When it comes to exotic knitwear, there are no brands more exclusive than Loro Piana. But for the last decades outside of the world of high end fashion, the name has also become synonymous with maxi yacht racing, through the exploits of Pier Luigi Loro Piana and his series of magnificent My Song yachts. The sailing bug now seems to have caught on in another branch of the Loro Piana family with Pietro, son of Pier Luigi’s late brother Sergio, following in his uncle’s footsteps.
At last year’s 44Cup Alcaidesa Marina, Pietro drove Aleph Racing for the first time in place of owner Hugues Lepic. He returned in the same role in Puerto Calero two weeks ago and is expected to drive the French RC44 for at least one more event in 2024. This follows an invitation from Aleph Racing’s tactician Michele Ivaldi, whose brother Francesco has been Pietro’s coach and tactician, ever since he took up yacht racing 10 years ago. “He was my first teacher,” says Pietro of the youngest Ivaldi. “We started with a little bit of J/80 racing in Palma and then he taught me how to trim the headsails on a J/70 and then we went and kept pushing in the Melges 20.”
He continues to race his boat Gone Squatching in the Melges 20 class. There he has met several of the Team Nika’s crew, including their remarkable Italian ex-470 Olympian Federica Salva. “She is one of the strongest women that I know. She is an incredible sportswoman…”
Impressively at the 44Cup Alcaidesa Marina, Aleph Racing, with her rookie helmsman, won the first race and going into the final race of the final day was within a point of eventual winner, Igor Lah's Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860.
“That event was amazing – it’s an amazing fleet,” said Pietro of his first experience with the high performance, owner-driver one designs. “Now I have tried out the RC44, I would say it is an adrenalin rush! It is a crazy nice boat and the crew was astonishing. It was the first time I’d sailed at such a level. Just to be brutally honest I enjoyed it like it was my first time sailing.”
He cannot adequately praise Michele Ivaldi and the highly polished international cast of Aleph Racing crew that includes two from Ireland, the USA, Slovenia, Italy and as afield as South Africa and New Zealand, all of whom will continue to race on board this season. “They made me do some amazing starts and helped me end up where we ended up. I want to thank everyone because it was a beautiful experience for me.”
Ultimately finishing the 44Cup Marina Alcaidesa a close second was a superb first result. He continued: “Unfortunately on the first day we had a little trouble at the top mark - we went fishing! We were looking for tuna! Of course the objective was to keep pushing to try and get the team to where they deserved to be. I was a little bit sad about the result from the last race – we did everything humanly possible to push as hard as we could. But I was very happy with the result…”
In Lanzarote, where the wind more often than not has been 20+ knots, conditions provided another big wind trial for the young Italian helmsman. “The conditions are unbelievable. A couple of races over the last few days have been a bit marginal. On Friday we had a scary moment when we had a gust of 30+ knots on the finish line when we still had the kite up with a lot of boats coming in from port and starboard. You have to be focussed 100% of the time and if you miss one single wave people will pass you and the boat will not forgive you the mistake.”
On the Thursday Aleph Racing suffered two major broaches but Loro Piana acknowledges that he is on a steep learning curve. Fortunately the French team has an excellent crew and knowledge support staff who can analyse the slightest mistakes made. “This is one of the most amazing classes in the sailing world and I am surrounded by great teachers, so I am just being humble and being here to learn. Of course making mistakes is all part of the learning curve and analysing them so I don’t repeat them…”
Sadly the big conditions having not included the long waves that allow the RC44s to surf and reach maximum speed, but nonetheless it has still been exhilarating. “Surfing on waves is one of the reasons why I think this sport is addictive and downwind on this type of boat, keeping the apparent wind going and keeping the boat ripping, is one of the best feelings a helmsman can have. The last few days have been very good for that.”
Certainly Pier Luigi Loro Piana would be proud of how in which his nephew is taking on the RC44 class. “I think it is a family issue - we all love sailing!” Pietro continues. “It was the biggest gift of my cousin Giacomo Loro Piana. He was the one, when my father passed, who gave me the opportunity to understand what sailing really was: he invited me to Palma for Copa del Rey and from that moment on – whenever I have the opportunity, as soon as I can, I go sailing.”
Aged 31, Pietro brings some welcome sprightful youth to the owners’ group. “They are young in spirit and they sail like they are 20 years old,” he says. “They push like crazy and I am happy to have lowered the average age but they are all incredible. They made me feel part of the team – we had an astonishing dinner. They are an amazing bunch.”