The sailor Andrea Mura left the port of Cagliari this morning with his Vento di Sardegna to head towards Galicia. From there on November 18th the Global Solo Challenge will begin, the solo trip around the world, without stopovers and without assistance. A party, that of departure, with an exceptional soundtrack: the songs of the Sassari Brigade.
«It will be an extraordinary adventure», said Mura at the start, «despite a thousand difficulties we are here. Also to proudly carry the flag of Sardinia in these 120 days alone across all the seas of the world, alone and without assistance." The President of the Region Christian Solinas also greeted him. To get from Cagliari to La Coruña, Mura will travel 1,500 miles of navigation skirting the coasts of Algeria, Spain and Morocco up to the Strait of Gibraltar. Once past the legendary Pillars of Hercules, it will head north along Portugal until it reaches Galicia, in northern Spain.
The actual solo regatta will begin on November 18, the date on which it will set sail from the port of La Coruña. From that moment on, the only objective will be to reach the seventeen boats that started before him and cross the finish line first. The route is a 26,000 nautical mile circumnavigation around the world heading east past the three great capes: Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn. The Vento di Sardegna boat is an Open 50 designed by Felci Yacht Design in 2000 and purchased by Andrea Mura in 2007 with the dream of promoting Sardinia in the world. Since 2008 he has participated in national and international offshore regattas under the banner of the Four Moors, recording a long sequence of victories.
For the Global Solo Challenge, Vento di Sardegna was equipped with the most sophisticated technological devices and prepared to be totally green and self-sufficient during the four months of navigation: 14 custom solar panels mounted on the deck, a wind generator and fuel cells that use the methanol from grapes to produce electricity.