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).
In 2022 he won the RORC Transatlantic Race Line Honour and finished second in the RORC Caribbean 600; in the Mediterranean, he won the Three Gulfs Race and qualified third in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Alongside the sporting activity, he had an important program of transformation of the trimaran that is now equipped with a full electric system and sails in total energy autonomy.
Photo © Alberto Origone
