Yachting: Fashion mogul sets style as '13th man'

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

When Italian fashion mogul Leonardo Ferragamo jumped on Grant Dalton's round-the-world boat as it sailed through the Bay of Islands, he made race history.

It was the first time a "13th man" had joined one of the yachts in the final 24 hours of a leg in the ocean race.

For Ferragamo, head of the multi-billion dollar Salvatore Ferragamo shoe and handbag empire, it was "a moment of gratification".

The Italian businessman backed two boats in this Volvo Ocean Race - Dalton's Amer Sports One and the all-women's Amer Sports Too - and he wanted to see how his millions were being spent.

"It makes a lot of sense for the people who are behind these teams, who have worked very hard to make it happen, to get out on the water and understand it," said Ferragamo, after he had raced into Auckland on the second boat across the finish line.

"I got to feel the adrenalin and the stress of the last part of the race. I saw the incredible cleverness of people who gybed with full sailing gear in 30 knots of wind and waves - and in a calm atmosphere. It was a unique experience."

A new rule in the race allows an extra passenger - similar to the America's Cup's 17th man - to be on a Volvo60 for the first and last 24 hours of a leg.

The Amer Sports One team wanted Ferragamo to ride with them on the entire Sydney-Hobart stretch of the third leg. All but one skipper, Team SEB's Gunnar Krantz, agreed, but the proposal needed a unanimous decision to get approval.

Ultimately it did not matter so much to Ferragamo - his exhilarating ride down the east coast of New Zealand turned out to be reward enough.

The son of fashion pioneer Salvatore Ferragamo was brought up on the sea and races his own big boats in Europe. It was Leonardo Ferragamo's goal to have a boat race around the world since he bought Nautor Swan, one of the world's most glamorous cruising-yacht yards, based in Finland.

It was a Swan 65, Sayula II, that won the first Whitbread round-the-world race in 1974.

"One of my first quiet dreams was to bring this company back into this race - it was in our DNA," Ferragamo said.

He approached New Zealand skipper Dalton to head the double-headed Nautor Challenge campaign.

"We came into this race at the very last moment, because the company was following other priorities, but I am very happy with where we are," Ferragamo said.

"Grant Dalton is much more than a skipper. I think he is a great leader - one who will make things happen no matter what."

Ferragamo's vision is to have Nautor Challenge run along the lines of a Formula One motor racing team, and become a regular starter in the world's premier yachting events.

Does that include challenging for the America's Cup? "Would I like to personally? Yes ... but it has become so demanding, one should really carefully consider getting involved in it now," he said.

Ferragamo spent a week in the Bay of Islands with his four children - three of them sailors - before returning to the demands of European fashion.

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