Sailor of the Year, the Magnificent 52 / 5 (Special to Zerbin-Maccarone)

Soon we will start again: warm up your mice. In these days, from A to Z, we will learn more about the stories of the 52 candidates who passed the first stage of the Sailor of the Year. You will be able to vote for them again starting March 4 (1 p.m.), with the online poll closing on March 15 at 12 p.m. (remember that the votes from the first phase are reset): only 25 will remain.

Below are the last 12 of the “magnificent 52” (50 + 2 chosen by you, Salvatore Mantaci and Pietro Supparo). At the bottom of the list, however, you will find the rules for the Sailor of the Year.

GIORGIA SPECIAL (Athlete)
The Latins used to say “nomen, omen.” If your name is Special, you can’t be a half-wit. The board specialist on SEF Stamura’s strength in 2015 won the U17 Techno 293 European Championships. A young heir to Sensini?

ANTONIO SQUIZZATO (Athlete)
The strongest in the 2.4 mR Paralympic class is him, Antonio Squizzato. Always at the top of international rankings, he will represent us at the Paralympics in Rio. And who knows, maybe he will give us a medal….

SUPERNIKKA (Vismara Mills 62 – Boat)
A super owner like Roberto Lacorte could only “ride” a super boat: the Vismara Mills 62 SuperNikka won the 2015 World Mini Maxi and the 151 Miglia.

PIETRO “CICCIO” SUPPARO (Owner)
We nominated Gianin VI, the 1976 Halberg-Rassy 41 winner of the Giraglia (for the second time, after the 2011 triumph), but we received many e-mails that also wanted its owner, Pietro Supparo aka Ciccio (a 67-year-old mechanical engineer from Turin), on the list of nominees: great at creating a winning team that goes sailing, first and foremost, with the purpose of having fun.

ROBERTO TOMASINI GRINOVER (Owner)
Our 2015 Sailor of the Year ended the season on a high note by winning the Barcolana. And now Robertissima is retiring to make way for a new hyper-tech Maxi!

GIANLUIGI UGOLINI / MARIA GIUBILEI (Athletes)
Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei won bronze at the EUROSAF European SL16 catamarans in the season that just ended.

SILVIA VACIRCA (Athlete)
Another prestigious result among the Lasers: Silvia Vacirca took the European U17 Radial bronze. Very good!

VASCO VASCOTTO (Athlete)
In 2015 World Champion, ORCi (Enfant Terrible), TP52 and 52 Super Series as tactician of Azzurra, with 25 Worlds in his career he is the world’s most titled sailor. By a whisker he is “only” Maxi 72 World Vice-Champion on Robertissima. The strongest one is him!

FILIPPO VINCIS (Athlete)
The Italian O’pen BIC has found in Filippo Vincis a masterful performer: in 2015 he won silver at the European Under 16.

MICHELE ZAMBELLI (Seaman)
A challenging season ended with a beautiful second place in the second leg of the Mini Transat among the Protos. At 25, Romagna-born Zambelli is a complete sailor, ready for even more important siphons

FEDERICO ZAMPICCOLI (Athlete)
In the O’pen BICs he is probably the strongest of all: in fact, he triumphed cal European Under 16 Championship. Zampiccoli is also going strong on 29ers.

MATTEO ZERBIN / GIULIO MACCARONE (Athletes)
Excellent 420 class specialists, Zerbin and Maccarone in 2015 won silver medals at both the Eurosaf U19 and U17 European Championships. The two Venetians will surely grow up well!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE FOURTH 10 CANDIDATES

CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE THIRD 10 CANDIDATES

CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE SECOND 10 CANDIDATES

CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE TOP 10 CANDIDATES

HOW THE 2016 SAILOR OF THE YEAR VOTING WORKS
On Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m., the Sailor of the Year award ceremony will take place at the VELAFestival in Santa Margherita Ligure (Genoa) during the Evening of Champions. But how does one come to award the most prestigious prize in Italian sailing? With a long and “hard” online selection process where your input is crucial. We explain it in detail, step by step.

– FIRST STAGE (WINNING VOTE – CONCLUDED) – FROM 100 to 52 CANDIDATES.
– 100 CANDIDATES to vote online on our website from Jan. 29 (from 1 p.m.) to Feb. 16 (closing at 12 p.m.)
– 20 CANDIDATES INDICATED BY YOU (you can send us names and motivation from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4 to email speciali@panamaeditore.it) voted online on our website from Feb. 5 (from 1 p.m.) to Feb. 16 (close at 12 p.m.)
– The 50 most voted and the 2 most voted among those indicated by you pass the round
– SECOND STAGE (WINNING VOTE) – 52 to 25 CANDIDATES.
– 52 CANDIDATES to vote online from March 4 (from 1 p.m.) to March 15 (closing at 12 noon)
– The 25 highest vote-getters pass the round
– THIRD STAGE (CONSULTATIVE VOTE) – 25 to 5 CANDIDATES.
– 25 CANDIDATES to be voted for online from March 31 (from 1 p.m.) to April 15 (closing time 12 noon). The online public vote has advisory value: taking into account your preferences, a jury selects the 5 who pass the round
– FOURTH PHASE – CHOOSING THE SAILOR OF THE YEAR (AND OTHER AWARDS)
-THE 5 CANDIDATES make up the shortlist of “papabili” for Sailor of the Year. These will compete, based on the jury’s decisions, for the Sailor of the Year award and the others: TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year “Passion,” TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year “Innovation,” and TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year “Performance.” Each of the winners will be awarded a TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 high-precision waterproof chronograph (pictured opposite), capable of withstanding depths of up to 300 meters. Who the winners are you will only know on the evening of May 6 in Santa Margherita. You are all invited!

For any information regarding the Sailor of the Year, please write to us at speciali@panamaeditore.it

FIND OUT WHAT IS SAILOR OF THE YEAR

AT THIS LINK FIND OUT IN DETAIL THE FIRST ROUND OF VOTING FOR THE MAGNIFICENT “100”

DISCOVER ALL 100 INITIAL CANDIDATES FOR SAILOR OF THE YEAR, FROM A TO Z

FIND OUT THE STORIES OF THE “CHOSEN BY YOU” NOMINEES AND THE REASONS FOR THE NOMINATIONS