Italian skipper Giovanni Soldini has launched his new boat with which he will make his fourth bid to win the unique Transat Jacques Vabre race from France to Brazil.
The Class 40 monohull was built in only five months in order to have it ready for the trans-Atlantic race which starts November 3 and 4.
The boat was launched this week from the French port of Lorient, in Brittany, a former submarine base which has been converted into a hub for racing boats.
Soldini, who won the 1999 Around Alone solo race, immediately began testing his boat together with Pietro D'Ali, who will be his co-skipper for the Transat Jacques Vabre.
Soldini was forced to abandon the Le Havre to Salvador de Bahia race two years ago when his state-of-the-art trimaran capsized off the African coast only one week into the race.
With Vittorio Malingri along as his co-skipper, Soldini was convinced his third attempt to win the France to Brazil race would be his lucky one.
In 2003, Soldini and Malingri led the fleet when the race came out of the English channel but they were forced to abandon the race when their 60-foot boat suffered damage in high seas off the Portuguese coast.
Soldini came in seventh the first time he attempted the Transat Jean Vabre in 2001.
The Transat Jacques Vabre, which takes its name from one of France's most popular coffees, was first staged in 1999 and follows the old coffee trading route from Le Havre to Salvador de Bahia.
It is unique in that two-men crews compete, compared to the more traditional fully-crewed and single-handed races.
The originality of the Jacques Vabre is its rule of two: two yachtsmen make up each crew; two types of boats are used, mono and multi-hull; there are two classes for each type; and the race's start takes place over two days, with two gunshots fired a day, one for each of the two classes.
Navigation is tricky because the double-handed crews must sail in two opposite weather systems belonging to the two hemispheres.
Soldini's Around Alone victory in 1999 is best remembered for his daring high seas rescue of French yachtswoman and rival Isabelle Authissier.
They were on the third leg of the around the world race when Authissier's ship capsized in heavy weather and high seas in the southeast Pacific.
Soldini, who was in the lead, turned back to rescue his rival. He later went on to win both that stage and the whole Around Alone event.
The popular Italian skipper was awarded France's prestigious Legion d'Honneur in 2002 for his act.
