In the race, at last. After the official launch of the partnership with the renowned Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer, FlyingNikka is ready to face its first appointment in the competition season.
The fully foiling Mini Maxi belonging to the owner/skipper Roberto Lacorte, built last year in the King Marine shipyard in Valencia based on a design by a team led by the Irish designer Mark Mills – the first example of a new generation of boats able to sail at ultra-high speed in full foiling mode – will hit the water from tomorrow until Sunday in the Gulf of Tigullio, Liguria, to take part in the Portofino Regattas, the event organised by the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa with the support of the partner Splendido Hotel.
Three days of sailing, with some of the world’s most important regatta Maxi yachts, to test the boat which will then be busy in two offshore regattas, the 151 Miglia-Trofeo Cetilar (1 June) and the Giraglia Rolex Cup (9-17 June), and in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo (early September).
On board the FlyingNikka, in addition to Lacorte, the Team Manager Alessio Razeto, Lorenzo Bressani, Enrico Zennaro, Andrea Fornaro and Lorenzo De Felice.
“We are really enthusiastic about starting the regattas, and doing this with an exceptional partner like TAG Heuer at our side, especially in an exceptional context like Portofino,” Lacorte stated. “Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the coming days doesn’t seem ideal for FlyingNikka, but clearly this won’t be a problem. The boat must be tested in all possible conditions, to get the best out of her even when the conditions aren’t perfect for sailing in full foiling mode, where she expresses her full potential.”
In the regatta flying the flag of the Yacht Club Repubblica Marinara di Pisa and the Yacht Club Punta Ala, FlyingNikka – a single-hull just under 19 metres long, with T-foils, the evolution of the boats used in the last America’s Cup but designed for offshore regattas – can count on the precious support of its partner TAG Heuer: in this respect, each member of the team wears the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph, a robust and innovative solar-powered tool-watch, perfect for ultimate sporting performance and durability.
The main campaign sponsor is Cetilar®, the brand of the pharmaceutical company PharmaNutra, while the other team partners are B&G for the on-board electronics, North Sails for the sails, Montura for the official clothing, and the yards in Punta Ala Costa Etrusca and Marina di Punta Ala for the team base.
