HIS RACE IN FIGURES
Finished on 16 June 2026 at 03:07
Race time: 8 days, 14 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds
Distance covered: 3,190.01 miles
Average speed: 15.5 knots
HIS RACE IN BRIEF
Ambrogio Beccaria wanted to step on the gas. After a year of handover and training alongside Thomas Ruyant (from whom he bought the boat), the Italian was embarking on his first solo season aboard his IMOCA. His talent as a racer and his tactical acumen, so often glimpsed in Class40, are qualities that could see him shine in the 60-foot class. But Ambrogio had to prove it with results, and he set about doing just that throughout the race. The skipper took the lead early on the first evening after rounding Île d’Yeu.
But things got complicated: he suffered an electrical failure – “I found myself in total darkness for about twenty minutes” – and plummeted to 5th place on the run up to the Fastnet. Ambrogio isn’t the type to give up. He showed tremendous courage, in fact, by diving into the icy waters off Ireland to remove a fishing net that had become tangled around his keel.
The hero of an incredible story
Yet the Italian showed incredible resilience. Heroism on the open sea is a matter of patience and self-sacrifice, and his race is the perfect illustration of this. He overtook Francesca Clapcich west of Scotland and then Violette Dorange east of Iceland. Off the British Isles, he was the first to decide to head south along the Irish coast, breaking away from the strategy of the Goodchild-Bonafous duo. His approach, initially rather conservative, became more aggressive as a result of the calm zone looming around the finish line.
That is where everything picked up pace. Élodie Bonafous had to serve her 12-hour penalty, and Sam Goodchild found himself caught in the calm. That left Ambrogio, believing in his luck right to the end. The Italian took the lead at around 6 pm on Monday and held on, fighting back to cross the finish line alone in first place as night had already fallen over Les Sables-d’Olonne.
A welcome return to the top step of the podium
Ambrogio, who is embarking on his first solo season in his IMOCA, is once again savouring the joys of victory. He is no stranger to such triumphs, having been one of the leading figures in Class40 in recent years. A two-time winner of the Normandy Channel Race (2022, 2023), winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre (2023) and The Transat CIC (2024), the Italian made his IMOCA debut last year by taking over the ex-Vulnérable, Thomas Ruyant’s boat. Last season in double-handed and crewed racing was a mixed bag, with a retirement from the Course des Caps, a stage win in Genoa at The Ocean Race Europe and a 4th place in the Transat Café L’Or.
It was a learning curve, the first steps of a rise that has resumed its triumphant march this season. The skipper needed a detour to the Arctic Circle, resilience worthy of the greatest sailors, and a fierce battle to shine once again. Ambrogio, the new hero of the open seas, will be celebrated in style this Tuesday morning as he sails up the channel to claim all the honours.
