As part of its summer "Ecochic" tour Lancia has hosted a day and night's events on the sailing-ship Signora del Vento that focused on style, and fused the ship's elegance with a fashion emphasis, and saw the attendance of Italian sporting stars.

As part of its summer "Ecochic" tour Lancia has hosted a day and night's events on the sailing-ship Signora del Vento that focused on style, and fused the ship's elegance with a fashion emphasis, and saw the attendance of Italian sporting stars.

Lancia has been focusing on its new environmentally-conscious model line-up, branded under the "Ecochic" name, with a series of initiatives this summer including for the third year running its Riccione Vyp – No Stress Zone initiative at the busy Adriatic holiday resort town of Riccione where this year the main protagonist of this busy promotion is the new Ypsilon Ecochic, with a fleet of sixty of these new models ferrying guests around the area. At the same time fifty Musa Ecochic cars are once again in action during the third edition of Forte dei Marmi Vip – All Area Access which is taking place in the Tuscan town of Forte dei Marmi, zipping along the seafront and the 'in' bars and restaurants, at the service of tourists, to help to eliminate the traffic jams typical of the summer months and remove the “holiday stress” they can cause.

This latest initiative focused around the Signora del Vento, a three-masted sailing vessel with more than 3.000 sq. meters (32.000 sq. feet) of sails. Built in Poland in 1962, she had been sailing the Northern Seas for 30 years. Beginning from the nineties the vessel has been used as a school ship worldwide, taking part in countless rallies for sailing ships. S.I.N. (Italian Society of Navigation) bought her in 2006 and, understanding her great potential, restored her completely in order to meet the very high safety standards needed to obtain the Italian flag and the registration in the Italian Register of Shipping, conforming to SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) and RINA (Royal Institute of Naval Architects) regulations.

The ship sailed for the Lancia event from Porto Santo Stefano in the province of Gossetto and in attendance were Italian medal-winning divers Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallapè as well as television actress Valeria Marini. Tania Cagnotto, born in 1985, is the first female diver from Italy to win a medal in the World Diving Championships. The daughter of four-time Olympic medal-winner Giorgio Cagnotto, Tania has followed in the family footsteps (her mother was also a diver) and she won her first medal at the age of 14 and claimed gold at the 2004 Diving Championship in Madrid in the 10-metre platform discipline (as well as bronze in the 3-metre springboard in the same event). She went on to win her third consecutive bronze in this year's world championships, which were held on home soil in Rome, and at the same event she claimed silver in the synchronised 3-metre springboard competition partnering Francesca Dallapè who is one year older than Cagnotto and made who made her debut on the international stage in Madrid in 2005.

The Signora del Vento was the perfect venue for this Ecochic promotion as it is the only Italian sailing ship that gives her guests the opportunity to spend moments of absolute relaxation and excellent cuisine on board, alternated with the teaching of all the secrets of the nautical life. Thanks to the experienced crew, the guests can learn sailing techniques, actively take part in rigging the sails, learn to use the nautical instruments, equipping and steering sails, along with the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the sea and the most evocative seascape. By day the Signora del Vento sails towards remote harbours, uncontaminated bays, unexplored spots of the Mediterranean sea with crystal clear waters to dive in and relax, unique places where no other ship can anchor. Whoever wants to spend time on board living the sea actively and practising sports, can use the available canoes, windsurfs, water-skis, and underwater equipment, diving guided by expert instructors: a hatchway placed astern makes easy access to the water. Two powerful eight meters (25 feet), 250 HP tenders support the sport activities and are a useful means to reach remote beaches and seaports.