1977, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. Moby Dick, 42 feet, owned by the Bortolotti family, finishes second in the Channel Race. On board, only Italians, none over 30 years old. It’s a great result, to say the least. It’s the Admiral’s Cup, the Team World Championship… She will finish 17th out of 57, the 57 best in the world, representing 19 nations.

Built by Peppino Gallinari’s shipyard in Anzio, it’s a small masterpiece in laminated wood, made with four crossed layers glued at 45° of 6-millimeter Okoume wood, at the time, the lightest available. It would be such a perfect construction that it would surpass aluminum ones in lightness and rigidity.

The design, however, is by the American wizard, Doug Peterson, already known for his marvelous Ganbare and who, with Moby Dick, expresses himself at his best, creating a Two Tonner by the book, one of his finest designs.

Today, Moby Dick lives a new life, returned to its past glory and in family hands. The owner is Lorenzo Bortolotti, who has been frequenting racing fields at home and abroad since the ’70s, along with some forays into America’s Cup campaigns. He’s the one who recovered Moby Dick, the family hull, restoring it to its deserved prominence and former splendor after having sold it 40 years earlier…