A skilled and experienced crew of Italian and Spanish sailors will race alongside renowned Italian offshore yachtsman Giovanni Soldini on the Maserati Multi70 trimaran in the Transpacific Yacht Race – a 2,225-mile open ocean race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, Hawaii.
Six sailors will join Soldini aboard the Italian trimaran. Spaniards Carlos Hernandez and Oliver Herrera, and Italians Guido Broggi, Vittorio Bissaro, Francesco Malingri, will be joined by Italian industrialist John Elkann, who returns to the Maserati Multi70 crew.
“It takes a strong crew to race a boat like ours in a tough race like the Transpac,” Soldini said. “I’m confident we have the right people on board and we will do our best, as always”.
In a yacht racing career spanning 25 years Soldini has racked up victories in many of the world’s most prestigious ocean races and aboard the Maserati VOR70 monohull set the reference times for several iconic ocean passages.
Maserati Multi70 boat captain Guido Broggi has worked with Soldini since 1998, as both an on-shore ‘préparateur’ and a crew member on almost all of Soldini’s fully-crewed campaigns.
Vittorio Bissaro represented Italy in the Nacra 17 multihull class at the Rio 2016 Olympics. With a degree in aerospace engineering he has a unique perspective on how to get the best out of Maserati Multi70’s hydrofoils and towering sail plan.
Spaniards Oliver Herrera and Carlos Hernandez are both in-demand sailors on the professional yacht racing circuit. Herrera raced as bowman on board the Maserati VOR70 monohull and fulfils the same role on the Maserati Multi70 trimaran.
Hernandez also raced with Soldini aboard the Maserati VOR70 and was part of the Spanish MAPFRE crew in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race around the world.
Francesco Malingri is the team’s longstanding media man; capturing video and still images from on board the boat, right in the heart of the racing action.
Also on board for the race will be Italian industrialist and yachtsman John Elkann, chairman of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles – the group which owns the Maserati organisation. Elkann has sailed extensively with Soldini since 2009 and was on board for most of the Maserati VOR70 record attempts and races.
The crew recently arrived in Los Angeles aboard the Maserati Multi70 trimaran and this week will train on the water and make final preparations to the boat ahead of the Transpac multihull start on July 6.
