At IBSA we have always been moving towards the future, sailing new seas, beyond therapeutics, beyond treatment. An on-going journey that puts people at the centre and embraces environmental and social sustainability projects related to inclusion and integration, in a continuous exchange between innovation and beauty.
It is precisely with these premises that the project Sailing into the Future.Together was born: a real sporting enterprise, which also metaphorically represents IBSA’s vision.
The project Sailing into the Future. Together is a journey that realises IBSA’s values, telling the story of a company that takes up new challenges with commitment, ability, resources and innovation, sailing towards the future without ever losing sight of the route traced.
The team, the regatta, the sailing route, the adventure of sailing itself: this sport is a metaphor of the human and corporate journey. Just as a boat faces the unexpected events and the unstable weather of ocean navigation, so IBSA faces every day the challenges and difficulties of the pharmaceutical market. In fact, every company needs a guide who, like a skipper, knows how to read changes in the weather, exploit them to their advantage, take the boat beyond the storm and sail with wind in her sails.
The Company has supported the project since the phase of design and construction of the Class40 IBSA, which participated – and will participate – in several international regattas. At the helm of the adventure it’s him, skipper Alberto Bona, an expert, talented and internationally recognised navigator.
In 2023, the sporting calendar included six crewed regattas. And the year started in the best way possible, with Alberto’s victory at the RORC Caribbean 600, in the Caribbean.
A few weeks later, Bona and co-skipper Pablo Santurde del Arco participated in the return regatta to Europe, the Défi Atlantique (“Atlantic Challenge”), which was then followed by the Normandy Channel Race, from the Les Salbes-Horta-Les Sables (first place), and, finally, by the iconic Rolex Fastnet Race, last July.
With two wins out of five races run in 2023, Bona is currently leading the world rankings of the Class40 championship, and is preparing to face the Transat Jacques Vabre, the transoceanic regatta which will start from Le Havre (France) next October 29.
Until the 19th century, it was the clippers – sailing ships with three or more masts – that transported coffee from the new to the old world, along the route from Brazil to France. Today – starting from the port of Le Havre (Northern France), one of the historic ports of European coffee – much more modern boats compete along the same route to reach Martinique, in the Caribbean, racing in the transoceanic regatta Transat Jacques Vabre.
On board with Alberto Bona for the 4,500 miles of navigation, we find once again the talented sailor Pablo Santurde del Arco. This year’s edition, the sixteenth, will be a record edition, with 95 boats competing, of which 44 Class40s, 40 Imocas, 6 Ocean Fiftys and 5 Ultims, for a total of 190 skippers.
We will closely follow Alberto and Pablo on the Class40 IBSA with daily updates on the project’s website www.ibsasailing.com and on the dedicated Facebook page.
We can’t wait for you to cheer along with us!
