British sailor Adrian Stead has joined Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team as a member of the afterguard. He comes to the team having completed the 2006 sailing season with the Farr 40 world, European and European circuit titles, sailing with Vincenzo Onorato aboard Mascalzone Latino.

He brings more Americas Cup experience to the team as he was the tactician with the GBR Challenge in 2001-3.

Stead started sailing when he was six years old in a Optimist, introduced to sailing by his father who was a boat builder. He then progressed to Cadets dinghies, 420s and 470s, as well as helming the Flying Dutchman at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. In 1996 he was the bowman in the Soling at the Atlanta Olympics, finishing 4th, before joining ‘Silk Cut’ to race the 1997-8 Whitbread race as a helmsman/trimmer.

Since then Stead has focused on keelboat sailing. In 1998 he won the Farr 40 Worlds as tactician for Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad and in 1999 skippered ‘Barlo Plastics’ to top boat in the Admiral’s Cup. The following year won the Tour de France al la Voile with the same team. Other victories include Admirals Cup winner, Sardinia Cup winner, Key West and Miami regattas- a total of some 30 championship titles.

In 2003 Adrian teamed up with Vincenzo Onorato and his Farr 40 team as tactician and project manager. He also is tactician on the TP52 ‘Stay Calm’ and, when he has time, races on the Maxi yacht ‘Alfa Romeo’ as a helmsman. He has raced Transpac, Middle Sea, Fastnet and Sydney-Hobart races recently and loves to sail on boats like the Farr 40 and TP where the racing is close.

The team is now working in Valencia with Ita 90 AND Ita 77. A second new boat is expected to be launched in early 2007. Afterguard for the two sailing teams working right now are: Vasco Vascotto (skipper), Flavio Favini, Jes Gram-Hansen, Cameron Dunn, Rasmus Kostner, Michele Paoletti, Nacho Postigo and Adrian Stead. We will announce the afterguard for the LVC just before racing starts in April.