Fiat Chairman, John Elkann and the president of Yacht Club Italiano, Carlo Croce, introduce the challenge, where Soldini and his team of nine sailors will next year captain the Maserati yacht in an attempt to break the Cadiz-San Salvador (Bahamas), Miami-New York and New York-Lizard Point (UK) records. The three ocean course attempts will be monitored by the World Sailing Speed Record Council, the international body certifying the record times on the historic clipper routes.

“I am happy that two major companies have decided to approach the world of ocean sailing by supporting this important Italian enterprise," said Giovanni Soldini, who already has two circumnavigations and over 30 Atlantic crossings to his name. We intend to be the first Italian boat to set a record on an official WSSRC route and breaking the North Atlantic record has always been a lifelong dream of mine.”

While the principal partner for the challenge is Maserati, whose name has been given to the boat, the challenge is co-sponsored by the Swiss bank BSI (Generali Group) and Generali itself. Maserati will fly the pennant of Yacht Club Italiano, which was founded in 1879 and is the oldest sailing club in the Mediterranean Sea. Vodafone Italia and Boero Bartolomeo S.p.A. will be official suppliers to the challenge, with Bulgari as the Official Time Keeper.

“Maserati is lending its name to a boat which represents the synthesis of nautical technology and with which Soldini and his crew will attempt to break major ocean records,” said Harald Wester, CEO of Maserati S.p.A. “Giovanni Soldini aboard Maserati expresses the absolute symbiosis of values – passion, emotion, speed, adrenalin, innovation along with craftsmanship and an Italian identity – between the Trident marque and the great Italian yachtsman in a series of offshore challenges on a global scale.”

The Maserati CEO’s enthusiasm was reflected by the challenge’s other partners. “Yacht Club Italiano is delighted to be partnering Giovanni Soldini and Maserati in this important challenge," declared Carlo Croce, president of Yacht Club Italiano.

Alfredo Gysi, CEO of BSI SA, the Gruppo Generali bank specialising in private wealth management, also expressed his pleasure in supporting the attempt. “We are pleased to support, together with Maserati, Giovanni Soldini and his crew and recognise the great sporting value of their project,” he declared.  “Tackling such a challenge requires great technical expertise, team spirit and aspiration to excellence: all values that are fully reflected in our group.”   

Maserati Yacht

Maserati is a VOR 70 which took part in the 2008-2009 round-the-world race. An ultra-technological boat of over 20 metres, it makes a case to be the world's fastest mono-hull yacht thanks to a carbon-fibre mast more than 30 metres high, a canting keel, mobile water ballast tanks, forward canard fins, its extremely sleek waterlines and its structures in composite materials. As Soldini explains: “After three months in dry dock, Maserati is 10% lighter and more powerful, with a greater self-righting capacity. We have worked to obtain a more stern-heavy configuration, thus making Maserati particularly well suited to sailing at higher speeds.”

The records

Dates are approximate as each voyage has to start with ideal meteorological conditions, therefore the go ahead will be given by a team of meteorologists at the last moment. If conditions are favourable, Giovanni Soldini and Maserati will also attempt to break the record for the longest distance covered by a mono-hull yacht in a 24-hour period. According to the schedule Maserati will be put into the water in November 2011. November and December 2011 will be devoted to fine-tuning the boat and selecting and training the crew.

January 2012: Cadiz-San Salvador (Bahamas) – 3,884 miles (no time reference to beat: absolute record held by Franck Cammas, trimaran Groupama, May 2007). March 2012: Miami-New York – 947 miles (no time reference to beat: absolute record held by Frank Cammas, trimaran Groupama, June 2007). April 2012: New York-Lizard Point (UK) – 2,925 miles (record to beat 6 days, 17 hours, 52 minutes, 39 seconds set by Robert Miller aboard the monohull Mary Cha IV, October 2003; average speed of 18.5 knots).