Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup – Lorenzo Bortolotti to join Ken Read

by Laura Ielmini on 6 Sep 2015 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup – Italian Skipper and America's Cup Veteran will join Ken Read on board COMANCHE the newest Super Maxi Yacht own by billionaire Netscape founder Jim Clark.

Lorenzo Bortolotti is a familiar player of the Maxi Yacht Class with a palmares of several great results and wins in this Top Class of Mega Yachts. In the last 25 years he has been World Champion as Skipper of Longobarda, Larouge, Challenge 93, while in the role of tactician he has collected this trophy on board AllSmoke and Altair in most recent events in YCCS Porto Cervo.

'COMANCHE – Lorenzo says – is a very revolutionary design and construction the Team around Ken Read has build a fantastic yacht with performance exceeding 30 knts of speed! At this speed any manoeuvre and tactical decisions is very critical and will force us to adapt new tactical decision about the course!'.

Any mistake at this sort of speeds will be source of 'potential disasters' especially if you add in the picture the very extreme keel length with a draft close to 7mt. (23'), this has forced the Comanche after guard to review all the critical spots of the costal race courses and here where having Lorenzo on board make a great difference, thanks of his great local knowledge of the wind shifts and passages around the many corners to round in the Sardinia's Water around Porto Cervo.

So while skipper Ken Read will alternate at the helm with Jim Clark, the Comanche after-guard (Kelvin Harrap, Stan Honey and Richard Clarke) will work close with Lorenzo in order to find the quickest and safer route able to break any previous speed record around the course ! Lorenzo Bortolotti career highlight are not limited on the water, in fact Lorenzo has been a successful North Sails manager director at the start of his marine business and in the last years has joint Leonardo Ferragamo and Enrico Chieffi at Nautor's Swan with the specific role to follow the Nautor's Swan Maxi Yacht new model range!