Alfa Romeo 3 fresh from its victories at the Copa del Rey of Palma de Majorca (above) is ready for what is now one of the historical events in the Alfa Romeo regatta calendar: the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup of Porto Cervo which gets underway this morning.

Alfa Romeo 3, Neville Crichton’s brand-new 71 footer, fresh from its victories at the Copa del Rey of Palma de Majorca, ready for what is by now one of the historical events in the Alfa Romeo regatta calendar: the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup of Porto Cervo which gets underway this morning (Monday 7) in which the New Zealand yacht owner has taken part with the colours of the Alfa Romeo brand since 2003 and which this year promises to be a challenging and exciting showdown in the sea in the new Mini Maxi division. 

During the winter, Alfa Romeo 3 underwent further innovation and upgrading. The most evident changes are the lengthening of the hull by 2 feet (about 60 cm), bringing the length from 69 to 71 feet, as well as slight widening of the hull and an approximately one ton increase in the bulb. These are only the most tangible aspects, but numerous optimisations conceived by the American designers Reichel/Pugh, under the direction of Neville Crichton, have made the boat even more competitive; the success at Copa del Rey, the first regatta of 2009, has confirmed the high levels of performance that Neville Crichton’s new mini maxi can achieve. 

In the regatta, Alfa Romeo 3 will be vying for Line Honours against some of the most interesting, top-performing boats of the day, like the STP65 Luna Rossa and RAN, recent victor of the Rolex Fastnet Race, as well as Bellamente and Container, ready to defend and confirm the title that Alfa Romeo yachts have earned themselves over the years: Serial Winner of the seas. 

Without a doubt, whether they be mini or maxi yachts, Alfa Romeo boats with Crichton at the helm continue to rack up successes: while Alfa Romeo 3 was winning the Copa del Rey 2009, the maxi yacht Alfa Romeo 2 was voyaging toward Australia after shattering the previous Transpac record in July. In the past 6 years, with his 69 and 100 foot yachts, both always winners for the Alfa Romeo colours, Crichton has dominated sailing competitions both in the Mediterranean and in northern Europe, in Australia and New Zealand, winning up to now no fewer than 149 “line honours” (first across the finish line). 

With Neville Crichton playing the role of strategist, Alfa Romeo 3 will be helmed by Ben Ainslie, winner of a gold medal in the Finn class at the China Olympics. For Ainslie it was the fourth Olympic medal and the third consecutive gold medal: two in the Finn class and one in the Laser class, plus a silver medal in the Laser class. Since the 1996 Olympics held in the USA, Ben has been coming home with a medal, combining these successes with 8 world championship wins (7 in the Finn class and 1 in the Laser class); a participant in the Americas Cup, he is the only yachtsman to have been named Yachtsman of the Year three times by the ISAF (1999, 2002, 2008). Onboard the Alfa Romeo 3 there will also be his project manager, Wade Morgan, former America’s Cup yachtsman and assiduous member of the Alfa Romeo team, as well as winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 2007 with the American yacht Rosebud.

Like the two previous Alfa Romeos, the new Mini Maxi is from every point of view a cutting-edge yacht with respect to design, engineering and construction, as well as equipment, sail design and materials. It boasts extraordinary interiors, which celebrate the style of the 8C Competizione, the limited edition sports car made by Alfa Romeo: a veritable visual shock in terms of style and colour, a refined style and design rarely met with in regatta boats, usually designed to appeal to those who look at them from the outside and not for the few who enter their “bellies”. Like its predecessors, Alfa Romeo 3 was designed by the American design company Reichel/Pugh and built in Sydney by McConaghy Boats. The sails, too, are Australian, made by North Sails Australia.

Sergio Cravero, Managing Director of Alfa Romeo Automobiles, underscored that: “This year Neville Crichton has brought Alfa Romeo new successes, also in the USA, and in competitions we were debuting in, like the exciting Transpac in the Pacific Ocean or the prestigious Copa del Rey in Spain. We are increasingly convinced that the partnership that has tied us to Crichton and sailing for the past 7 years is one of the most coherent and effective expressions for representing the values of the Alfa Romeo brand: passion, sports, competition, design and technology continue to zoom forward in the world on board the maxi yacht Alfa Romeo 2 and the brand new mini maxi Alfa Romeo 3. 

Neville Crichton, owner of Alfa Romeo 3: “We could not have asked for a better debut for Alfa Romeo 3, and the fact of having won 6 out of 10 races in the Copa del Rey shows that our new mini maxi yacht is definitely well positioned to follow in the footsteps of the previous Alfa Romeo maxi yachts.”