[Newsletter #2] February – Allagrande Mapei Racing: A month on the mov

01

Training in Figaro

The month started at full speed with a good training session in Figaro 3 for Ambrogio. With "Allagrande Mapei" currently in the shipyard and not expected back in the water until May, Ambrogio is using this time to sail on other boats.

In April, he will take part in the Trophée BPGO, a four-day double-handed race, aboard Thomas De Dinechin's Figaro. To prepare for the race, he participated in a training session at the beginning of the month with a strong breeze of around 30 knots. Intense conditions... and inevitably spectacular.

©Anne Beaugé

02

Night Shift at Grand Rex

A few days later, part of the Allagrande Mapei team was in Paris to present our film Night Shift on the big screen. And not just any screen: the Grand Rex, Europe's largest cinema. Over 1,600 people attended the screening.

Night Shift gives a voice to the boat and creates a dialogue between her and Ambrogio. An original choice, which we were happy and proud to present in such an iconic location. To better explain the origin and spirit of the film, we hand over to its producer, Tommaso Romanelli.

«I have a very strange relationship with ocean sailing. My father, Andrea Romanelli, was an ocean sailor and aeronautical engineer, who disappeared at sea in 1998 during a record attempt on the New York-Cape Lizard route. I was 4 years old and have no memory of him. In 2020 I found VHS tapes of that last crossing at home, and I started digging into the past. A world opened up to me and I made my film No more trouble. In sea stories, all certainties fade away. Sailing is the right ground to seek new values and balances, especially in such a difficult historical moment. Night Shift was born from completely different needs. I've seen many boats in recent years, and they've always given me the feeling of being conscious creatures, who become one with their navigators and who really only lack speech.»
— Tommaso Romanelli, producer

Two days later, a repeat screening in Lorient in a more intimate atmosphere. A group of Mapei France clients visited the shipyard with Ambrogio, then attended the screening. The film continues its journey in France, Belgium and Switzerland as part of the Sailorz Film Festival.

Night Shift — screening at Grand Rex and Sailorz Film Festival

©Anne Beaugé & ©Garance Madelénat

03

Shipyard — The boat transforms

The boat has undergone a real makeover. It has been completely sanded, stripped back to bare carbon. All the paint has been removed to prepare for the new livery.

Allagrande Mapei — visible carbon, shipyard February 2026

©Anne Beaugé

The old foil exit holes have been closed and we have started opening the new ones. Soon it will also be the turn of the foil cases, which will be relaminated inside the hull — an important stage of the shipyard.

«The refit has reached a crucial stage. After the first months of design, and the subsequent months of removing old structures, we have finally entered the phase of installing the new foil cases: the refit is now fully operational and the work on board is transforming the boat to accommodate the new foils. In parallel, the construction of the foils has also entered full swing. All final details have been validated, the assembly of the various raw components is almost complete, and we have moved on to milling the final shape for the first foil. Over the next two months, the focus will be on the complete integration of structures and systems, followed by the installation of the old foils for the first tuning phases.»
— Enrico Bandiera, Technical Director

04

Visit to Avel Robotics

The team visited the Avel Robotics headquarters, where our new appendages are being built. A very interesting moment to learn all the know-how needed to produce such crucial components. Here's a brief overview of how a foil is made:

IMOCA foils must be extremely rigid to withstand the very high stresses during sailing. They are therefore made of carbon by superimposing rigid slats, composed of numerous layers of superimposed fibers. The slats are then stacked to form a very thick block. This block is then milled — almost sculpted — to approach the final shape of the foil. A final carbon lamination phase then allows the geometry to be refined and the desired final shape obtained.

Avel Robotics — construction of IMOCA foils

©Anne Beaugé

05

Rigging and Delivery

On the rigging front, the team received kilometers of ropes from Gottifredi Maffioli, material that will allow for a complete renewal of the boat's current standing rigging and optimization of all systems.

To stay in touch with the elements, Ambrogio also made a Class40 delivery trip between Lorient and Lisbon, aboard Achille Nebout's boat. Five days of offshore sailing, unofficially challenging other Class40s on the route. Among them, an old friend: Allagrande Class40 181.

A nice way to close a decidedly gloomy month.