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Following the entry announcement of the long-rumoured French America’s Cup entry, the team has now named their headline sponsor Accor Group and its brands Orient Express and ALL-ACCOR Live Limitless A long-rumoured French team was finally announced as an entry to the next America’s Cup in 2024 in early January 2023. Details at the time were thin on the ground in particular there was no headline sponsor attached to the team, looking to compete in the 37th America’s Cup. But at the start of February, the Accor hotel group has officially committed to the French chalenge for the 37th America’s Cup naming its Orient Express brand as title partner. The French challenge will now be named Orient Express Team, having previously taken the name K-Challenge when their entry was initially announced. The Orient Express Team will be sailing under the flag of the Société nautique de Saint-Tropez and the for the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona in 2024 will be led by Stephane Kandler and Bruno Dubois. “We are very happy and proud to carry the colours of such an iconic French brand as Orient Express, part of the Accor Group, which has a worldwide reputation and exports French excellence. Accor’s support through two of its brands is a global and ambitious commitment that will allow our sport-tech platform K-Challenge, co-managed with Bruno [Dubois], to engage in multiple sporting and technology projects. These projects will highlight French know-how, talent, innovation, and contribute to a transition to ecological transportation,” Kandler said at the announcement of their headline sponsor. The team also includes talented French specialists such as naval architect Benjamin Muyl, skipper Quentin Delapierre, head of performance Franck Cammas, and technical director Antoine Carraz. The French challenge will pick up the option of a latest generation technology package provided by the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand, which should allow Orient Express Team to catch up on some of the time lost while other entrants are well down their design process. Long rumoured French America’s Cup entry The strong rumours of a French team trying to get an entry up and running had been floating around AC circles for some time but

We ask top sailors and marine industry gurus to choose the coolest and most innovative yachts of our times. Vincent Laurent Prevost nominates Biscuits Cantreau 2 Biscuits Cantreau 2 was a Formula 40 trimaran designed for Jean Le Cam in 1987. “Formula 40 was a class born in France with a very simple rule for multihulls for offshore racing,” explains Laurent Prevost. “The boat had to be 40ft long, about 40ft wide, the mast height was 21m, with a sail area of 90m2, and weigh 2.3 tonnes minimum. “In 1986 the majority of the fleet were catamarans, but we started with a trimaran. For 1987 we sat down with a blank sheet of paper. The challenge was to be at the minimum weight with a trimaran. We wanted to go for a trimaran which sailed like a catamaran, flying a hull. That was really something very new. Most trimarans sailed on the main hull, with floats to balance the boat for transverse stability. We had the crew on the windward float, three rudders, and aimed to sail flying a hull. She was faster than all the catamaran fleet, and beat them all. “This was really the starting point of the new generation of trimarans for ocean crossings.” Future generations of VPLP-designed trimarans included Pierre 1er and Spindrift 2 (ex-Maxi Banque Populaire V). Make sure you check out our full list of Coolest Yachts. Biscuits Cantreau 2 stats rating Top speed: 28 knots LOA: 12.18m/39.9ft Launched: 1987 Berths: 2-4 Price (equivalent today): €800,000 Adrenalin factor: 85% Vincent Laurent Prevost Vincent Laurent Prevost co-founded VPLP yacht design in 1983, together with Marc Van Peteghem, which was responsible for decades of the world’s most innovative designs, including IMOCA 60s, Lagoon cruising cats, ORMA trimarans, the USA 17 America’s Cup trimaran, and many more. He is currently working on wing-assisted shipping designs. If you enjoyed this…. Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams. Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30%

Pete Goss has sailed more different yachts than most of us could imagine, but it’s a home-built 32ft gaffer that is his chef-d’oeuvre, as Elaine Bunting finds out They won’t come into a marina very often, but when they do, Pete Goss and his wife, Tracey will be doing a lot of talking. They were in Mayflower Marina in Plymouth when I met them, taking on fuel and water, and a steady stream of people stopped as they walked by. All asking, ‘What is this boat? What is she for?’ The name says it all. Oddity. Spelt out in a groovy 1970s font. Turquoise with a bright yellow tender, a big squared off coachroof, a gaff rig and daggerboards. This curious boat absolutely screams ‘Story!’ Pete Goss has time for every passer-by. He answers all their questions and invites one man on board to look around. He listens to descriptions of their own boats and sailing history, but he doesn’t counter with his own. Pete Goss is one of the humblest people you could ever meet, and you might never realise the full story: this boat is the creation of one of Britain’s most heroic ocean racing sailors. Oddity tells you so much about Pete and Tracey Goss. It is a very personal boat, a downsizer that they plan to take on a nomadic journey to all the nooks and crannies of Europe. Pete Goss planned Oddity to be the perfect yacht for the kind of cruising he aims to do. Photo: Lloyd Images A few years ago, this wasn’t even on the horizon. In 2017 they launched Pearl, a Garcia 45 Exploration named to commemorate their 30th wedding anniversary, and set off across the Atlantic with the intention of sailing slowly round the world through the Tropics. They were on the east coast of the US in March 2020 when the pandemic struck and the world closed down. They managed to get a flight home with little more than what they stood up in and returned to their UK home, a Mongolian yurt in a Cornish wood (more about that later…). By the time restrictions lifted, family life and

From popular Scandinavian waters, to off-the-beaten-track eastern gems, Wietze van der Laan and Janneke Kuysters share six great Baltic sailing routes The Baltic is one of the best cruising grounds in Europe, with a myriad of options to choose from. But how can you make the most of sailing the Baltic – and, for non-Schengen passport holders, what can be done in 90 days? Between late June and mid August the Scandinavian summer can be seriously warm with temperatures around 25°C-30°C. There’ll be the occasional rainy or (very) windy day, but in general the forecast is very accurate. Sweden, Norway and Finland broadcast good forecasts for the whole Baltic, and we also found the ECMWF model (through the Windy app) very accurate. Stable weather Prevailing winds are from the west or south-west, fuelled by a train of lows coming from the Atlantic. However, in summer a stable high pressure area forms over Scandinavia, bringing beautiful weather and moderate to light easterly winds. Make sure you have enough fuel or a large light-weather sail for these conditions. Distances between destinations are never very far. For cruisers who don’t fancy sailing through the night, there are 20-22 hours of daylight in midsummer, giving you a wider choice of destinations to sail to. The lack of tide adds to this flexibility. Midsummer is celebrated everywhere with food, drink, festivities and a well-decorated maypole. In the shoulder seasons it is a bit chillier, especially in the evenings. Before midsummer and after 1 August restaurants, tourist offices and attractions decrease their opening hours. The upside is that it gets quieter and easier to find a space in the popular harbours and anchorages. Northern Baltic shores are strewn with rocks, the southern shores are sandy and shallow. Everything is well surveyed and navigation is simple if your charts are up to date and you use common sense and caution. There’s an abundance of cruising guides detailing every anchorage and bay with the rocks marked on aerial photos – they’re worth every penny. Markers and buoys are plentiful, sometimes to an almost confusing degree. The authors’ yacht in a peaceful spot on a jetty near Lake Vänern,

Chris Tibbs takes a look at the best options for navigating though the doldrums or Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) Doldrums’: a state of stagnation or depression, or an equatorial region of the Atlantic Ocean with calms, sudden storms, and light unpredictable winds. Or so my dictionary puts it. For sailors, the transition from the northern to southern hemispheres in the Atlantic can be a trying and often frustrating time. We leave the steady tradewinds of the northern hemisphere with our main aim to minimise the time taken before we progress into the South Atlantic trade wind belt – this is passing through the doldrums, or the ‘Pot-au-Noir’, as the French put it. In meteorology we now use the more scientific term Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) where we can meet conditions we associate with the doldrums; calms, squalls, and thunderstorms. The ITCZ can be thought of as the thermal equator of the world that separates the northern and southern weather systems. Why they’re tricky The term ITCZ describes why we get the conditions we know as the doldrums. The tradewinds of the northern hemisphere, driven by the Azores High, are east- to north-easterlies, tending to be more easterly as we get further south towards the ITCZ. Meanwhile the tradewinds of the southern hemisphere mirror these, being driven by the South Atlantic High (often referred to as the St Helena High) and are east- to south-easterlies. Where they come together is the ITCZ. Where we get convergence in airstreams we get an ascent of air: as the air rises clouds form and as this region is very warm and the air humid, when the air is forced upwards large cumulonimbus clouds form giving squalls and thunderstorms. In addition, where we get ascent of air, we get a lowering of the surface pressure so between the winds of the two hemispheres we get a trough of lower pressure. Infra-red image from space showing the line of convective cloud along the ITCZ between Africa and the Americas In this trough of low pressure we have light, predominantly easterly wind, however there is generally less wind to the east as the pressure gradient

Olympic Gold medallist Dylan Fletcher talks through leeward mark rounding strategy and how to come out on top with Andy Rice The leeward mark is one of the biggest pinch points on the race course, with the opportunity for huge gains – or the risk of enormous losses. Dylan Fletcher says the most important ingredient for a successful leeward mark rounding is to start planning well in advance of the moment. “Where are you aiming on the next leg? And where does that mean you need to be positioning yourself half way down the run in order to get the correct rounding to execute your longer-term race strategy?” This is particularly important at a leeward gate when you have a choice of marks, although the same still applies for single leeward marks. Dylan shares his five best tips for making sure you achieve the entry and, more importantly, the clean exit out of the bottom of the race course. Prepare the team Make sure everyone knows the plan well in advance, and that everyone is clear about their job during the drop and the rounding. That includes a plan for if, and when, things go wrong – for example, if the kite falls in the water during the drop. Who’s going to leave their normal post to get up on the foredeck and help get it back on board? Over time you should aim to build up a playbook, including the timings for how far in advance you should begin the jib hoist and the gennaker drop in, say, 5, 10 and 20 knots of breeze. The more you can turn the rounding into a procedure that runs like clockwork, the more boats you’ll pass. Avoid the slow soak One of the most critical factors is to make sure you’re coming into the leeward mark zone at a pretty hot angle with good boatspeed for as long as possible. One of the worst scenarios is finding yourself trying to soak down towards the leeward mark with no speed. It’s not so bad with a symmetrical spinnaker where you can square back the pole, although it’s still not ideal. In a

Tom Cunliffe introduces this extract from The Sea and The Snow Philip Temple’s remarkable tale of sailing to the farthest wastes of the Southern Ocean In the world of small-craft seafaring and modern mountaineering, 1964/5 seems very distant. Philip Temple’s remarkable work The Sea and The Snow, recently republished, brings those days straight to our bunk-side bookshelves. In its pages Temple tells us the tale of 10 men who sail from Australia to Heard Island far to the south-east of Kerguelen in the farthest wastes of the Southern Ocean. Their vessel is the 63ft steel schooner Patanela; their skipper none other than the redoubtable HW Tilman; their goal, to make the first ascent of the 9,000ft volcanic peak, Big Ben. Getting five men ashore, with full expedition gear, on a shingle beach exposed to mighty swells is a chancy business, but using an inflatable military assault craft, the climbers make it ashore and achieve their goal. Re-boarding the schooner proves an even greater challenge, and we join the shore party on the beach, contemplating a grim future. Extract from The Sea and The Snow Could we go? Should we go? Could we wait? Arguments, discussions, perusal of the sea filled every spare moment between packing and radio schedules. Little of our situation was conveyed to the crew away on the ship, to whom our activities appeared curiously lethargic and distant. Their view of the surf was unimpressive and it was hard to imagine the great barrier that seemed to separate us from safety. Grahame, in typical vein, was eager to make an attempt, Colin was doubtful, John non-committal, and myself hardly in the forum with my jaundiced, non-swimmer’s appreciation. During the early stages, Warwick understandably sat on the fence. With him rested the final decision. Principally, our safety had to be assured and the problem lay in securing that as well as transporting the equipment. Much of it was not ours. Equipment loaned by the New Zealand Alpine Club was of great value and had been used all over the world on expeditions. Our consciences were stricken by the thought of abandoning it on that miserable, god-forsaken beach. And our

A fan of kayaks of all kinds for over 30 years, Tech Editor Fox Morgan discusses what makes the best inflatable kayak or canoe in this tried and tested guide There’s something for all budget levels. I love my yacht tender, I use it a lot. But nothing quite matches the tranquillity offered by a kayak or canoe to explore shallow or winding creeks. Some people are afraid of these narrow-looking crafts and I’m no stranger to that myself. I’ve had a healthy fear of capsizing since I did an adventure holiday with PGL back in the early 80s. So one of the things I love about inflatable kayaks is that they are stable. Stable enough to stand up in, move around in and not worry about going for an unintentional swim. They can be stowed in a cupboard under the stairs or in a shed. You can carry it inside your camper van or boat meaning you don’t have to sacrifice a load of fuel economy with a big old lump of plastic on your roof or unwanted additional windage. They can be lightweight too. Though this can vary according to the size and build. The ones I have picked out for you vary from 9kg to 32kg. Best Inflatable Kayak – A tried and tested buyers guide Sevylor Madison 2 Person Inflatable Kayak Reasons To Buy The spraydecks are strong enough to support a small dog. Large drain makes it easy to drain and clean. Reasons To Avoid Tricky to control in strong crosswinds. Footpump is not the best. This two person kayak has two side chambers that inflate inside a hard wearing nylon outer that allows them to be pressured up. The floor is inflated too and this gives the kayak a certain degree of rigidity. The two seats are inflatable and are quite comfy, you can adjust the pressure to suit your own backside’s preference. The front and back ends of the kayak have small spray-decks to help keep water spray out of the kayak. They’re velcroed in place so are easy to peel back to access the valves sheltered underneath. The spraydekcs are strong enough to

Cowes is the yachting centre of the British South Coast. Lots of major events start from here with an array of sporting events happening throughout the year. Here’s our pick of where to stay nearby… Cowes is historically the centre of yacht racing on the British south coast positioned just a couple of miles off the mainland on the Isle Of Wight. Booking accommodation on such a small island during peak season can be tricky. We’ve looked up some of the best places to stay both on the island and on the mainland within a relatively easy ferry ride. We’ve provided options for crew houses and hotels to suite those who are looking to base a crew there during the regatta week or for people who want to take in the the historic ambience of the place. We’ve also listed offers in Premium, mid and budget ranges. Cowes hotels and holiday houses Premium accommodation – Cowes Insignia, 32 Cross Street – Holiday home This holiday home can accommodate 6 people and is slap bang in the heart of town. Great views across the River Medina, but no view of the standard race start line. You’ll be in the heart of everything here, but if you like a quiet life, you might want to stay further out of town. During Cowes Week this area can be quite noisy, but it is a few seconds walk from the Red Jet ferry so if you need to hop across to Southampton for anything it’s easy. Distance to Cowes: you’re in it! Red Jet 2 minute walk View at Booking.com Solent View Apartment This modern apartment overlooking the the solent accommodates 4 people. Its prime location is ideal for watching yacht racing or the daily buzz on the water from the comfort a large balcony. The bedrooms are a little on the small side. Parking on site is free. Distance to Cowes centre: 5-10 minute walk. 10 minutes walk from Red Jet ferry terminal. 25 minutes walk from East Cowes Red Funnel terminal or 10 minute drive.  View on Booking.com Mid Range accommodation –  Cowes Villa Rothsay Hotel Central Cowes location, great views, free

The second leg of The Ocean Race 2023 is underway with the 5 IMOCA 60s set to fight it out over 18 days as they race to Cape Town, South Africa The second leg of The Ocean Race from Cabo Verde to Cape Town started on Wednesday 25 January, with the 5 fully-crewed IMOCA 60s fighting it out in very light winds, making for a difficult start with conditions set to remain light and tricky all the way to the doldrums. The short stopover marked the first time The Ocean Race has visited west Africa and this island chain despite it featuring in the race course for all 14 editions as a tactical consideration on the leg from Europe down to the south Atlantic Ocean. Although they raced in the opening leg, the VO65 fleet will not be racing to South Africa. They will rejoin the fleet for the final two legs of the race back in Europe later in the year to complete The Ocean Race Sprint Cup. The light winds mean it will be tactically difficult race over the first days, something already playing out with teams deciding how far south to position themselves compared to making miles to the west. “It’s a big challenge. We have to manage the wind shadow from the islands, which means we need to get south, but then the doldrums are very big and normally being further west would be safer,” said Sebastien Simon, who joined GUYOT environnement – Team Europe for this leg. “It is a big doldrums at the moment. We’re not sure where to cross yet. It will be shifty and interesting for sure.” It was GUYOT environnement – Team Europe leading the charge just after the start gun fired, crossing the starline first and at pace, as the fleet took on a short lap of a reaching course before heading out to sea, destined for Cape Town, some 4000 nautical miles – and around 18 days – of racing away. On the reach out, GUYOT environnement held off Holcim-PRB to lead around the mark and on the return through he start line before heading out to sea, Stanjek

The fleet of 5 IMOCA 60s are all set for the second leg of The Ocean Race to Cape Town, with light winds expected to frustrate the fleet over the first few days With the first leg of the much-delayed The Ocean Race now concluded, teams are readying themselves to set off on the second leg of of the race, which starts today, Wednesday 25 January. The leg will see teams racing from the Cape Verde islands to Cape Town. Per the recent changes to the event, the VO65s which raced alongside the IMOCA 60 fleet on the opening leg of The Ocean Race 2023 from Alicante to the Cape Verde islands will not set off on Leg 2 and will now return to Europe where their competition for The Ocean Race Sprint Cup will continue for the final two legs of the course later in the year. After a week of solid trade wind action in Cape Verde, the forecast for the start of Leg 2 is much more benign with light northeasterly winds of 5 to 8 knots due for the opening hours of the second leg of the race. In fact, the weakening trade winds are likely to impact the fleet all the way down to the doldrums, which should make for a fascinating, if slow, start to the leg. “First we’ll have to manage the windshadow from the islands as they are so tall and the wind is light,” said Robert Stanjek, the skipper of GUYOT environment – Team Europe. “It looks like we need to get west to be efficient for passing through the doldrums. That’s the conservative option. So that’s the first days.” “With the trade winds sort of breaking down, the doldrums get a bit bigger,” said 11th Hour Racing Team’s Simon Fisher. “It’s three or four days to get down there and the trades should be rebuilding again. Getting out of here and picking up the beginning of the rebuild efficiently is quite important.” Start time for Leg 2 is 1710 local time (1810 UTC) which is about 90-minutes before sunset, so the crews will be into that first night watch nearly

A gentle introduction to the cruising life set Kate Ashe-Leonard on course for a full transocean liveaboard adventure We’re sailing by the Gulf of Venezuela as we approach the Colombian coastline, a notoriously difficult stretch of water with frequent high winds, big swell and current. This night is no exception. It’s 0100 and Jim and I are both in the cockpit under a ceiling of stars. It’s Jim’s watch, but tonight is all-hands on deck. Polaris is surfing fast down waves which have now built to over 4m. The wind has just reached 40 knots but, mercifully, is coming from behind. Swell breaks into the cockpit once again, soaking us both. We decide to put the tiny sliver of genoa away, and begin sailing under bare poles. Our speed drops from 16 to 7 knots, but it’s still too fast, we don’t want a night-time arrival. Under the full moon that lights our way, I can see crests of white water battering the Colombian coast in the distance. Outwardly we’re both calm, although adrenalin is running high. The speed is thrilling but we feel secure, Polaris is handling it just fine. So are we; we have done so many miles together on this boat that has kept us safe. I catch my breath to realise that it was just three years earlier that I set foot on Polaris for the first time, having never sailed before in my life. Into the unknown My partner Jim has sailed his whole life, I had zero experience. Together we made a decision to sell almost everything, rent out our flat in London, buy a boat, move on board full-time and complete a global circumnavigation. It was an ambitious plan. But Jim was adamant that my introduction to cruising should be as gradual as possible. The last thing he wanted was for me to do too much too soon and be scared off sailing for life. If we both still liked it after all that, then maybe we’d keep on going, becoming long-term liveaboards. It took us 12 months to find, buy and move onto our Catana 47 catamaran. Those months were a chaotic

Kevin Escoffier’s team Holcim-PRB has won the first leg of The Ocean Race, holding off a hard-charging 11th Hour racing Team, while Poland’s WindWhisper Racing Team won the VO65 Sprint Leg French skipper Kevin Escoffier led his Swiss-flagged Team Holcim-PRB to victory in leg one of The Ocean Race in the early hours of the morning on Saturday 21 January 2023. It marked the end of an intense and challenging opening to The Ocean Race – from storm force headwinds in the Mediterranean to fast downwind conditions in the Atlantic with tactical options around the Canary Islands. The Holcim-PRB team took the lead just before Gibraltar Strait and held on the rest of the way despite the strong pushes from 11th Hour Racing Team and Malizia. Finally, early on Saturday, Escoffier and his crew raced across the finish line on the waters off Mindelo, Cabo Verde, just after 02:01:59 UTC, completing an impressive performance on the first leg of the Race. “The boat is great. Both upwind and downwind, reaching, we have always been fast,” Escoffier said. “I’m very happy to start like this. It was our first race together as a full crew and I don’t regret any of the the choices. They are all great and together we went for the win.” Second across the line was Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team, who held off a late challenge from Team Malizia on the final day of the leg. “I think the competition is good,” said Enright on the dock after finishing. “We have fast boats, good sailors. There are different strengths and weaknesses in the boats. Everyone is going to have their day and we’re certainly not taking anything for granted but if we focus on what we can control I think we’re going to be fine. We’re jumping at the opportunity to get going on the next leg. For Boris Herrmann, securing a podium finish puts the German team in a safe position after the opening leg, with six more legs of racing left to gain points. “I’m super-happy with the performance of the boat and the team,” said a jubilant Herrmann moments after the finish.

The European Yacht of the Year 2023 winners have been announced and comprise the best yacht winners in five categories including a special mention award. Toby Hodges was one of the 12 jury members who test sailed each of the 21 shortlisted yachts before deciding on the winners. The European Yacht of the Year programme is a highlight of my year as it gives us  jury members the opportunity to assemble our shortlist of the best nominees, seatrial each and every one of them and discuss what works and what doesn’t at sea and in port, in order to choose the best yacht of 2023 in a variety of categories. Our trials were held in La Rochelle and Port Ginesta, Barcelona over the autumn of 2022. This is the 20th anniversary of the European Yacht of the Year awards, which were presented at a gala event on the opening evening of the Boot Düsseldorf Boat Show on 21 January 2023. Together we comprise 12 magazines across Europe, each the leading voice on boat testing in their respective countries. The result is indisputably the most thorough, impartial and respected awards programme for new production yachts worldwide. Best yacht 2023 Best Performance Cruiser Nominees: Elan E6; Beneteau First 36; Grand Soleil 40; Italia Y 12.98; Solaris 50 Three Italian pure performance cruisers and two very different yachts built in Slovenia made for a varied and exciting Performance category. Where once we could assume a cruiser-racer was a fairly standard format design, over the last decade it’s been much more the sexy fast cruisers the Italian yards specialise in. But as French yards like Pogo and JPK have proven, we salute lightweight planing yachts – and the Beneteau First 36 is the first real production yacht in that spirit. Winner: Beneteau First 36 Here’s a yacht that puts the focus firmly back into sailing. The First 36 has been kept inviting and approachable – unlike many yachts that can plane, the look is modest, not aggressive. It’s uncomplicated, unfussy and the result is a pleasure for all to sail. It’s more about what you can’t see, the design and engineering, which should ensure

The fastest woman around the world, Dona Bertarelli has spent 10 years trying to win the Jules Verne. Helen Fretter finds out why Ocean racing is an unsentimental world. It’s deeply unglamorous, stripping its participants of every iota of vanity. Failures in preparedness will be hurriedly found out, but even the most careful and thorough, most deserving of campaigns can see their chance of victory slip away in the sudden tumbling of a rig or the slow veer of a weather system. It’s an arena where the funds required to play are eye-watering – but where money, ultimately, cannot buy success. So why on earth would a billionaire choose to undergo all the privations of six weeks at sea, of using a bucket for a toilet and eating freeze-dried food, sleeping in a damp, hot-bunk, and living in a state of constant adrenaline and anxiety? Because that’s what Dona Bertarelli has signed up for, as she goes on standby with the rest of the Sails of Change team for another tilt at the non-stop crewed around the world record, the elusive Jules Verne Trophy. The Spindrift campaign, now Sails of Change, is unique on many levels. For starters, it’s a privately-backed campaign. While other ocean racing stables – such as Gitana which enjoys the largesse of the Rothschild family – may rely on the enthusiasm of a few key decision makers, the boats are raced by paid hands. On board Spindrift, Dona herself is a member of crew, while her husband, Frenchman Yann Guichard, is the professional skipper. Her adult son has been part of the race team, and Yann’s brother is one of the team’s core pro members. It’s a unique family endeavour, for a unique family. Dona Bertarelli has her sights on the Jules Verne Trophy. Photo: Gauthier Lebec/Spindrift Family affair The Bertarelli name is deeply entwined with sailing at the highest level. Italian-born Dona, now 53, and her elder brother Ernesto moved to Switzerland when they were children. She was not quite 30 when she and Ernesto inherited Serono, a multi-million pound pharmaceutical company that had been built by their grandfather. Under Ernesto as CEO, the company