Mauro Gestri’s Vudu arrives in Porto Cervo this week for the Rolex TP52 World Championship carrying the sort of optimism that only comes with stepping into deep water for the first time. The Italian team is new to the 52 SUPER SERIES, but they’ve already proven they can mix it at the sharp end, finishing second at the ORC World Championships in Sorrento last month.
Gestri himself is still finding his feet in grand prix racing, having only taken it seriously a couple of years ago. Yet ambition runs through the project like salt spray. Giovanni Sanfelice, the team’s downwind trimmer and project manager, frames their Porto Cervo entry as the natural next step for an owner hungry to understand what competitive sailing at the highest level really means.
“This is just our second season,” Sanfelice explains. “The owner had never raced before last year. So we’re doing a good job step-by-step. He’s understood what a TP52 really means, and now we want to show him what pure class racing looks like.”
Vudu campaigns a 2015 Azzurra, the former Patrice and Hooligan, returning from Australia. It’s a top-line boat, but it’s the team’s experience that matters more. Sanfelice, who works with North Sails Rome, speaks of the crew’s cohesion and their commitment to honest self-assessment. There are no podium targets scrawled on the whiteboard before racing starts.
“Our objective is to have a fun week and finish enthusiastic,” he says. “The owner likes challenges. But we know it will be difficult. The boats here, the experience, the sailors—these are all super experienced. Our goal is to do our best on teamwork, measure ourselves against the best, and learn from the mistakes we make.”
Sanfelice sees timing on their side. The 52 SUPER SERIES is growing, with fresh owners and teams joining the fold. It’s a better moment to arrive than three years ago might have been. If Porto Cervo goes well, Valencia could beckon later in the season. But first comes the real work: a week in Sardinia, racing against the sharpest sailors in the sport, and discovering exactly how good Vudu and her crew can be.
