Ambrogio Beccaria
Allagrande Mapei Racing
Ambrogio Beccaria
Oceanic navigator. Milan, 1991. Founder of the Allagrande Mapei Racing project, heading towards the 2028 Vendée Globe.
The origins
The wind and summer
Ambrogio Beccaria discovered sailing through the VelaMare school, which he attended as a child, following in the footsteps of his older sister. His first competitive experiences came in youth classes: an Italian Championship and a third place at the European Championship in the Laser 4000 class. These results already hinted at his character — the determination and technical rigor that would become the hallmark of everything that followed.
He grew up in Milan, with the sea as the horizon for holidays and thoughts. The transition from dinghy sailing to ocean navigation was not immediate, but the course was always the same.
2013 – 2019
The Mini school
The decisive step came in 2013: Ambrogio entered the Mini 6.50 circuit, the class that represents the true school of solo ocean sailing. He bought a damaged boat, rebuilt it from scratch, and renamed it "Alla Grande Ambeco". In a few months, he led it to victory in several Italian circuit races, then began to make a name for himself internationally.
These were years of building. Every race was a lesson: managing the boat solo, studying meteorology and making strategic choices, and developing physical and mental endurance over long distances. In 2016, he achieved an overall second place in the Les Sables–Azores–Les Sables race, with a stage victory and a record time.
In 2018, he dominated the Mini circuit: seven victories in one season. It was a prelude to what would happen the following year.
2019 marked a historic turning point. Aboard "Geomag," Ambrogio won the Mini Transat — becoming the first Italian to win this historic solo transatlantic race. A result that changed everything and definitively propelled him among the protagonists of international ocean sailing.
Mini Transat 2019 — The film
2022 – 2024
The boat that didn't exist
In 2022, he started a new chapter: the Allagrande Pirelli project, a latest-generation Class40 designed and developed entirely in Italy. A very fast and cutting-edge boat, custom-built for Beccaria's sailing style, after his experience in the Mini circuit.
Launch — Allagrande Pirelli
In the same year, he secured second place in the Route du Rhum — the only non-French sailor on the podium in his class. Then came the victory in the Normandy Channel Race. 2023 was even more successful: another win in the Normandy Channel Race, and especially the victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre in Class40, bringing an Italian boat back to the podium of this historic race after more than fifteen years.
Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 Victory
2024 added another prestigious achievement: victory in the Transat CIC (formerly OSTAR), becoming the second Italian in history to do so.
Transat CIC 2024
Transat CIC — The story
In parallel, he participated in a rescue mission in the central Mediterranean aboard Emergency's "Life Support" ship — a commitment that goes beyond competitive sailing.
Aboard Emergency's "Life Support" ship — Central Mediterranean, 2024
2025 — today
The leap into IMOCA
At the end of 2024, Ambrogio announced his move to the IMOCA 60 class, with the aim of competing at the highest levels of ocean sailing and qualifying for the 2028 Vendée Globe. In 2025, the Allagrande Mapei Racing project was born — a team that will accompany him until his solo circumnavigation of the world.
A trained naval engineer, Beccaria approaches ocean navigation with a precise methodology: understanding systems, attention to detail, and progressive performance development. A vision that combines technical expertise, decision-making ability, and resilience in the most extreme conditions.
The announcement — Allagrande Mapei Racing
Results
Achievements
- 1st Mini Transat 2019
- 1st Les Sables–Horta–Les Sables 2018 (leg)
- 7 circuit wins 2018
- 2nd SAS 2016
- 26th Mini Transat 2017
2021
- 1st Rolex Giraglia
- 1st ARC (12 Nacira 69)
- WR — Channel Record (Multi 70)
- 3rd Les Sables–Horta (Class40)
- 1st Normandy Channel Race (Class40)
- 2nd Route du Rhum (Class40)
- 2nd Défi Atlantique (Class40)
- 1st Normandy Channel Race (Class40)
- 1st 40' Malouine Lamotte (Class40)
- 1st Transat Jacques Vabre (Class40)
- 2nd RORC Caribbean 600 (Class40)
- 3rd The Ocean Race, leg 7 (IMOCA)
- 1st The Transat CIC (Class40)
- 1st The Ocean Race Europe, leg 4 (IMOCA)
- 5th The Ocean Race Europe (IMOCA)
- 4th Transat Café L'Or (IMOCA)
- 1st Spi Ouest France (Class40)
- 5th Trophée BPGO (Figaro)
Content
La Gazzetta del Cammellone
Ambrogio loves to explain things. Not as a duty, but out of genuine pleasure: getting into details, sharing reasoning, opening doors to complex worlds.
For years, on his social media channels, he has curated «La Gazzetta del Cammellone»: a series of in-depth analyses on strategy, meteorology, and oceanic navigation, which is very popular with his community. During the Vendée Globe 2024, he live-analyzed the tactical choices of competitors, explained weather systems with the dedication of a teacher, and went even further – exploring topics like Magellan's voyages, ocean currents, and the history of sailing.
An example — Gazzetta del Cammellone
Out of the water — but not too far
Freediving
Away from boats — but not too far from the water — Ambrogio practices freediving. It's a passion he shares with a few other sailors, and it says something about his relationship with the sea: not just a surface to cross as quickly as possible, but a world to explore.
His friend Francesco Sena, a freediver and YouTuber, perhaps tells his story better than anyone else. In the video below, he retraces Ambrogio's journey, from Class40 to IMOCA, through the eyes of someone who truly knows him.
Ambrogio as told by Francesco Sena
November 2025
Wild Sea
In November 2025, Ambrogio publishes his first book: Wild Sea. Stories of Life and Sailing (Mondadori), co-written with Matteo Caccia. A narrative of the human and sporting journey that led him to offshore sailing — the departures, the adrenaline, the heart-stopping arrivals, the sleepless nights, the close encounters with whales. But also an inner diary, a journey in search of a deeper meaning that perhaps only the wild sea can offer.
«In my sport, there's no audience during races. No one sees me live as I cross the ocean. There's always a filter, often that of social media. Writing a book has changed things a bit... for once, I used a different, broader, and more in-depth filter that allowed me to tell much more.
During this book tour, I understood the importance of experiencing moments like these, where I could truly get to know the people who follow me. Listening to their questions made me realize what they are interested in about what I do.
In reality, I can't get to know everyone, but even just seeing someone who traveled two hours by train for an autographed copy made me reflect. And above all, it made me want to dedicate time to telling the story of my work.»
— Ambrogio Beccaria, after the Italian book tour