Giovanni Soldini And Maserati Ready For A New Challenge

MILAN – July 3, 2013: Maserati S.p.A. has just announced Giovanni Soldini's next challenge at the helm of the 70 ft Maserati monohull: they will participate in the 47th Transpac Race. Together with Soldini will be a nine-member crew, including John Elkann, owner of Maserati.

The announcement was made at the Head Quarters of Ermenegildo Zegna Group in Milan, in the presence of its CEO Gildo Zegna.

The Transpac is a 2,225 mile nautical team race that runs from Los Angeles to Honolulu, open to monohulls and multihulls, with delayed starts from the 8th July according to the classes in the race. 52 boats are entered in total, 7 of which belong in the same class as Maserati.

For Maserati the start will be on July 13th. An international crew of nine people will be on board with skipper Giovanni Soldini: Guido Broggi, Boris Herrmann, Corrado Rossignoli, Jianghe "Tiger" Teng, Gwenael Riou, Carlos Hernandez, Michele Sighel and John Elkann.

The race will see the start from the cliffs of Point Fermin, San Pedro, Los Angeles, and the finish line in front of the lighthouse at Diamond Head, Oahu, Hawaii (East of Honolulu).

The Transpac first took place in 1906, the year of the terrible earthquake in San Francisco: it originated from the motivation of Hawaiian sailor Clarence MacFarlane who was inspired at the thought of the ancient leader of Hawaii, King Kalakaua, convinced that a race to Hawaii could strengthen economic ties and cultural relations with the mainland. The fastest ever monohull to make the journey throughout the history of the Transpac was Alfa Romeo, skippered by Neville Crichton, in 2009, with a time of 5 days, 14 hours and 36 minutes.

"First of all, I would like to thank my partners, Maserati, BSI, Generali, Vodafone and Boero, who have confirmed that next year they will again be supporting Maserati's challenges", said Giovanni Soldini. "And my thanks also go to the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, which is now part of this adventure. Maserati is in great shape. After two months' work in the boatyard in San Francisco, she is ready for a new, particularly interesting challenge since this is the first time she will be sailing in a regatta against other competitors. The crew is basically the same as that of the New York-San Francisco record, with a few new members, allowing us to form a larger group with experience of Maserati. I'm also glad that John Elkann will be on board with us: I've crossed an ocean with him, he has a great passion for sea and sailing. We're ready, we can't wait to set sail".