YOUR CHOSEN NOMINEES IN THE RACE FOR SAILOR OF THE YEAR 2016

From Feb. 29 to Feb. 4 you had a chance, by sending us an e-mail, to nominate your Sailor of the Year if you did not find him or her included in the “big list” of the magnificent 100. We received an avalanche of e-mails, but all in all, excluding a few “unpresentable” candidates (sailing animals, winners of the social regatta of the club on duty, etc…), we had no great difficulty in the selection: in fact, for each of the candidates below, dozens and dozens of reports have come in.

AZZURRA (Boat – TP52)
Steadily led by Vasco Vascotto (tactician) and Guillermo Parada (skipper) the TP52 of Alberto and Pablo Roemmers (YC Costa Smeralda) is coming off a “bomb” season. World Championship victory in Puetro Portals, triumph in the 52 Super Series, the circuit where the most technologically advanced boats compete.

SALVATORE MANTACI (Seaman)
We were literally inundated with emails supporting his candidacy. Salvatore Mantaci, a Sicilian transplanted to Milan, resigned from the company where he worked and set sail from Genoa for the solo Atlantic crossing in August 2015, after a long and demanding period of repairs and optimizations that he personally made to make his sailboat fit for what lay ahead. The name of his beloved is Tarabaralla (a 34-foot CBS Serenity ’78).Salvatore is still in the middle of the Ocean, and you can follow him on the blog http://oceanotarabaralla.blogspot.it

FRANCESCO MARIO MONGELLI (Athlete)

ALESSANDRO AND MARIO MOSCARIELLO (Athletes)
Alessandro and Mario Moscariello are twins from Salerno who, despite their young age (18), are to be considered accomplished sailors. They have a past between dinghies and catamarans, now they have taken up offshore sailing by participating in the most important regattas in the Mediterranean, such as the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo and other prestigious events.

DIEGO NEGRI (Athlete)
Diego Negri currently ranks third in the Star Sailors League rankings after remaining at the top (a record at the time) for one year. We all know the competitive value of the Star class, where the gout of international sailing still challenges each other. The strong Ligurian sailor, paired with Sergio Lambertenghi, won the District 9 (France) Iscyra and 14 (Italy and Greece) championships in 2015. Then he triumphed at the Lillia Trophy, Oktoberfest, Polo Star in Viareggio, and the XMAS Regatta in Nice. Then concluding with an excellent bronze at the Star World Championship in Argentina.

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.