Allagrande Mapei Racing
Vendée Arctique 2026
7–16 June 2026 · Les Sables d'Olonne · Solo · IMOCA 60
Ambrogio Beccaria — "Allagrande Mapei"
Winner of the Vendée Arctique 2026 · First solo IMOCA race
The race
The Vendée Arctique 2026 set off on 7 June in front of a massive crowd in the channel at Les Sables d'Olonne, in bright sunshine and light wind. For Ambrogio Beccaria it was his first solo IMOCA race, aboard "Allagrande Mapei" — fresh from a deep winter refit with a new foil case position and a lighter structure.
Nine days of sailing across the Bay of Biscay, the North Atlantic, the Arctic Circle off Iceland, and back south through the British Isles. A race full of setbacks — an electrical blackout in the middle of the ocean, a fishing net wrapped around the keel off Ireland, a temperamental autopilot — and moments of pure beauty, like the passage through the Faroe Islands or the Arctic night at the Polar Circle.
The twist came in the final night. "MACIF" by Sam Goodchild, leading from the start, became the first to get caught in the thermal low over the Bay of Biscay. Ambrogio, staying further north, exploited the small window left open by the shifting weather system, caught the leader, passed him with a series of night-time gybes, and built a lead of over six miles. At 3:07am on 16 June, "Allagrande Mapei" crossed the finish line at Les Sables d'Olonne first.
Key moments
Gazzetta del Cammellone — weather briefing and strategy
Before leaving, Ambrogio breaks down the forecast for the Vendée Arctique: Atlantic fronts, pressure ridges, the route to the Arctic Circle and the traps the Bay of Biscay holds on the way home.
Start — The channel at Les Sables d'Olonne
Start at 13:02. Sunshine, light wind and a huge crowd lining the channel. Ambrogio leaves Les Sables d'Olonne for his first solo IMOCA race, sent off by a roaring crowd.
Blackout and hard upwind miles along Ireland
An electrical failure plunges "Allagrande Mapei" into total darkness for about twenty minutes. Ambrogio heaves to, resets the fuse board, and gets back underway. In the afternoon conditions turn hard: building north-westerly, a rising sea state, 30 knots and gusts along the Irish coast towards the Fastnet.
The fishing net — five dives into the Atlantic
At 3:45 PM, a net with a buoy wraps around "Allagrande Mapei"'s keel. Ambrogio has no choice: he stops the boat, lowers the sails and plunges into the cold waters of the North Atlantic. Five dives, almost two hours of intense physical work, with currents constantly drifting the hull. When the net is finally free and the boat restarts, the cry of relief is heard all the way to Italy. The video made with cameras beyond the GoPro goes viral: the cheering on social media explodes.
The Faroe Islands — "I'm about to cry, it's so beautiful"
A weather window. Clear sky, flat sea, light winds and sunshine. Ambrogio rests, sorts out the boat, and finds his rhythm again. At the Faroes, the words come on their own. 100 miles from the Arctic Circle.
Arctic Circle — 66°N
The Arctic Circle is crossed live on video just before 8pm, during the very short arctic night. A tight gybing battle immediately breaks out with "Initiative Cœur" off Iceland: Ambrogio moves up to third place.
Route choice and the Icelandic coast
Unlike Sam Goodchild, Ambrogio chooses the route west of Ireland for the descent — more conservative, but safer for a boat not yet at 100%. "I'd never made such a cautious choice in a race." Meanwhile, the coast of Iceland appears on the horizon: a breathtaking sight.
Downwind above 25 knots — impossible to sleep
With the Arctic Circle behind her, "Allagrande Mapei" finally finds her groove: downwind in sustained breeze, foils biting, speed locked above 25 knots for hours. A night of exhilarating averages, practically impossible to sleep.
Blasket Islands and the calm
South of Ireland the wind drops almost completely. Ambrogio chooses to pass inside the Blasket Islands to stay close to the shore: submerged rocks, strong currents, a delicate situation. All goes well. In the afternoon a ridge brings calm, sunshine and time to tidy the boat before the finale.
Bay of Biscay — thermal low and the comeback
The thermal low in the Bay of Biscay changes everything: Sam Goodchild, leading from the start, gets caught in it first. Ambrogio, staying further north, exploits the small opening left by the shifting system. "Allagrande Mapei" catches "MACIF", passes it on the northern lateral split, and launches into a night-time match race of gybes.
3:07am — Finish and victory
"Allagrande Mapei" crosses the finish line at Les Sables d'Olonne at 3:07am with more than six miles over "MACIF". Ambrogio Beccaria wins the Vendée Arctique 2026. In the channel, the Italian flag.
"Right now I'm really amazed by this huge stroke of luck I had. But I think I was also pretty opportunistic in exploiting the small door MACIF left open — we went for it and it worked out really, really well. The race was wonderful. So many things happened: it was an incredible journey. I saw so many different islands — the Faroes, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland. Crossing the Arctic Circle, on the other hand, wasn't very symbolic, because in the end it was just a number to reach. Either way, this is a race where I feel like I managed myself well — I never went over the edge. Partly because at the start it felt like a bit of a struggle, I couldn't quite settle in behind a boat that had so many problems. The first two days were pretty trying: I had a lot of electronics issues, a blackout, I had to go underwater to free the boat from that cursed buoy. So, all sorts of things happened, and that had knocked my confidence a bit. Then, little by little, the boat and I found our rhythm again. To the point that I decided to take that route west of Ireland. I chose it precisely because I didn't feel right about going through the inside: with a boat that wasn't in perfect shape, if even a small problem had come up in such a delicate passage, it would have been a disaster. There was a lot of traffic, a lot of wind, the traffic separation zones — which are exactly the ones Élodie ended up in, and for which she got a twelve-hour penalty. I wanted to avoid all of that. I'd never made such a cautious choice in a race before, and yet it didn't weigh on me at all. If anything, I realised I didn't want to do it, and so I didn't. I was very sure of myself, very sure of what I was capable of, and the boat and I really understood each other."
— Ambrogio Beccaria, on arrival at Les Sables d'Olonne
©Lorenzo Sironi
©polaRYSE
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