Italian pro skipper Andrea Mura will participate in the Global Solo Challenge 2023 / 2024 with his Open 50 “Vento di Sardegna”. He will join the fleet of twenty intrepid sailors preparing for the challenge of a round-the-world journey by sail, solo, non-stop, via the three great capes: Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and the legendary Cape Horn. To equip his Open 50, Andrea Mura has chosen running rigging by Armare Ropes.
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The Sardinian sailor will set sail from La Coruña, in northern Galicia, to face the solitude and vastness of the oceans in an epic race 26,000 nautical miles long. Global Solo Challenge will take about 120 days of navigation, including 60 circumnavigating Antarctica, before returning to the starting point after passing the three great capes.
The race features a unique staggered start format, with different departure dates based on each boat’s characteristics. Andrea and his “Vento di Sardegna” will depart on November 18 2023, after the Class 40s and before the Open 60s and 70s.
Armare Ropes for Andrea Mura’s Vento di Sardegna
Armare Ropes’ technicians had replaced various running rigging (sheets and halyards) on Vento di Sardegna. For these purposes, they chose technical ropes with cores in different types of Dyneema® and protective covers made of Black Technora®/ Dyneema®/ Polyester. Naturally, the cover’s construction mix is appropriate and varies depending on the intended use on board. To ensure that the vessel is well-prepared to face the challenging conditions of the Ocean, Andrea Mura, together with the Armare technicians, conducted a complete check of all manoeuvres and lashings on board.
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Vento di Sardegna at GSC: focus on sustainability
Global Solo Challenge has always been committed to minimising environmental impact. The GSC 2023 is the first sailing event to achieve the prestigious ISO 20121 Sustainability Certification. The race format actively promotes the reuse of pre-existing boats, discouraging the construction of new vessels and by extension the consumption of additional resources and manufacturing processes. However, GSC’s dedication to sustainability extends beyond boat reuse: it also includes the incentive for the search for alternative energy sources for the production of onboard energy and the organization of a low-impact event.
According to this “green” philosophy, “Vento di Sardegna” wanted to be more sustainable than ever. The boat has been «glassed» rather than painted, using an innovative technology named Polysil: a 100% sustainable liquid glass, eliminating any plastic material. This is a revolution, considering that 58% of the microplastics present in the sea are made up of exhausted paints released into the environment. Vento di Sardegna will also use highly innovative sails made of zero-impact fabrics. To the call to use alternative energy sources, Vento di Sardegna responds with 14 custom-made solar panels mounted on the deck, a wind generator and fuel cells that use methanol from grapes.
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.Andrea Mura
Andrea Mura has collected an impressive list of achievements in his long career, including two European titles in the 420 class, a Junior World Championship title in the 470 class and eleven Italian titles in various classes. In 1989, he attended the America’s Cup with the Italian team “Il Moro di Venezia”, which then won the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Then, in 2007, Mura purchased the Open 50 “Wind Express”, renaming it “Vento di Sardegna”, literally “Wind of Sardinia”. He successfully participated in many national and international offshore races, achieving a long sequence of victories. He won all the major ocean races he entered at least once. In 2010 he triumphed in the Route du Rhum, becoming the first Italian in history to do so, followed by a second-place finish in 2014. He also won the Twostar and the Quebec-Saint Malo races in 2012, and the 2013 and 2017 editions of the OSTAR.
His illustrious career automatically qualified him for the Global Solo Challenge 2023 without the need to complete the traditional 2,000 solo miles.
Photo © Andrea Mura / © Global Solo Challenge