Marco Rodolfi, the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde of sailing

Iphone Marco Rodolfi in the office of his Milan company (the TWT), imagining a scene from the movie “Wall Street” with Michael Douglas impersonating Gordon Gekko. A highly successful entrepreneurial man sitting at his desk whose minutes are worth their weight in gold. I actually have many questions in store for him, to understand his story: Italian Laser champion at age 17, later switched to the Soling with which he competed in two pre-Olympic campaigns, professional racer in IOR. Then he disappears from the scene for a few years. He returns as owner of a Farr 40 to head a crew of champions, then comes the Swan 62, cruising and racing, then the Swan 80 with which he wins the ARC and where he now spends his boating vacations with family and friends, because, to race, he wanted to return to a “simple” boat, the Class 40 aboard which he is winning everything together with Matteo Auguadro. Racer and cruiser, in both cases a lover of speed boating, two souls who love the sea all-around, in all its aspects: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde in a seafaring version.

THE DINGHY RACER
“The Laser has been a school of life for me, the Soling a school of technique. You can feel those who have raced dinghies, because they have a different sensibility that you only acquire on these boats.” Marco Rodolfi first went boating with his father when he was four years old on Lake Maggiore in a wooden boat. He came into contact with the competitive world when he turned fourteen and forced his father to take him to a Laser regatta in Laveno. After this first experience, a new world opened up for him: he began training summer and winter: “Training was very different from what it is today. In winter we would go out on the lake without a wetsuit, we would have gatherings among ourselves, or I would train alone. The victory at the 1982 Italian Laser Championship in Rio Marina (Livorno) was definitely the most beautiful success, both because all my efforts and sacrifices had been recognized and because I had won without having my conditions on the race course.” After this triumph comes the interest of the IVF, which provides him with a Soling and crew (consisting of Besozzi and De Martino) to participate in two pre-Olympic campaigns (Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992). Parallel to his career as a derivateur and his training together with great sailors such as Flavio Favini, Roberto Spata, and Tiziano Nava, Marco also races in the IOR class and on the Fun. “Aboard any boat I’ve always helmed, because they considered me good at that, but personally I’ve always liked all the roles on board, I like to take care of all those adjustments that improve the performance of the boat.”

THE PAUSE FOR REFLECTION
1994 is a special year for Marco Rodolfi. He is 25 years old, has two unsuccessful Olympic campaigns behind him, and a series of misunderstandings with the Federation.Disappointed by failures, he feels the need to detoxify from the whole competitive racing environment. He disappeared from the scene for almost ten years and began working. He maintains his relationship with the water through windsurfing: “Going out with the board early in the morning on the lake, alone, for the simple pleasure of enjoying the solitude and the exclusive and direct relationship with water and wind.” These were the years in which Rodolfi laid the foundation for his future entrepreneurial success: “Sailing was also important for my professional career, because it forged my character. The sea, being in contact with people taught me how to live, how to be in the world: all this was very useful for me at work. I would say that racing has taught me to believe, even when things seem impossible. Both in racing and in professional life, if you don’t believe in the choices you make, from the windward edge you’ve bet on to the project you’ve invested in, you’re not going anywhere.”

THE BIG BOAT COMEBACK
The racer’s spirit comes knocking again in 2003. These were the years when the greatest sailors on the international scene competed on Farr 40s. Marco Rodolfi decides to buy a used one and put himself to the test on the race courses by starting the TWT team, sponsored by his telecommunications company: he calls on his lifelong friends, from Tiziano Nava to Marco Di Natale. After some early beatings in 2006 they finished third in the World Cup in Australia, one point behind first place. When class begins to fail, he decides it is time to fulfill the dream he has had since childhood: he buys first a Swan 62 “Berenice” and then a Swan 80 “Berenice Bis,” in order to be able to make room for another need that is becoming increasingly insistent. Experiencing the sea while cruising with family and friends, devoting himself to his passion in a relaxed way, “When I’m aboard Berenice I can relax, go underwater, take pictures, of course the boat has to walk fast even when I’m on vacation, it’s my way to feel happy.”

A leopard can’t change its spots. In 2010 he entered Berenice Bis in the ARC, the transatlantic regatta that starts in the Canary Islands and arrives in St. Lucia, Caribbean: “We won in both actual and handicap, it was exhausting, nine out of thirteen days were upwind. We won with a tactical choice: a course further north than anyone else that allowed us to catch the tail end of a disturbance in the Atlantic. This regatta changed my life by making me discover the pleasure of long sailing; today I feel more like a navigator than a helmsman.” That’s why he decided to buy a Class 40 and try his hand at long races together with Matteo Auguadro: “I wished to get back to an easy boat with which to race.” And now he dreams of going to challenge his French cousins.