Just days before the start of the 2025 ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), Picomole’s proud Italian owner and skipper, Aldo Fumagalli, sat down with YouTube channel FareVela for an in-depth conversation about life aboard his Rapido 53XS, his history with the ARC, and the ambitious adventures ahead. From multiple transatlantic races to an upcoming voyage to Antarctica – and even early plans for a new, larger Rapido trimaran – Aldo shares candid insights into his experiences, motivations, and the evolution of Picomole. Below is the dubbed You Tube interview, followed by a translated transcript (translation by Chat GPT).
Interviewer: We’re here with Aldo Fumagalli, a regular at the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and beyond. Picomole, your Rapido 53XS that we see behind you, is appearing on a lot of leaderboards. You never miss the ARC. Why is that?
Aldo: Well, the first time we did it, back in 2019, I didn’t know anything. I was just the boat owner, not a sailor. Not that I’m a great sailor now, far from it, but that first ARC really stayed with us as a group of friends. So we did 2020, 2021, 2022. We skipped 2023 because we were building this boat (Picomole) and all of us were working in Vietnam (at Rapido’s factory, Triac Composites). Then in 2024 we “betrayed” the ARC to do the Transat because we said, “Let’s try another competition.”
But this is probably the last ARC for this boat. After this, we’ll change her. Still, the ARC is in our hearts.
Interviewer: Will you change the boat, or will you stick with multihulls?
Aldo: No, that’s a firm choice now. I’m an engineer. I’m all about continuous improvement. This Rapido 53XS has taught us so much. With talented people like Pietrino from Liguria, Gaetano Mura, Patrick Felipon… While we’re sailing, we’re literally sketching the new boat. And thanks especially to Patrick, we’ve come up with a slightly larger, more high-performance version of this trimaran; a 60′ trimaran… This one is fast, but not very fast. As you’ve seen, we enter competitions, but we’re always second, third, fourth; we haven’t won anything yet.
Interviewer: You still finish in the respectable top half of the fleet.
Aldo: Yes, though the fleets are small; five or six boats in these competitions.
Interviewer: Let’s go on board, because you also have another exciting project: Antarctica.
Interviewer: Tell us about Antarctica. What’s this project?
Aldo: My friends on board often talk about what they’ve done, their dreams, places they’ve never seen. Some parts of the world you don’t get to experience when racing. You might pass through the Drake Passage, but you don’t actually see anything because you’re far from Cape Horn or the Antarctic Peninsula. Everyone said, “We’ve never seen that part of the world.”
So, since this is the final year with Picomole, we said, “Let’s finish in style and take a trip.” When we reach the Caribbean after finishing the ARC, we’ll sail the length of Latin America down to Ushuaia, pick up a guide and a couple of friends, and go.
But don’t think we’re attempting a hardcore Antarctic expedition; we’ll stay on the safer side, around the upper part of the South Shetlands and down to Deception Point. We’ll stay away from the heavy ice.
This is the boat’s final voyage with us. We don’t want to leave her down there!
We’ve equipped the boat with powerful heaters and we’re working on building a heated aft cabin because we like travelling comfortably. We don’t enjoy suffering. And since we’ve got 4,000 miles just to reach the starting point, anything can happen, but the plan is to go. We’re very committed.
Interviewer: You’ve got a great crew: Pietrino from Liguria, Gaetano, Ugo Giordano. Who else?
Aldo: Patrick. It’s a dream team. We only still need a captain; the one who’ll guide us safely through the icy waters. We’ll find him down there.
Interviewer: Let’s finish with your next project. You said you’re planning a new multihull. Tell us about it.
Aldo: It will be another trimaran. Slightly bigger, more powerful and faster. As I said, I’m an engineer. I try to improve things. We’re looking at around 60 feet, a bit wider. Performance-wise it’ll be similar, but we can’t put on bigger sails because there’s a physical limit. I want to be able to sail solo, and as you can see, I’m not some great athlete. I can only lift sails up to a certain weight. I can manage these ones; anything heavier is impossible. So the boat will be a bit larger, but the sail plan stays essentially the same.
Interviewer: Great, Aldo. Thank you. We’ll see you in Saint Lucia, where you’ll tell us how this crossing went.
Aldo: Perfect. See you there. Thanks.
