Ambrogio Beccaria made official the launch of his Imoca project on Wednesday, April 2, backed by a new title partner, the Italian group Mapei. The Italian, who has successfully competed in the Mini and Class40 classes, will rely in 2025 on the expertise of TR Racing and Thomas Ruyant, who will hand over the helm of Imoca Vulnerable to him in the summer. Ruyant is also looking for new partners to support him from 2026. Tip & Shaft tells you more.
And a new entrant in the Imoca class with a view to the Vendée Globe 2028! Following Elodie Bonafous, Francesca Clapcich and Loïs Berrehar, Ambrogio Beccaria unveiled in Milan on Wednesday the contours of his Imoca project, which will be supported by a new title partner, Mapei. Founded in Milan in 1937, the family-owned Italian group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of construction chemicals with sales of 4.2 billion euros, first made a name for itself in sport in the late 1980s, sponsoring the cycling team of the same name, before moving into soccer, buying the Sassuolo club in 2002.
Its connection with sailing? A strong appetite on the part of its managers, and in particular board member Simona Giorgetta, who discovered the sport when she was in her twenties. “I’m a real enthusiast, especially of ocean racing. I’ve followed Giovanni Soldini a lot in his various projects and the mythological figures of ocean racing like Eric Tabarly, I’ve read a lot of books and I’m a big fan of Jean Le Cam!” It was while following the latest sailing news, and in particular the Mini Transat, that she discovered Ambrogio Beccaria, after his first Mini Transat, in 2017.
“I thought I had to meet this guy who, what’s more, was from Milan. His press officer happened to be one of my best friends, so I asked her to introduce us, and that’s how we started talking,” continues Simona Giorgetta. The first exchanges didn’t lead to anything: “He had asked us to take part in his second Mini Transat (which he will win in series, in 2019), but it was too early for us, my uncle (Giorgio Squinzi, who ran the company between 1984 and his death in 2019) was ill and we were busy with the soccer club”, says the manager. She adds: “Ambrogio then contacted me to complete his budget for his Class40 project, for which he had found Pirelli as title partner, so we thought it was a good idea to start out as a complementary partner, allowing us to see how things went.”
Mapei takes the plunge
The Italian skipper was quick to please his partners, as at the helm of Allagrande Pirelli, a new Musa 40 designed by Gianliuca Guelfi, he racked up victories and podiums in three seasons, winning the CIC Normandy Channel Race, the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Transat CIC. “It’s been a great success for him from a sporting point of view, but also for us: we’ve engaged our subsidiaries in all the countries where the races have gone, particularly in France and Canada, and we’ve organized events with our clients that have been very much appreciated,” notes Simona Giorgetta.
What happened next? The sailor tells it himself: “After these three years, I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of setting sail on the same boat again, especially as it seemed difficult to repeat such a successful cycle. On the other hand, I said to myself that if I wanted to do the Vendée Globe once in my life, now was the time: I’m highly motivated and still young, I don’t have any children…”. The Milanese then sold his Class40 and presented his project to Pirelli, which was committed to other fronts (notably the America’s Cup with Luna Rossa) and told him that it could not support him financially.
So he went to see Mapei, who decided to take the plunge: “We thought it was the right time accompany him all the way to the Vendée Globe,“ confirms Simona Giorgetta. For a multinational like ours, present in 57 countries, this project is first and foremost an opportunity to increase our international presence; it should also enable us to showcase our sustainability side, a field in which my uncle began working back in the 1970s, before the word even existed. Ambrogio himself is very committed to this field, so much so that he refuses to get on a plane to come to Italy for two days!” The budget for this four-year campaign? “It’s not completely fixed and could change along the way, but it’s a good budget to get to this Vendée Globe horizon,” she replies.
In any case, it enables the Italian to start his project this season, this latter explaining he didn’t consider the possibility of a new boat: “As I have no experience of Imoca racing, I couldn’t see myself building everything from scratch, and it seemed complicated to propose to a sponsor to invest so much money for not sailing for two years. So the best idea was to buy a latest-generation boat.”
Alexandre Fayeulle takes a step back
but remains committed
Last summer, he contacted TR Racing, Thomas Ruyant’s team: “The original plan was to rent Sam’s boat for a year (Goodchild, Verdier design launched in 2019) and buy Thomas’ boat at the end of the year. In the end, they came back to me with another proposal.” In this case, it was to incubate the Italian project within TRR in 2025, enabling a transfer of knowledge between the two skippers, but also the Ruyant’s Koch Finot-Conq design, since it will change hands as early as next summer. “It is a better solution for us as we won’t have to change boats along the way, and we’ll benefit from the support of TRR and Thomas, who will play the role of mentor and will help me to discover the boat” enthuses Ambrogio Beccaria. It will also enable me to build up my team step by step, so that I’ll be able go it alone in 2026.”
This change of strategy on the part of TR Racing is largely explained by the decision of its co-founder, Alexandre Fayeulle, Chairman of Advens, to step back as title partner of Thomas Ruyant’s Imoca project as of this year. A decision that the entrepreneur, contacted this Friday by Tip & Shaft, confirms: “Last year, with Thomas, we decided to diversify TRR’s partners so that the structure would no longer depend on just one person, in this case myself. I also want to refocus my investments on my home region of Boulogne-sur-Mer, in particular on agricultural projects, and on Vulnerable.org. The Vendée Globe was a great springboard for this latter project, but it’s a national project, so it’s less relevant to The Ocean Race program, which is part of Thomas’ goal. I thought it was time to pass on the baton.”
For Thomas Ruyant and his team, hosting Ambrogio Beccaria’s project from a sporting and technical point of view in 2025 will not only cushion this departure, but also give them time to find partners for 2026. “The opportunity to accompany Ambrogio was an interesting one, because it’s effectively the end of a cycle, and we’ll be going through a year of transition,” explains the winner of the Route du Rhum 2022. With Advens, we’ve done three Vendée Globe races together, including two as main partner, and they’ve enabled the team to make lots of progress and acquire an incredible working tool that we’ve built together in Lorient. These are great assets for the future and a strong opportunity for potential new partners for the 2026-2029 cycle.”
All the more so as TRR will have a new Imoca boat (Koch design built at CDK) by spring 2026, which Alexandre Fayeulle will also own. “I remain very committed to Thomas, firstly as a founding shareholder of TR Racing, secondly because Advens is a technological partner in the project, and thirdly because I am the owner of the future boat,” confirms Fayeulle.
Waiting to receive this new Imoca, Thomas Ruyant will be racing alongside Ambrogio Beccaria on his current boat, which will become Allagrande Mapei in July, with the Course des Caps in June, The Ocean Race in August/September and the Transat Café L’Or at the end of October. “It’s great to relaunch a similar dynamic to the one we had with Sam over the previous cycle, especially as, later on, while Ambrogio will have his own structure, it will be housed in TR Racing’s premises. The idea will be to continue sailing together, with two boats.” And if Thomas Ruyant finds partners, he may leave a place on board for the Italian on one or more legs of The Ocean Race 2027, which is not on Allagrande Mapei‘s program.
Photo : Anne Beaugé
