Maserati official partner of the Yacht Club de Monaco

by Maserati on 24 Jun 2014 Maserati strengthens its ties with the sailing world by sponsoring one of the world's most exclusive yacht clubs.

The Italian car manufacturer synonymous with luxury and excellence, a fairytale location and a shared passion for high performance and the sea: these elements are the fertile terrain that allowed a partnership agreement to flourish between Maserati and the Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM).

At the inauguration of the new YCM clubhouse, designed by Norman Foster and already hailed as the new symbol of the Principality of Monaco, the partnership with Maserati, which this year celebrates its centenary, and one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world, was officially announced.

Maserati will be official partner of YCM from 2014 to 2016 as well as the sole automotive sponsor of events organised by YCM.

The YCM has 1300 members from 60 nations and many of the world's most prestigious private yachts fly the Monaco Yacht Club’s burgee, testimony to its unique position on the international yachting and rowing scene.

'The Yacht Club de Monaco is a world renowned location with international appeal. In the year in which it celebrates its Centenary, thanks to new models like the Quattroporte and Ghibli that have met with enormous success worldwide, Maserati is on the rise in no small measure. The Yacht Club de Monaco and Maserati share the same values of exclusivity, elegance and sport and they represent the excellence that has made both icons of excellence at an international level.'

– Harald Wester, Maserati CEO –
'Sharing the same values, a passion for the sea and sporting performance, the prestigious automotive company Maserati has been welcomed into our Yacht Club as Official Car and has become a member of YCM Partners Club. The Trident marque, which this year celebrates its centenary, confirms its partnership with the world of yachting, giving members of the YCM the great pleasure and privilege of being invited to exclusive, specially organised events. Welcome on board!'

– Bernard d’Alessandri, General Secretary of the YCM –
As a member of the YCM Partners Club, Maserati will be present at the most important events organised by the Club and will have access to the exclusive Clubhouse rooms for private events. During the official opening of the new Clubhouse, a Maserati Lounge was set up inside the futuristic building. The Maserati Lounge and the spaces of the YCM will provide the perfect setting for hosting conferences and events which Maserati and sailing legend Giovanni Soldini, currently undertaking a series of transatlantic challenges on board the 70 ft monohull sponsored by the luxury car manufacturer, will be able to organise during the sponsorship period. The relationship between Maserati and Giovanni Soldini began in 2012, when the Italian yachtsman, who had won the Around Alone (a solo sailing race around the globe), skippered the 70 ft Maserati to set the time reference in the monohull category over the Cadiz-San Salvador route, covering the distance in 10 days, 23 hours, 9 minutes and 2 seconds.

Subsequently Soldini and his international crew, again on board Maserati, set the new record over another historic route, the Golden Route from New York to San Francisco, rounding Cape Horn, a distance of some 13,225 nautical miles. Soldini and his crew set off from New York on 31st December 2012, rounding Cape Horn after 21 days, 23 hours and 14 minutes of sailing and crossing the finishing line symbolically positioned below the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, on 16th February 2013, after 47 days, 0 hours, 42 minutes and 29 seconds, slashing the previous record of 57 days, 3 hours and 2 minutes set in 1998 by Yves Parlier on board Aquitaine Innovations.
On 14th January 2014 Soldini and Maserati were first across the finishing line in the 14th edition of the Cape2Rio race, covering the 3,300 miles that separate Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro in 10 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 57 seconds, also establishing the new regatta record: the crew also included helmsman Pierre Casiraghi. The next endeavour will be an attempt at the North Atlantic record for the crossing between New York (USA) and Lizard Point (United Kingdom), which the Maserati Team will try to beat during summer For more information