Vitamina Sailing set for the 52 Super Series 2025
by Vitamina Sailing 4 Feb 2025 07:14 NZDT
Vitamina Cetilar © Fabio Taccola
A 2025 full of exciting news awaits Vitamina Sailing, a team that has played a leading role in professional sailing for years, representing the Yacht Club Repubblica Marinara di Pisa with the support of their sponsor Cetilar®, a brand of the pharmaceutical company PharmaNutra.
After being involved last season in both the M32 and Club Swan 50 classes, this year Vitamina Sailing will compete in the 52 Super Series with the TP52 Alkedo powered by Vitamina, a boat designed by Botin Partners and built in Valencia by King Marine. Launched as Azzurra and later competing as Interlodge this TP52 is already familiar to sailing enthusiasts.
At the helm of Alkedo powered by Vitamina will be the experienced helmsman and team founder, Andrea Lacorte, who will be joined by a crew that includes the re-nowned New Zealand tactician Cameron Appleton - part of the victorious Emirates Team New Zealand during their defense of the America's Cup in 2000 and a 10-times World Champion - as well as Portuguese strategist Alvaro Marinho, a sailing star with four Olympic participations in his career.
Other crew members include Vitamina's Team Manager Matteo De Luca (bowman), Nicolò Sanfelici (navigator), Alberto Bolzan (trimmer), Stefano Ciampalini and Dave Armitage (trimmers), Massimo Gherarducci and Chris Brittle (grinders), Giovanni Bucarelli (assistant bowman), Arancia Malaspina (floater), Luke Molloy (runner), and Pablo Torrado (rigger).
The 52 Super Series consists of five events, starting in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera from April 29 to May 4. Subsequent stops will be in Baiona, Spain (June 2-7), Cascais, Portugal (July 1-6), the TP52 World Championship, Puerto Portals, Spain (August 18-23) and finally Porto Cervo, Sardinia, for the grand season finale from September 22 to 27.
Thirteen boats, representing 10 nations, will compete in this circuit, which has been running since 2012 and has consistently represented the pinnacle of professional sailing for privately owned yachts, thanks to its high-level organization - including live reporting and streaming of the races - and the impressive performance of the TP52s, top-class racing yachts.
It's been four years since an Italian boat competed in this prestigious circuit, follow-ing the success of Azzurra, the TP52 owned by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and helmed by Guillermo Parada and Alberto Roemmers, which concluded its campaign in 2020 with a victory.
With Alkedo powered by Vitamina - by the way, Alkedo is the name of an ancient Roman imperial vessel from the 1st century AD, a flagship of the fleet discovered in Pisa in 1998 during an excavation and now displayed at the Museo delle Navi Antiche in Pisa, located in the Medici Arsenals - Italy returns to this world's leading sailing circuit for non-foiling boats, marking a new milestone in the team's growth journey.
"The racing season ahead is a new challenge, of the highest level, complex but at the same time extremely exciting" says helmsman Andrea Lacorte. "The 52 Super Series is a top-tier circuit in every way, with crews who have been racing there for over 10 years, while we, in this specific context, are rookies, and we know very well that this year we will have to work hard, keeping our heads down and focusing primarily on improving our performance, race by race. The boat is beautiful and just as fast, we've given it a historic name that evokes a long maritime tradition, and we will be the only Italian crew, after several years of absence: it's a great responsibility, but also a huge source of pride. I'm sure that the entire crew, which always includes some of the historic members of Vitamina Sailing, will give 100% from the first to the last race".