FlyingNikka, a first flight to remember…

And FlyingNikka has finally taken flight… Yesterday afternoon, off the coast of Valencia, the most long-awaited sailing boat of 2022 had a super-busy day. A date to mark on the calendar in indelible ink, as it marked the start of a new era for offshore navigation: the first flight of the first “full foiling” sailing boat designed for offshore regattas. 

“It’s hard to describe the emotions I’m feeling right now,” explains Roberto Lacorte, the visionary owner who, with the launch of the FlyingNikka project in December 2020, showed himself to be a pioneer of full foiling offshore navigation. “Seeing the FlyingNikka fly for the first time, after these busy months devoted firstly to her design and then to her construction, is something quite magical, extraordinary, unique. I am absolutely thrilled”. 

60 feet long (just under 19 metres), FlyingNikka was designed by a team of designers coordinated by the Irishman Mark Mills. Built in 8 months at the King Marine shipyard in Valencia, under the supervision of the Project Manager Miguel Costa, she touched the water on 5 May last for a first technical launch –the official launch is planned for the coming weeks in Italy, at Punta Ala, where the team will be based– the first example of a new generation of regatta boats, aiming to revolutionise the very concept of offshore sailing. 

After further fine-tuning work followed by a series of towing flight tests, finally today was the day of the first sailing test, which was brilliantly passed: 6 hours at sea, with the full crew on board – Roberto Lacorte, Lorenzo Bressani, Enrico Zennaro, Alessio Razeto, Andrea Fornaro and Lorenzo De Felice – in which FlyingNikka impressed, sailing in full foiling, thanks to its long arms equipped with T-shaped foils, with ease and efficiency.  

FlyingNikka can count on the partners NorthSails for the sails, B&G for the onboard electronics and Montura as supplier of the official clothing – the carbon mast was instead made by Southern Spars – and will race under the colours of the Yacht Club Repubblica Marinara di Pisa. 

ain sponsor of the campaign is Cetilar®,a brand of the PharmaNutra pharmaceutical company, already involved in the world of sport in various disciplines, with its Cetilar Racing division, successfully engaged in motorsport and in the growth of young athletes with the Cetilar Academy program.