After the 3rd place in the Bermudes 1000, the next goal of Pedote and Prysmian group is the Armen Race

“Thanks to my determination, I’ve achieved a good result and now we look towards the great Vendée Globe challenge with confidence”

Milan, 28^th May 2019 – After the excellent result achieved in the Bermudes 1000, Prysmian Group and Giancarlo Pedote are now preparing for the Armen Race, scheduled on 30 May and covering about 320 miles along the Atlantic coast of France.

Giancarlo Pedote placed third in the Bermudes 1000, the first of the three races on the 2019 calendar for the IMOCA Globe Series leading up to the Vendée Globe 2020, a non stop solo, round the world race without assistance. The Bermudes 1000 race spanned 2,000 miles between Douarnenez and Brest, in Brittany, with one mark at the legendary Fastnet rock and another at the Azores.

The competition posed numerous difficulties, starting with the first night: the hull of Giancarlo Pedote’s 60-foot IMOCA became entangled in a fishing boat’s net, forcing the skipper to strike the sails and dive into the water to free the vessel. Despite the time lost because of the procedure, Pedote climbed back from last to third place by the end of the race in a breathtaking finale involving a significant rally in the last 50 miles.

“When I got stuck in the net and I knew the only way forward was to dive in and cut myself free, I was scared. In a few seconds a series of images flashed through my mind: skippers refusing to get in the water because it’s dangerous. My wife and children. All the sacrifices I had made to get on that boat, faced with that challenge,” stated Giancarlo Pedote. “In that same instant, I felt certain that I was going to free the boat and return to my children. My fear was behind me, tugging on my bathing suit to keep me from jumping in; my determination pushed me harder into the water. When determination wins out against fear, confidence is born. It was confidence that led me to believe that, if I freed the boat from the net, I would be able to move forward. In other words, that was how I was able to move forward.”

“We are proud of this important result. Giancarlo has proved once again that he is able to compete at very high-level events such as the Bermudes 1000 and to overcome even the most difficult obstacles coolly and calmly, as he did with those that he faced during the race,” stated Valerio Battista, CEO of Prysmian Group. ”However, this is just the beginning: the road to Vendée Globe is still long. We need to continue our work along these lines, with determination and humility.”

Vendée Globe 2020 is more than just a sporting initiative. Thanks to the involvement of Electriciens sans frontières, an international NGO that develops international charity projects aimed at bridging disparities in access to electricity and water worldwide and at promoting the economic and social development of populations that are more in need or impacted by natural disasters, in particular through renewable energy, Prysmian Group and Giancarlo Pedote are making the values of sustainability and social commitment the project’s focal point.

A new website about this project and dedicated social channels have been created to provide sailing fans with news, updates, interesting information on races and much more.

(Website: https://www.prysmianoceanracing.com. Social channels: facebook.com/PrysmianOceanRacing; instagram.com/prysmianoceanracing; twitter.com/PrysmianOcean)

Prysmian Group

Prysmian Group is world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry. With almost 140 years of experience, sales exceeding €11 billion, about 29,000 employees in over 50 countries and 112 plants, the Group is strongly positioned in high-tech markets and offers the widest possible range of products, services, technologies and know-how. It operates in the businesses of underground and submarine cables and systems for power transmission and distribution, of special cables for applications in many different industries and of medium and low voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure sectors. For the telecommunications industry, the Group manufactures cables and accessories for voice, video and data transmission, offering a comprehensive range of optical fibres, optical and copper cables and connectivity systems. Prysmian is a public company, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in the FTSE MIB index.

Electriciens sans frontières

Electriciens sans frontières is a French international NGO and registered charity. For over 30 years, it has been committed to giving access to sustainable electricity and water for the poorest people. It firmly believes that ensuring access to modern energy services and safe water sources is essential to eradicate poverty. Since 1986, it has been at the service of populations living in isolated areas with no energy networks and therefore suffering from energy poverty: it analyses their needs with a view to cooperating in order to identify the most affordable, efficient and sustainable solutions.