The Milanese skipper: “This boat is the result of a collective effort of great value, of which we are all proud”. In his place there will be room for Enrico Voltolini
It’s a bolt from the blue for what is certainly the largest technical project in the history of Italian sailing. Giovanni Soldini, our most successful skipper in ocean racing, leaves the scene from Ferrari Hypersail, the 100-foot ‘flying’ monohull – over 30 meters – which has as its goal all the major speed records. The official Ferrari note, it cannot be otherwise, leaves room for the most diverse interpretations, starting from the phrase “with this first phase, Giovanni Soldini’s commitment concludes”. Then there is the president John Elkann (personal friend and sailing companion of the Milanese skipper) who thanks the team principal who is leaving the group: “Ferrari Hypersail is a project that requires different skills in its various phases of development. My most sincere thanks go to Giovanni for the competence and dedication with which he led the first phase of the project”.
GREETINGS
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And Soldini can only align himself, regardless of his real thoughts. “The Ferrari Hypersail project was born from a shared path, built day after day through dialogue and collaboration between different skills, which were able to enhance each other. For me it was a great privilege to participate in this adventure – says the Milanese skipper – I would like to sincerely thank John Elkann for his trust and for involving me in this exciting project, Benedetto Vigna, Ferrari and the Hypersail team for having faced the many technical challenges together, and all the people who worked on the shipyard for their dedication and passion: this boat is the result of a collective effort of great value, of which we are all proud.” We were talking about interpretations. Soldini is not making any comments for the moment and is not surprising, knowing him. The last public outing with Ferrari Hypersail – expected at an event during the upcoming Milan Design Week where the livery will be revealed – was for a meeting with the technical partner Boero Vernici who studied a special ‘cover’ for the boat. To many, the 60-year-old navigator seemed less brilliant and enthusiastic than when it was launched at the end of June, right in Maranello. But they are sensations, it being understood that radio-banchina tells of different visions between the group of Cavallino technicians – making their debut in a nautical enterprise, this also counts – and the sailing component, led by Soldini and the designer Verdier.
Faces coming soon
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These are not certainties but it is striking that in the new chapter – the Ferrari note clearly states – the sailing reference person is no longer defined as team principal but project leader: it is Enrico Voltolini, a 37 year old from La Spezia adopted by Genoa, who already worked in the program and from a technical point of view has superior experience to that of Soldini as a nautical engineer and an important curriculum both in the Olympic classes and in the America’s Cup where he raced on Luna Rossa in the last two editions. At Ferrari they underline that “his profile combines engineering skills and experience at sea, in line with the validation needs of the boat”. Voltolini’s choice is undoubtedly valid, but it is clear that the strictly competitive front remains open where no one, given his oceanic experience, could be the right man at the right time like Giovanni Soldini. Having said that the project can still count on an extraordinary designer such as the transalpine Guillaume Verdier and a famous sailor such as the Australian Glenn Ashby (a great multihull specialist and now involved in the Sail GP), the loss of the Milanese skipper is not one of those light ones both for his oceanic history which seemed perfect for the objectives of the boat and because the Soldini-Ferrari combination was certainly out of the ordinary, ideal for the image and for a project that promises to be technically revolutionary and therefore complicated to manage. During the Milan Design Week, when the livery of the boat will be revealed, we will understand – perhaps – the real technical times which envisaged the launch by the end of 2026 and a long period of testing.
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