Monaco Racing Fleet victorious second  year in a row

The B2 Monaco Racing Fleet (MRF) on board the TP52 flying the Yacht Club of Monaco (YCM) insignia, with skilled skipper Pierre Casiraghi, tactician extraordinaire Tommaso Chieffi from Italy and German consummate navigator Boris Hermann, won the 500 miles off-shore 10th edition of th Palermo-Montecarlo race, conquering the Line Honors and the coveted trophy Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita. The TP52 boat levy was designed by Borromeo & De Silva, a young and energetic design studio based in Milano founded in 2010 by Carlo Borromeo and Fabio de Silva and you may read more about it at the bottom of this article.

The MRF was the first boat to arrive on Sunday, August 24 at 10h37m52s after sailing 70 hours, 37 min and 52 seconds to complete the course. It was a well strategized regatta where they sailed according the evolution of the weather, first with a very light wind going from Sicily to Sardinia, then facing strong North-East winds already before the gate of Porto Cervo, and proceeding through the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia. Then continuing to Corsica and the final stage in open sea with a nice wind, until making it to the arrival line victorious.

Tommaso’s Chieffi’s wise tactical decision of sailing close to the cost in the mouth of Boniface, pursuing a course between the rocks of La Maddelena archipelago off Sardinia’s Costa Esmeralda enabled the Monegasque team to widen the gap over their closer competitors among a total of 40 units, taking the lead early on.

The other members of the Monaco Racing Fleet

The MRF includes elite sailors from the YCM to emulate the sport among the youngsters. Pierre Casiraghi loves extreme sports and has even practiced parachuting searching always for strong sensations, but he is now totally dedicated to sailing. Bravo you make us proud!

• Pierre Casiraghi (TP52 A-team, Tuiga) – Winner of the 9^th Palermo-Montecarlo, winner of the 14^th Cape2Rio on Maserati in 10d11h29m57s and the 62^nd Giraglia Rolex cup in real time on board Esimit Europa 2.  
• Guido Miani (Melges 20 Out of reach) – Winner of the 3^rd etap of the Audi Tron Sailing to Riva del Garda.
• Andres Soriano (Mini Maxi Mills 72 Alegre)
• Nico Poons (Farr40 Charisma) 
• Vincenzo Onorato (Melges 32 Mascalzone Latino)
• Valentin Zavadnikov (Melges 32 Synergy
  
• Alexander Ilsley (Optimist)
• Ian Ilsley (J24 St. Andrews Securities) – 1^st European Cup in Porto Cervo on Bear Essentials (Smeralda 888)
• Giangiacomo Serena di Lapagio (Melges 32 Atlantica 19)
• Roberto Tomasini Grinover (Melges 32 Robertissima, Mini Maxi 72 Robertissima III) – Winner of European Championship Audi Tron Sailing in Riva del Garda.

The dazzling livery designs of the TP52

The creative livery motif of the TP52 was done by  Borromeo & De Silva design studio is based in Milan and Turin. They focus on automotive, product and graphic design for a number of international companies including Ferrari, Audi, Vertu, Technogym and others.

The idea behind this particular design comes from a camo technique known as “dazzle” used extensively during World War I and to a lesser extent in WW II. Dazzle camouflage or dazzle painting was credited to artist Norman Wilkinson and there is a prior claim by the zoologist John Graham Kerr, consisting of complex patterns of geometric shapes in contrasting colors, interrupting and intersecting each other. The idea was to graphically deconstruct the volume and shapes of the larger ships to make it harder for submarines to visually determine speed and direction thus preventing attack.

The two liveries designed for the 2013 and 2014 regattas were designed by Borromeo De Silva and executed by Paolo Isetta in just a few days. They are both temporary designs realized with car wrapping film.

TP52 at the 2013 Palermo-Montecarlo regatta

TP52 at the 2014 Palermo-Montecarlo regatta

Carlo Borromeo corroborated the idea behind the design by saying: “It was kind of funny last year when the TP52 entered Palermo harbor and received a call from the harbor master asking whether they were coming in or going out, because they couldn’t understand the direction…it worked!” He added, “I’m very grateful to Pierre Casiraghi for taking the chance of doing something different that shows how much personality and passion he pours in his projects. For us it’s a great and refreshing opportunity to do something fun.”