The team began the first part of its Mediterranean corporate hospitality programme this week - kicking off with Naples! Some of the team arrived on Tuesday to prepare for the boats arrival Wednesday night. It’s becoming more apparent that trying to organise anything in Italy is somewhat difficult due to a very laid back attitude – 10 minutes in Italy means an hour, and that’s with a phone call to chase progress. The main issue to overcome was where abouts in the marina the boat was going to berth. A 4.5 metre draft seemed to cause a particular problem and through process of elimination HUGO BOSS could only fit in one spot – it’s unfortunate this spot is at the very end of the pontoon leaving the crew a lengthy walk to anywhere of use. When the boat came in the team found themselves sharing a pontoon with some incredibly big and expensive boats, including a few Gin Palaces. Not one to hide in the shadows, HUGO BOSS soon had an interested multicultural crowd asking questions like, How tall the mast is? What’s her draft? How fast can she go? Would you like to join our party!? A tired crew got handed some fresh food, chilled water and a key to their hotel rooms. Alex flew into Naples late last night to join the rest of the team after having to leave the boat in Sardinia for a meeting in London with Sir Keith Mills. It was an early start this morning with a briefing over breakfast before the team departed for the marina to meet the first group of guests from Safilo Italy (Safilo supply the HUGO BOSS eyewear). The first group returned to shore exclaiming “Fantastico”, “Magnifico” and “Bellisimo”. With a calm sea state the guests enjoyed some leisurely sailing around Napoli and were each able to take a turn at the helm. The team is looking forward to the remaining four days sailing hospitality programme before departing for Sardinia next week.