Ernesto Bertarelli arrives in Sardinia for the Rolex Swan Cup

Ernesto Bertarelli flew from RAF Northolt in London to Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport on Thursday morning, a brief 1-hour-57-minute hop aboard his Bombardier Global 7500, HB-JIT. The flight touches down in Sardinia the same week the annual Rolex Swan Cup begins on the waters off Porto Cervo, running from May 28 through June 1, per the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s event calendar.

Bertarelli, the billionaire former owner of biotech firm Serono and the man who made Switzerland an America’s Cup winner by founding Alinghi, is a regular at the regatta. Though the Swan Cup is not officially sponsored by Bertarelli’s foundation, his presence aligns with a season in which many maxi yachts and classic Swan-class boats gather in the Mediterranean for early-summer racing. The event draws a mix of competitive owners and luxury patrons.

With no recent flights on file for HB-JIT, this trip marks the first tracked movement of Bertarelli’s 2021-vintage Global 7500. The Gstaad-based businessman keeps a pattern of flying to Mediterranean sailing destinations during the northern summer, and the Sardinian coastline offers both racing and a secondary residence in the region that fits his yachting calendar.