It will be the well established Regate Pirelli – Trofeo Carlo Negri, organized by Yacht Club Italiano in the lovely village of Santa Margherita Ligure on the Italian Riviera, only a few miles from the world famous Portofino to host the first rendezvous of the 2008 GP42 season, from now on Quebramar Cup from the name of the Portuguese sportswear apparel producer, the circuit official main sponsor.

The GP42 class is about to begin its second year of activity with an intense racing programme: six events in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal for a five months long truly international calendar, from May to mid-October.

The six events circuit will see some eight to twelve participants, in different venues. Each leg will be made of a maximum of nine races, which will compose the final general standings.

As stated by Paolo Massarini, GP42 Association Manager, the 2008 Quebramar Cup is a big step forward for such a young class that is yet living a moment of strong expansion and interest from designers owners, sailors and the media alike.

The new boats, all being currently under the final stages of preparation and testing, are Roma 02 and Airis, owned by Italians Filippo Faruffini and Roberto Monti; the Farr design Near Miss which will fly the French flag and the Spanish Madrid.

Many renowned sailors have confirmed their participation to the circuit, among them a number of key characters of the last edition of the America’s Cup such as the Spanish Alicia Ageno, navigator onboard Victory Challenge, who will have the same role onboard Canarias Puerto Calero or the crew form Desafio Espanol who come nearly all from the Iberian challenger’s team in Valencia.

Of the same value also the French sailors on Near Miss, who proved their ability on Areva Challenge, Alinghi and Oracle BMW Racing as did helmsman Bertrand Pacé. Italian Roma 02, instead, will have an international star studded crew with Shosholoza’s helmsman Paolo Cian and Areva’s tactician Sebastien Col to try to fend from the attacks of their rivals.

Yet, not only AC sailors will try to conquer the first edition of Quebramar Cup: Spanish entry Madrid will count on Finn and Star Olympic sailor and multiple champion Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg at the helm while another Olympian, Sandro Montefusco, will lead the all-Italian crew of Airis.

The GP42s in Santa Margherita Ligure:

Boat	Country	Owner/skipper	Helmsman
Airis	Italy	Roberto Monti	Sandro Montefusco
Canarias Puerto Calero	Spain	Daniel Calero	Jose María Ponce
Desafio Español/Quebramar	Spain	Gonzalo Esteves	Laureano Wizner
Madrid	Spain	Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg	Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg
Near Miss	France	Franck Noel	Bertrand Pacè
Roma 02	Italy	Filippo Faruffini	Paolo Cian
Roma GP42 (2006)	Italy	Filippo Faruffini	TBA
Seawonder 007	Italy	Vittorio Urbinati	Beppe Zaoli

Regate Pirelli, Trofeo Carlo Negri - May 1 - 4, Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy, Y.C.Italiano
Giraglia Rolex Cup - June 8 - 10, St Tropez, France, Y.C.Italiano & S.N.St.Tropez
Rolex Trofeo de la Reina - July 10 - 13, Valencia, Spain, Real Club Náutico de Valencia
Copa del Rey Audi-Mapfre - July 26 - August 2, Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, RCNP
Trofeu Quebramar - August 28 - 30, Cascais, Portugal, Clube Naval de Cascais
Trofeo Cesar Manrique - October 16 - 18, Puerto Calero, Canary Islands, C.M. Puerto Calero