Evening of Champions: come, find out who will be the Sailor of the Year, win two great prizes

We are very close now to the Evening of Champions, scheduled for May 3 from 7 p.m. at TAG Heuer VELAFestival of Santa Margherita Ligure (Genoa): there you will not only find out who will be elected TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year (the most coveted prize in Italian sailing, awarded by the Giornale della Vela since 1991) and who will win all the other prizes (TAG Heuer Young by B&G, Innovation, Performance, #don’tcrackunderpressure); not only will you be “vis a vis” with the great protagonists of Italian sailing.

There is another, actually two reasons not to miss the Evening of Champions. If you register at the desk that will be set up near the stage on Thursday 2 and Friday 3, leaving your name, surname and e-mail with which you voted in the online poll at velistadell’anno.giornaledellavela.com, and if you attend the Evening, you can win two fantastic prizes. A magnificent TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 watch and a boat vacation raffled off by Globesailor!

TAG HEUER SAILOR OF THE YEAR 2019 FINALISTS

AMBROSE BECCARIA
The enfant prodige of Italian sailing in the ocean, shore Mini 650, is this boy from Milan, class of 1991. In 2018, he won everything there was to win with his new Pogo 3 Geomag, including the difficult Les Sables – Horta – Les Sables, taking first place out of six regattas at the French Offshore Championship dedicated to minis, and finishing second in the only one where he was not victorious. At the Paris Salon he was crowned French champion of “course au large,” certifying a dominance that for long stretches appeared unchallenged.

FRANCESCO BELVISI AND DANIELE CEVOLA
The two young designers from Palermo are a volcano of invention and innovation. With their company Ocore, which focuses on 3D printing, robotics, and advanced polymer composite materials, they built the world’s first 3D printed boat, a Mini 650 destined for Italian skipper Alessandro Torresani to participate in the 2019 Mini Transat.

CARLO DE PAOLI
He is one of Italy’s top “flying” sailors. He races in the Moth class, and in 2018 he took silver at the European Championships in Borstahusen, Sweden, and the Italian title on Garda.

FRANCESCO AND GIACOMO GALIMBERTI
Twenty-two and 20 years old, from Milan, the two brothers proved that in the summer, young people can do something else rather than spend their days on their cell phones and evenings in discos: circumnavigating Italy, from Ventimiglia to Trieste, on Banana Joe, a small Hobie Cat from the 1980s. Fifty-four days on an uninhabitable 5-meter boat. Stopping to sleep on beaches, cooking over fires.

SOFIA TOMASONI
In the first appearance of the TT:R (Twin Tip Racing) kiteboard at the Olympics (so far only the youth ones), Italy immediately climbs to the top of the world with the extraordinary Sofia Tomasoni, after a season full of satisfactions: in one year she triumphed at the world and youth European championships in Dakhla, Morocco, at the kitesurf world championships and also at the national youth championships, as well as winning silver at the TT:R youth worlds.

SPECIAL AWARDS:

MOST VOTED AWARD – MORGAN IV
The winner of the TAG Heuer Most Voted award, i.e., the candidate who took the most votes by adding up the three voting phases, goes to Morgan IV, Nicola De Gemmis’ Grand Soleil 39, which garnered an incredible 7124 preferences! We look forward to all of Morgan’s crew at the Evening of Champions!

ECO MEDPLASTIC AWARD – DAN LENARD
The prize raffled off by Medplastic, the association created by the Journal of Sailing to safeguard the Mediterranean, could only go to Dan Lenard this year. The superyacht designer who crossed the Atlantic solo on a recycled ten-meter barge with no engine or electronics. As echoic as it gets! Dan will be present at the Evening of Champions and throughout the TAG Heuer VELAFestival, ready to tell you how he achieved the feat. Tomorrow we will also reveal who won the Tribute award, given each year to a big name, boat, reality of Italian sailing.

CAREER TRIBUTE AWARD – CAPRERA SAILING CENTER
Caprerini, are you ready to take the stage at the TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year Evening of Champions (Friday, May 3, from 7 p.m.)? The Caprera Sailing Center will indeed receive the prestigious Tribute to Lifetime Achievement award. This is the motivation: “In 52 years it has trained 130 thousand sailors and more than a thousand instructors: the Caprera Sailing Center, set in the most beautiful and wild spot of the La Maddalena Archipelago, is the most famous sailing school in Italy and among the most important in the Mediterranean. Society changes, generations come and go, but the spirit of the CVC remains!” Come all and celebrate!

HERE THE DETAILED REGULATIONS OF THE SAILOR OF THE YEAR

VOTE AND WIN!
This year there were two more (mouth-watering) opportunities to vote for your favorite Velista of the Year candidates. Among all the survey voters who will take part in the Evening of Champions (you will be asked to register for the event with the email you provided during voting), on Friday, May 3 at 7 p.m. at theTAG Heuer VELAFestival, will be raffled off a prestigious Aquaracer chronograph from our longtime partner TAG Heuer And, thanks to new partner of the Sailor of the Year Globesailor a long weekend on a boat provided by Sail Italy (May 8-9-10, 2020 in the base of Procida aboard a Beneteau Oceanis 38, 3 cabins and 2 bathrooms, skipper not included).

THE TAG HEUER YOUNG AWARD BY B&G
This year the winner of the prize reserved for under-23 youth is even richer thanks to B&G, Navico Group brand among the leaders in electronics for sailboats: B&G will award the winner with an unforgettable experience in which he will have the opportunity to compete with Olympic sailors, gain advice and learn as much as possible about the technologies used in a “pro” regatta and thus grow as a sailor and professionally. The award is in addition to the TAG Heuer Aquaracer chronograph that is routinely awarded to Sailor of the Year awardees.

FIND OUT ALL THE NEWS ABOUT THE SAILOR OF THE YEAR