Meccaniche Veloci boards the cruiser/racer WB Seven, a 44-foot sailing boat built by the Danish X-Yachts boatyard. The crew is made up of 12 people and boasts as its skipper the great Azzurra racing team helmsman Mauro Pelaschier, supported by ship owner Gianclaudio Bassetti. Cesare Cerrito, CEO of the Swiss watch brand and a passionate sailor, will be part of the crew. As the main sponsor, Meccaniche Veloci’s logo is displayed at the centre of the mainsail and jib, in white on a black background.
“Sailing is a team sport, a passion that unites individuals, friends and sportspeople”, says Cesare Cerrito. “When the WB Seven first sailed out to sea, it was so exciting. The idea of joining it for its upcoming competitions came from a discussion with the ship owner on the subject of shared ideals, ideals that are the expression of a lifestyle based on freedom, respect, passion and fun. It’s the Meccaniche Veloci lifestyle. This collaboration allows us to tell a new story, made up once again of people and challenges.”
The WB Seven and its crew made their maiden voyage in April as part of their training for the Regata dei Due Golfi, organised by the Lignano Yacht Club, which was held from 26-28 June in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, where the cruiser achieved an excellent fourth place overall.
The ambitious aim is to reach the podium at the next D-Marine ORC World Championship that will take place in Šibenik, Croatia, from 1-8 June. The WB Seven will take part in the regatta dressed in the colours of the Parma Yacht Club, in the “corinthian” category for non-professional crews or those with group 1 World Sailing classification.
The event will be particularly relevant thanks to the team’s collaboration with the marine environmental group Ami (Ambiente Mare Italia). The “no plastic” logo will also be displayed on the sails and crew’s uniforms of the WB Seven in support of the environmental awareness campaign, concentrating in particular on plastic pollution. “We decided to carry this flag for all sea sportspeople, who must be at the forefront of raising awareness and involving the organisers of major regattas in order to create a collective understanding of the issues”, says Bassetti.
The craft will be involved in a calendar of regattas which continues with the following events:
1-8 June, D-Marine ORC World Championship, Šibenik, Croatia;
21/9, international sailing week, Trieste-S.Giovanni in Pelago, Italy;
13/10 Barcolana 51, Trieste, Italy.
Meccaniche Veloci
This 100% Swiss Made high-end watch brand with an Italian soul was founded in Milan in 2006 with the QuattroValvole, a watch that instantly embodied the personality of the brand.
In 2016, the company moved to the watchmaking district of Plan-les-Ouates in Geneva, becoming “Meccaniche Veloci – Genève” and creating timepieces with a distinctive aesthetic and technical content developed in-house. The profile of the cases in the Icon and QuattroValvole collections is inspired by the distinctive shape of engine pistons.
The watches are driven by the brand’s own movements, the calibre MV8802 for the four time zones and the calibre MV8880 that houses a tourbillon mechanism. Annual production is limited to a few thousand pieces.
References to the world of engines are numerous on the watches through materials, colours, and the collaborations that the brand regularly forges with brands associated with the automobile industry.
Meccaniche Veloci boasts a following that includes prominent independent watchmaking enthusiasts from various sections of the sporting world.
The brand is currently distributed via an international network of 25 select multi-brand points of sale. Customers can also purchase online via its website www.meccanicheveloci.com. Its Bespoke Atelier customisation service produces unique pieces for individual clients.