Former rally driver, Ludovico Fassitelli, won the 1990 Italian Rally Trophy, the 1991 Fiat Uno Turbo Trophy and the 1992 Italian Rally Championship with the Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluzione.
Before that, his first love was sailing, starting his career young and becoming Italian Junior Laser Champion as a boy. He went on to win the Italian Cup and the Euro Cup (H22 class), is two-time winner of both the Primo Cup (J70-H22 classes) and the Monaco Sport Boat Winter Series (J70 class) and four time Monaco J70 champion (J70 class).
Stonehage Fleming was proud to sponsor his 'Junda' sailing team in the 2022 J70 World Championship in Monaco in October and again for the Winter Racing Series last week at which Ludovico and his team took first place on the podium for the opening race.
Mark McMullen, CEO of Stonehage Fleming’s Family Office division, caught up with him at the Yacht Club de Monaco.
MM: Competition runs in your blood. What makes you tick?
LF: As a small child, I loved to compete. At first, it was motorsport. I loved the smell and sound of cars. It went deep inside me and became my passion; my life. Although I fell in love with sailing when I was ten, as soon as I got my driving license, I returned to rally driving and did that for almost 18 years.
MM: You race in a J70. What is its history?
LF: The J70 is the ‘child’ of the J24 class, which, 40 years ago, was the first ‘One design’ in the history of sailing. Until then, the races featured fleets of a mixture of different boats: some 20m, some 30m, one made in the US, one in Europe. One design was a new racing philosophy where all the boats were built to be identical.
Today, J70s are checked before a race to ensure they are all the same size and specification throughout. Unlike a Formula One car, there is nothing you can do to the boat to enhance performance. It is down to the crew to find the racing advantage: the right crew, the right set-up, the right strategy, the right training and, of course, the right wind.
MM: You race with a crew of both amateurs and professional sailors. How do you manage the mix?
LF: 95% of performance is about the team. My role as skipper is to create a good feeling between two completely different mind-sets. The younger team members often arrive on the boat with no sense of competition whereas the professional sailors already have a strong desire to win and are more inclined to push hard. That can create pressure in the boat and I have to manage the dynamics to harness the competitive spirit as best I can.
MM: Can you describe what it is like on the start line of a race?
LF: For me, there is no sport quite as physical, technical and strategic as sailing and being on the start line of a race is one of the trickiest moments. The goal is to get into the best position with the best speed at the best angle. Timing and team communication are key. One person is timing, one is calling the distance from the line and the tactician is forming a crucial opinion: which way to turn to harness the most wind. If they make a mistake at that point – however small – the boat stops. As helm, you have to put your faith 100% in their decision. It can be very tense.