Dona Bertarelli was born in 1968 in Rome, Italy, but grew up in Switzerland, near the shores of Lake Geneva. She is the daughter of businessman Fabio Bertarelli, CEO of the biotechnology company Serono, and manages the international company with her brother Ernesto Bertarelli in the 1990s, after her father was diagnosed with cancer. After the sale of the latter in 2007 for $9 billion, she inherited a significant fortune. The family then kept interests in finance, real estate, health, the hotel industry and sports.
Dona Bertarelli is now a well-known businesswoman, particularly in the hotel industry and in sport. Passionate about sailing, and initiated at an early age by her father, she launched her own sailing racing team, Spindrift Racing.
Philanthropic activities
After the death of her father, Dona Bertaralli and her brother, created the Bertarelli Foundation in 1999, which promotes development and scientific, economic and social knowledge in infertility. The young woman was president for ten years. She is very involved in philanthropy through her foundation. Since the family foundation is dedicated to the conservation of the marine environment.
From the passion of sailing to professionalization
Dona Bertarelli is a passionate sailor. Growing up in Switzerland, she knows Lake Geneva by heart. It was at the end of 2006 that she entered the sailing competition by gathering an all-female crew to race on the Décision 35 catamaran circuit on Lake Geneva. On her D35 called Ladycat, she participates each year in the Vulcan Trophy as a Mainsail trimmer (for 3 seasons).
In 2010, she won the Bol d'Or Mirabaud, becoming the first female skipper to win this regatta created in 1939. This race also highlights a campaign supported by Dona Bertarelli for blood donation. Once again, the young woman is still winning as a team at the 2012 Vulcan Trophy.
In 2011, she and her long-time companion, Yann Guichard, created her own sailing racing team: Spindrift Racing. The objective is to set new ocean records. In January 2013, Yann Guichard's partner bought the former maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V, which then became Spindrift 2 . In this article, we will see how to roll up long ends. In this example the technique is described for a right-handed person.
In 2013, she won the Record de la Route de la Découverte in 6 days, 14 hours, 29 minutes and 21 seconds and also won the Rolex Fastnet Race 2013. In 2014, she won the title "Female Sailor of the Year 2014" at the SUI Sailing Awards and once again won the Bol d'Or Mirabaud 2014 on the D35 Ladycat.
In the winter of 2015, she left with a crew of 13 people to attack the Jules Verne Trophy Record . With a course completed in 47 days, 10 hours, 49 minutes, the crew holds the second fastest time in history, but makes Dona Bertarelli the fastest woman sailing around the globe.
In 2016, she won the title of "Female Sailor of the Year 2016" at the SUI Sailing Awards and won the Transat Québec Saint-Malo in 6 days, 1 hour, 17 minutes and 41 seconds, setting a new record. In 2017, she won 2nd place in the Bol d'Or Mirabaud on board Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing.
In 2019, she will not be aboard Spindrift for the new attempt at the Jule Verne Trophy, leaving the place to her son, Duncan Spath, the team's youngest son.
