The French, you know, when it comes to sailing, know a lot, but we Italians, too, once understood something about it. Just these days in France, the 40th edition of the Tour de France à la Voile, a stage race that is run on very fast 7.25-meter trimarans, the Diam 24 designed by the VPLP studio, a first for a multihull in the history of the race.
A total of 29 crews are registered, with stages touching the cities of Dunkirk, Fecamp, Jullouville, Arzon, Les Sables d’Olonne, Roses, Port Camargue, Marseille and Nice. Regardless of the number of entrants, the fleet is still of the highest level, what matters is that the Tout de France à la Voile is a beautiful festival that moves from city to city involving so many fans.
There was a time when Italy also had its sailing tour,created by Cino Ricci and first held in 1988 and raced until 2010, and that too was a beautiful event, which unfortunately has been lost and it seems that no one, or few, care about it being reborn. Think of how many miles of coastline Italy has, think of what fantastic courses these regattas could have, and had. Think of a nice one-design (so whoever comes first just wins, no arguments), a nice fleet (with rankings for professionals and amateurs) sailing around Italy doing battle for a month along our coasts. Think of what a party every night when the “circus” touches down. Spectators would be able to see the boats, meet the sailors and hear their stories, and those doing the race would have the chance to visit beautiful places, compare themselves with their opponents and feel the warmth of the audience. Depressed Italy needs things like this, needs to rediscover passion, otherwise we will always be here repeating, and writing, “How good the French are,” and we honestly don’t feel like it anymore.
