Giovanni Soldini ‘s Multi70 (ITA) Maserati has crossed the finish line first in the 8th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race, finishing at 05:51:41 UTC in Grenada on Saturday 15 January to take Multihull Line Honours.
In second place, some distance behind follows Peter Cunningham’s PowerPlay skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, which starred on board british sailors Giles Scott (tactician for Ineos Team UK in the America’s Cup and winner of two Olympic gold medals in the Finn class) and Miles Seddon (who set the record on this route with Phaedo3 in 2015). Third on the line: Jason Carroll’s Argo skippered by Brian Thompson.
Skipper Giovanni Soldini sailed together with Vittorio Bissaro, Oliver Herrera Perez, Thomas Joffrin, Francesco Pedol and Matteo Soldini, in a wild ride across the Atlantic from Lanzarote to Grenada (2995 nautical miles), which saw the crew finish with a real time of 6 days, 18 hours, 51 minutes and 41 seconds. At the end of the competition, the trimaran put in 3476.5 real miles with an average speed of 21.4 knots. The timing will be ratified by the race organizers in the next few hours.
About Giovanni Soldini
Born in Milan on May 16 1966, Giovanni has been sailing since he was a small boy.
He has over 25 years of ocean racing to his credit, including two single-handed round the worlds (he won the Around Alone in 1999 and made history by also rescuing Isabelle Autissier, and finished second overall in the 1995 BOC Challenge), six Québec-Saint Malos (one victory in the monohull category), six Ostars (two victories in the 50’ and 40’ classes), three Transat Jacques Vabres (one victory in the 40’ class) and over 40 ocean crossings.
Soldini also set a slew of records aboard the VOR70 Maserati, not least on the Cadiz-San Salvador route(2012) and the New York-San Francisco Gold Route (13,225 miles in 47 days, 42’and 29”), other than participating in 2 editions of the Transpac Race, finishing second in the monohull class in the 2013 edition.
In 2014 he conquers the first place in the Cape2Rio, while setting the new record time at 10 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 57 seconds. The following year he participates in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, finishing in 4th position.
In 2016, after an intense three years aboard Maserati VOR70, Soldini and his Team embarked on a new adventure with Maserati Multi70, marking a return for the Milanese yachtsman to multihull sailing (he had previously competed in crew races with the 60’ trimaran Tim).
In 2018, aboard Maserati Multi 70, he conquered the Tea Route record from Hong Kong to London, sailing 15083 miles in 36 days, 2 hours, 37 minutes and 12 seconds. Later in the year he won Multihull Line Honours both in the Rolex Middle Sea Race (with an elapsed time of 2 days, 11 hours, 54 minutes and 58 seconds) and in the RORC Transatlantic Race (with an elapsed time of 6 days, 18 hours, 54 minutes and 3 seconds).
In 2019, he participated in February in the 11th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 aboard Maserati Multi 70, winning Multihull Line Honours and setting the new multihull record with a time of 1 day, 6 hours, 49 minutes and 0 seconds. In May he participated in the first edition of the CA 500 and, in July, in the 50th edition of the Transpac. In October, he participated in the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Nha Trang Rally.
In 2020, Giovanni Soldini and Maserati Multi 70’s Team participated in the Cape2Rio in January and in the RORC Caribbean 600 in February. In July they sail back to La Spezia, finishing the second trip around the world in 3 and a half years. In October they participate in the Rolex Middle Sea Race and conquer Line Honours, crossing the finish line in first place with an elapsed time of 2 days, 8 hours, 31 minutes and 31 seconds.
In 2021 he set five new records aboard Maserati Multi 70: Monaco-Saint Tropez (2 hours, 25 minutes and 44 seconds), Monaco-Porto Cervo (7 hours, 50 minutes and 44 seconds), Plymouth-La Rochelle (12 hours, 15 minutes and 21 seconds), the Channel record Cowes-Dinard (4 hours, 30 minutes and 49 seconds) and the Fastnet Original Course record (23 hours, 51 minutes and 16 seconds, becoming the first to complete the course in less than 24 hours).