An Italian going around the world

 

Alessandro Di Benedetto has already completed the Vendée Globe race course sailing alone and without stopping … but it was aboard a 6.50 metre boat, which is only a third of the size of a 60-foot IMOCA boat, and in so doing he achieved a first. Throughout this testing voyage, the Franco-Italian sailor showed exceptional determination while keeping a cool head. When his boat was dismasted shortly before rounding the Horn, he did not give up, but built himself a jury rig, which enabled him to sail back home to Les Sables-d’Olonne after 268 days at sea.

Making the most of this experience, Alessandro Di Benedetto started looking ahead to taking part in the 2012 Vendée Globe and began to look for the funding required to see this dream come true. A very good communicator, who speaks four languages and is keen and enthusiastic, Alessandro can boast of other amazing feats to attract potential partners. In 2002, he sailed solo across the Atlantic aboard a racing catamaran. Then, in 2006, once again alone at the helm of his beach cat, he set out to tackle the North Pacific between Yokohama (Japan) and San Francisco (USA).

Won over by his character and unusual past, the Team Plastique company has joined him for his 2012 Vendée Globe campaign. Things are really working out for Alessandro Di Benedetto, who is going to be able to sail in race mode against the world’s leading IMOCA skippers. It is certainly not going to be easy, but Alessandro has already shown that he has got what it takes to face up to such a challenge.