When talent overrides money: the fairy tale with a happy ending of champion Tony
THE PERFECT GIFT!
Give or treat yourself to a subscription to the print + digital Journal of Sailing and for only 69 euros a year you get the magazine at home plus read it on your PC, smartphone and tablet. With a sea of advantages.
His name is Anthony Javier Sanchez Zamora, known to his friends as Tony. He is 14 years old and the new Optimist zonal champion of Liguria (Zone I is one of the largest in Italy, with 182 AICO members). Son of Ecuadorian migrantes, eldest of three children (dad is bricklayer, mom, housewife, was a sportswoman in Ecuador), he succeeded in his goal, that of beating everyone: thanks in part to the help of the Naval League of Genoa Center, which believed in his talent by providing him with a free boat, sails, and exempting him from the club and regatta fees. Tony repaid all league members and his coach Mattia Maffei in the best way possible.
“TACKED ON HIS KNEES”
“I saw right away that this guy had some stuff,” Mattia tells us. “When I first met him, he had behind him a sailing course carried out as part of a social project and a couple of outings with the LNI’s pre-competitive team. I remember him tacking on his knees. The family resided in Sestri Ponente (a suburb of Genoa, ed.). And when we were training, mother would wake up early in the morning to take Tony by bus to the Port (the LNI of Genoa is right in front of the emblazoned Yacht Club Italiano, ed.), because they had no car. Now it has moved closer to the LNI and everything is more convenient. We have worked hard and honed our technique, and in the last two years Tony has begun to take some satisfaction, qualifying for the Italian Championships and now he is Zonal Champion!”
TALKS LITTLE, THINKS A LOT
Tony’s secret weapon? “He is one who talks little and thinks a lot. This is a fundamental skill for a sailor. Tony listens, learns, knows. And he never complains: plus he’s always willing to lend a hand and teach the little ones.” But he’s a big boy now, and 2017 will be his last aboard the little tubs: “But we already have a future plan for Tony“, Mattia concludes, “420 is waiting for him, one of his comrades with whom he already gets along very well will be his bowman: again we will provide the boy with all the help we can.”
Eugene Ruocco
Share:
Check out the latest issue
Are you already a subscriber?
Ultimi annunci
Our social
Sign up for our Newsletter
We give you a gift
Sailing, its stories, all boats, accessories. Sign up now for our free newsletter and receive the best news selected by the Sailing Newspaper editorial staff each week. Plus we give you one month of GdV digitally on PC, Tablet, Smartphone. Enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “sign me up” button. You will receive a code to activate your month of GdV for free!
You may also be interested in.
Transat Café l’Or: SVR Lazartigue first Ultim, Imoca 60’s turn begins
Day 12 of racing for the Transat Café l’Or and the arrivals in Martinique have begun with the Ultim class trimarans. First across the finish line was Tom Laperche’s SVR Lazartigue, followed just four hours later by Thomas Coville’s Sodebo.
LAST CALL: Last 24 hours to participate, in Tigullio, in a piece of sailing history
One more day, just one day left to participate in a piece of sailing history. More than 50 boats have already done so. Registration closesat 12 noon on Friday, Nov. 7. Then, on Saturday, Nov. 8, the Event: the Tigullio
When it rains and is cold, no one is at sea. Except them
Let the great ocean adventure…in the Mediterranean begin. The fifth Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Il Veloce departed from Genoa: 1492 miles from Genoa to Venice, non-stop, for ten indomitable crews in doubles aboard fast Beneteau Figaro 3, boats of just
Transat Café l’Or: final rush for Imoca, brutal conditions for Class 40s
Day 11 of the Transat Café l’Or, with the Imoca 60s approaching the race’s final throes and dropped below the 1,000-mile mark from the finish line, and the Class 40s instead in the midst of a strategic gamble that split
