A sailor-reader’s passionate letter, “The Barcolana is us.”

Sabato Errico, one of the 28 “sailor-readers” who participated in the Barcolana with our boats, wrote us an impassioned letter. And which we publish in its entirety because it is worth reading in one go! Thank you Saturday!

THE TALE OF MR. ERRICO
My participation in the Barcolana 2015 begins in Rome the moment I purchase issue 08/015 of the Giornale della Vela, at my trusted newsstand in the Divino Amore area. I am a traditional reader in the sense that I prefer to read while maintaining direct contact with the printed paper. I am not very familiar with online reading.

The cover of the September Sailing Newspaper features a beautiful image, professionally shot from above, of the famous sail yacht Clovis and invites you to “participate in the world’s most exciting regatta on our boats.” Reflecting on my brief sailing experience, which began just a year ago as a student on Caravelle, owner of a modest Alpa Brise dinghy and with two weeks of sailing along the coasts of the Maddalena Archipelago during the cabin cruiser course at the Caprera Sailing Center, I had some misgivings about judging myself technically capable of participating in an emblazoned competition such as the Barcolana, in the presence of famous skippers.

However, remembering the words of a sailing instructor of mine, who maintained that some personal qualities of the sailor are not acquired by attending sailing courses, let alone by practice at sea, I felt that I could humbly join the crew that would spontaneously form at the event.

So, I venture confidently into filling out the Barcolana entry form. Unhindered is the first part, which requires entering personal information, FIV membership number and sponsor’s polo shirt size. Less easy is the part of the informational questionnaire that explores my sailing skills and experience. Here, I affix a series of crosses in the NO box. Answers that give me a glimpse of a possible spectator-only role. After researching a few titles to my advantage, I exhibit the sailing course at Caprera, hoping to earn a boat’s cockpit.

Having sent the entry form, I promptly and courteously receive the concise and accurate information about participation: the regatta program, the name of my boat, the list of skippers, crew composition and points of contact.

Friday, October 9, duffel bag over my shoulder, I take the train to Trieste and the city bus that drops me off at Piazza Unità d’Italia. Thanks to the timely directions of the organizers, I reach the Sailing Newspaper – Tag Heuer booth. After the warm and friendly welcome, I board the First 50 on which I am embarked. As I familiarize myself with the owner, the other crew members in training arrive. We dine and sleep on board, looking forward to Saturday morning for our first sea outing.

Meanwhile in the night, Aeolus god of winds thinks that in order to move thousands of sailboats participating in the Barcolana it is necessary to throw a lot of wind over the gulf. So, he decides to send us a nice 130-km-per-hour bora, which we can’t share boat by boat, though. As a result, everyone immobilized at the dock to swing for 24 hours, skipping Saturday’s day dedicated to going out to sea. Sensitive and vital day for the new crews of the First 50, Salona 44, Dufour 445 and Sintesi 45 aggregated for the event, at the initiative of the Journal of Sailing and Tag Heuer.

However, we members of improvised and untrained crews have at our disposal the guidance and direction of famous and highly experienced skippers such as Matteo Miceli, Ettore Baldo, Venanzio Ferri and Maurizio Vettorato.

While waiting for the wind to drop, we visit the sail yacht Clovis, built in 1983 by the French shipyard in Biot. Clovis is a vessel with obvious marine appeal. On board, we meet his crew, who live there year-round devoting care and attention to their boat.

Meanwhile, the wind intensity increases. For 24 hours the bora lashed the city’s shores, wreaking havoc among the masts, spreaders, and halyards of moored boats. Sleeping on a boat, with the bora swerving it 45 degrees, is a special feeling and an experience you can only have in Trieste.

When the bora puts a strain on the mooring lines of your dock-bound boat, you realize that attesting bow and stern to the mooring lines, adjusting their length and orientation are much more delicate operations than adjusting the sails. When sailing, the boat seeks and uses the wind; standing still it must fight it.

However, a weather event, perceived in the bud as unwelcome, brings you many hidden sensations. You can discover and savor them if you immerse yourself in the fast-moving bora, if you adapt to the boat’s oscillations and experience it, along with the sea, as if it were sailing.

After this long and arduous virtual navigation from a standstill, the bora is set to leave the Gulf of Trieste, the boats hard put to the test, the white exhibition stands lined up on the shores, and the stage set up for music in the piazza, only partially used.

On Sunday morning, the fatigued boats are ready to raise their sails, and the crews are eager to launch their enthusiastic, To indicate all together: the Barcolana is here, the Barcolana is us. The boats begin to leave the dock and head out into the gusty wind to form the wall of colorful sails on the starting line, which covers the coast all the way to Miramare Castle.

At the start of the regatta, our First 50 crosses the starting line with excellent buoyancy, up the code zero and sped toward the first buoy, positioned among the top fifty boats. We continue with fair pace toward the second and third buoys. We are joined and passed by important boats. The expertise of our Alpine skipper and sailor makes up for the shortcomings of the improvised but, nevertheless, very passionate crew. We complete our honorable race in position 83 of the overall ranking. My Barcolana 2015, which began at a newsstand in Rome, ends on the Audace pier, among spectators who watch from the shore the yearlong anticipated spectacle.

With melancholy, I leave the boat, mine for three days, and the temporary crew formed through a successful initiative, which I hope can be repeated in the future. I set out for Trieste station, together with a new friend and crewmate of mine. I take the train back to Rome, saying goodbye to Trieste, a patriotic city full of sails and sea.

After the Barcolana, the Giornale della Vela is for me the face of my crew Zora and the friends of the editorial staff, whom I met in Trieste, who work to give us monthly images of the sea and its boats.

Thank you, Journal of Sailing.

Saturday Errico