TAG HEUER 2015 SAILOR OF THE YEAR? THREE!

For 2015, the news is sensational: the Sailor of the Year are two, actually three. In fact, winning the prestigious award ex aequo were Roberto Tomasini Grinover, the owner of the successful and multi-winner series of boats “Robertissima,” and the pair Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri, the strongest Italian derivisti of the moment, specialists of the Olympic catamaran Nacra 17.
This is the verdict that was unveiled just now on the stage of the Hospitality Area of the Tag Heuer VELAFestivalwhichis taking place these days, and until Sunday, May 10, in Santa Margherita Ligure. Today, what has been renamed the Evening of Champions reached its climax precisely with the awarding of the 2015 TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year: this is the most prestigious award in Italian sailing and has been organized and awarded since 1991 by the historic specialized monthly magazine Il Giornale della Vela.

ALL THE PROTAGONISTS
But the three protagonists, as well as voted on the web by the popular jury and in the editorial office by the quality jury, who became Velista of the Year 2015 were not the only ones to take the stage in Santa Margherita Ligure. With them also the winners of the other categories in contention: the TAG Heuer Performance was won by Giuseppe Giuffré, who at 74 is a true legend of Italian sailing; the TAG Heuer Innovation went to Il Moro di Venezia I, a historic but incredibly innovative hull launched in 1976; and the TAG Heuer Passion to Matteo Miceli, a Roman solo sailor with an innate passion for the sea. The VELAFestival Grand Prize went to Luca Bassani Antivari patron of Wally Yachts, the TAG Heuer VELAFestival Special Prize went to Dick Carter, historic U.S. designer, and the Pavese family, and the Ideal Owner Special Prize was won by Pigi Loro Piana.