The Italian designer of the Musa 40, Class 40 that wins
Gianluca Guelfi is an Italian naval architect and engineer born in 1988 in Pietrasanta (Tuscany). He has run the studio Gianluca Guelfi Yacht Design with his partner Fabio D'Angeli. The duo was named Sailor of the Year 2023 for the design of the Musa 40.
Career path: Lombard, Mauri, A2V, then Class 40
Guelfi studied naval engineering at the University of Genoa, where he met skipper Ambrogio Beccaria. He then trained at Marc Lombard Yacht Design in La Rochelle and later worked with naval architect Bert Mauri (notably on rudder profiles). With Fabio D'Angeli, he then spent seven years at A2V, a start-up developing ground-effect passenger catamarans. The duo returned to racing yachts by setting up in Lorient.
The Musa 40 and the partnership with Sangiorgio Marine
The Musa 40 was designed by Guelfi and D'Angeli in collaboration with Beccaria, and built by Sangiorgio Marine in Genoa (shipyard founded by Edoardo Bianchi in November 2021). The first example, Alla Grande-Pirelli, was launched in 2022 and immediately became the class benchmark: 2nd in the 2022 Route du Rhum, winner of the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre, winner of The Transat CIC 2024 (Beccaria).
Guelfi and Sangiorgio Marine are also developing the Metis 45, a 45-foot foiling monohull project.
Class 40 designs
- Musa 40 — Alla Grande-Pirelli (2022, Ambrogio Beccaria)
- Musa 40 — Influence2 (Andrea Fornaro)
- Musa 40 Evolution — Acrobatica (2023, Alberto Riva)
- Musa 40 — Solano (Class 40 #213, 2025, Robin Follin)
Skysat on board
Skysat worked on the Solano, Class 40 Musa 40 sailed by Robin Follin.
