B&B Italia 1977-78

1977/8 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race The Italian yacht B&B ITALIA, a 54ft Gurney designed sloop skippered by Corrado di Majo, racing out of the Solent under spinnaker after the start of the race from Portsmouth UK B&B ITALIA finished 9th overall.
© Barry Pickthall/PPL

The 1977-78 Whitbread Round the World Race was the second edition of the Race. This time, fifteen yachts of various sizes and rigs took part. The fleet departed from Portsmouth on the 27th of August 1977 and docked in Cape Town, Auckland, New Zealand; and Río de Janeiro; before making its way back to Portsmouth.

The overall race winner was the Netherlands entry Flyer, skippered by the Dutch ocean racing legend Conny van Rietschoten.

The vessel featured in this photograph, the Gurney 54 Sloop B&B Italia, was skippered by Italian Corrado di Majo. It came ninth in the overall classification. Unlike the previous edition of the Race, B&B Italia was the only Italian entry in the 1977-78 competition.