Vascotto announces TP52 campaign

Veteran Italian campaigner to return to Audi MedCup

Vasco Vascotto has announced that he will be once again entering the 2009 Audi MedCup circuit.

His boat, last year named Mutua Madrilena will revert to the name Pisco Sour, under which Vascotto won the first MedCup season for the TP52s in 2005 and was runner up at the World Championship last year, despite a disappointing sixth in the 2008 Audi MedCup.

Vascotto has since become involved with the Italian Damiani Challenge for the 33rd America's Cup and sailed earlier this year in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series.

The boat, a Judel-Vrolijk design, new for the 2008 season, has been undergoing modifications over the winter to bring her in line with the latest thinking as the latest 2009 generation J-V designs Matador and Artemi,swith additional work by Albino Scarpone's Carbonlab.

"The work was important and affected the hull, deck and sail plan," says Vascotto. "Besides this, we tried to make it more aggressive." The boat will also have a new paint job with a black hull.

The significant difference is that this year, Vascotto has handed over the wheel to up and coming 27 year old Italian sailor, Alberto Balzon from Trieste (who is also part of Damiani Challenge). Balzon has raced on leading Farr 40s and has had a successful few years in the Melges 32 and 24 class.

Otherwise the crew will be much the same including navigator Nacho Postigo, Matthew Auguadro, Michele Paoletti and Nicola Pilastro.