning the ARC with a New Zealand crew. In 2012 he participated in the Minitransat finishing 5th, one of the best Italian results ever in this category. In 2015 he switched to the Mini 6.50 prototype category with Promostudi La Spezia: he won the Italian championship and finished second in the Ocean crossing Les Sables – Azores. In 2017 he came to Class40: on Giovanni Soldini’s former Telecom Italia he participated in the Transat Jacques Vabres, where he was forced to retire when in sixth place.

In 2019 he is aboard the trimaran Maserati Multi 70, one of the fastest boats in the world, where he practices on foils before moving to the Figaro Beneteau 3, with which he participates in the Solitaire; the only Italian entered, he finishes 7th among rookies the first year and 16th overall in 2020. In 2021 he won the Italian offshore team title and won the Europeans in mixed doubles aboard Figaro 3. In 2022, the new project begins with the support of IBSA Group.

The multinational IBSA

IBSA(Institut Biochimique SA) is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company founded in 1945 in Lugano. Today it has a presence with its products in more than 90 countries on 5 continents and has 17 subsidiaries located in Europe, China and the United States. The company has consolidated sales of 800 million francs and employs more than 2,000 people between its headquarters, branches and production sites.

IBSA holds 90 families of approved patents and others in development and a broad portfolio of products that enables it to cover 10 therapeutic areas: reproductive medicine, endocrinology, pain and inflammation, osteoarticular, aesthetic medicine, dermatology, uro-gynecology, cardiometabolic, respiratory, and consumer health. It is also one of the world’s largest players in reproductive medicine and one of the world leaders in hyaluronic acid products. The pillars on which IBSA bases its philosophy are: Person, Innovation, Quality and Responsibility.