A new star is born: presented Alberto Riva’s Class 40 Acrobatica

It will be called Acrobatica, Alberto Riva’s Class 40, whose sports project was presented to the press in Genoa as part of a conference that outlined the Milanese sailor’s plans with the new boat. Acrobatic Construction will be the main sponsor, accompanying Alberto Riva starting with the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre, the transatlantic from Le Havre to Martinique in doubles, scheduled for late October.

Acrobatica is a sistership of Allagrande Pirelli, Ambrogio Beccaria’s Class 40, whose design, named Musa 40, is the work of Gianluca Guelfi and Fabio D’Angeli, designers among the nominees for Sailor of the Year 2023.

Class 40 Acrobatica – An Italian and Genoese Story.

It is no secret that Alberto Riva and Ambrogio Beccaria are close friends, so much so that Riva took an active part, as a boat preparer and crew member, in the Allagrande Pirelli project. With the arrival of Acrobatica, scheduled to be launched in early August, the two friends will become adversaries, but they will also team up by training together.

Alberto Riva’s Class 40 is also built by Sangiorgio Marine of Genoa led by Edoardo Bianchi, with a very Genoese team that will include the historic founder of the Mini class in Italy, Ernesto Moresino.

Class 40 Acrobatica – The protagonists speak

“Ever since I was a child, I’ve been fond of going to sea on a sailboat, and that’s where I found my dimension,” Alberto Riva recounted. “On the other hand, I’ve always enjoyed understanding how things work and finding creative solutions to technical problems. Boats are extremely complex machines from an engineering standpoint, and offshore sailing manages to bring together my two passions: engineering and sporting challenge. Today I am finally realizing my dream thanks to EdiliziAcrobatica, a company with which I have already participated in the 2021 Transat. With Riccardo Iovino we share the same passions for innovation and challenge, both sporting and entrepreneurial,” explained the navigator.

“I have known Alberto for some time now, and I was able to appreciate his courage, determination and foresight when with EdiliziAcrobatica we supported him at Minitransat 2021,” says Riccardo Iovino, CEO of Edilizia Acrobatica .

“Since then our bond has grown stronger and stronger, which is why when he told me about his project I decided to support it even more strongly than in the past: so today I greet this new adventure ‘Acrobatica,’ which also coincides with the rebranding of the company, which, starting in the French and Spanish markets, and from 2024 also in Italy, will be called Acrobatica. I am sure that this new adventure will also be extraordinary, as is Alberto, as are the men and women who are part of Acrobatica,” Iovino concludes.

“I am very satisfied with the performance of “Alla Grande – Pirelli,” the sister boat of “Acrobatica.” Fabio D’Angeli, one of the two designers, begins., “which has proven to be very fast in all wind conditions, so I’m sure “Acrobatica” will be as well, also because we have made improvements based on the returns of experience from the last regattas and some ergonomics customizations in tune with Alberto’s personality.”

Class 40 Acrobatica. The Differences with Allagrande Pirelli

Class40s are boats designed to take on the ocean even in extreme weather conditions. “Acrobatics” then features new formulas that are innovative compared to the class: the position of the mast, a cockpit with only 4 winches including 2 center winches that allow for faster maneuvering, and the rudders are tilting and automatically disengage towards the stern when there is a shock with a floating object.

Compared to the initial design, slight changes were made on “Acrobatics” to the appendages and new pulpits to better protect the deck from splashing water as well as improvements to the structure, reinforcements to make it even stronger and more reliable. Modifications also on the ergonomic side to allow for better weight placement and more functional management of the skipper’s energy.

The boat, as much as a fiberglass boat can be, is environmentally friendly: energy is generated from renewable sources; water is produced by a desalinator, which in turn is powered by renewable energy. In addition, “Acrobatica” will be a kind of boat-laboratory for dissemination initiatives and experiments for research carried out in collaboration with the University of the Balearic Islands and MIT, thanks to the synergy between Alberto Riva, a physical engineer and applied science enthusiast, and researcher Enrico Ser Giacomi.

Italian fleet teams up

The Italian challenge between Beccaria and Bona in the last Class 40 races has turned on the enthusiasm and spotlight on Italian sailing, now Alberto Riva’s project is added, but Andrea Fornaro will also soon announce a new boat, another Allagrande sistership. Italy will thus have lined up for the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre four Class 40s of the latest generation, something that has never been seen in the history of Italian sailing.

Four skippers who will be able to team up especially in training, rivals in racing, but allies ashore to aim for important goals. One thing is certain, we are going to see some great things.

Edited by Mauro Giuffrè