Skipper Giovanni Soldini
The Italian Giovanni Soldini, 43, was announced as the skipper of the newly formed Italian team Itali70. The crew should consist entirely of Italians. It is the first firm commitment for the 2011/12 race.
The Italians have big plans. With the announcement about the Volvo Ocean one wants to "show the world that Italy has very good ocean-going sailors", it says in the corresponding statement. The project is intended to be the start of an Italian deep-sea sailing school to be founded together with the Italian Sailing Association. Participation is planned for the next two editions of the regatta around the world.
Skipper Giovanni Soldini is a very experienced single-handed sailor. He has completed two single-handed circumnavigations and 30 Atlantic crossings.
It would not be the first participation of Italian teams, in the 1973/74 race three boats took part, the last purely Italian team was the "Brooksfield" 1993/94.
The Itali70 team took over the "Ericsson 3" from the previous race as a training platform. A main sponsor was not announced, the aim of the project was to bring a group of companies together.
