TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year, who’s in the lead, who’s taking risks, who’s “waiting for Godot”

Just over eight days remain until the close of the first round of voting for the TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year: you have already assigned 14,500 votes (looks like you’re in for a chance to win a TAG Heuer chronograph and a boat vacation with Globesailor!) and visited the new site http://velistadellanno.giornaledellavela.com 67,944 times: The standings are beginning to emerge sharply.

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THE ALLURE OF “LIVING ABOARD”
Firmly leading the “poll” among the 100 candidates for 2019 Sailor of the Year, after filling up with preferences (nearly a thousand), there is Yakamoz (Turkish: reflection of the moon on the sea), the aluminum Ovni 41 that serves as home to Giampaolo Gentili and partner Basak: a symbol of how one can “unplug,” escape from “evolved” society, and downsize to devote oneself to a sustainable (and peaceful) existence. For years the two have been living “on less than 500 euros a month” between the Mediterranean and the Aegean.

Confirming the appeal of “living aboard” to the public, we also report the excellent performance of Gentilina (currently in eighth position with 511 votes): “Our story begins like many others. Life rushing between a thousand work and non-work commitments, only to arrive at night to see each other a couple of hours before going to bed.” Speaking is Fabio Portesan, 38, a computer scientist from Novara. He decided, with his family (wife, children and cats), to sell everything-home, cars, corporate holdings-and buy Gentilina, a Beneteau Oceanis 430 with which to travel the world for (at least) the next two years. His choice of life ended up in newspapers halfway across Italy!

OCEAN PASSION
Ocean sailing is also enjoying great success and lots of votes: in second place is Mini sailor Matteo Sericano (680 votes), who in his first season in the Mini 650, at the age of 21, became Mediterranean champion of the class. In fourth place was another great oceanic: Ambrogio Beccaria (604 votes). 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.

THE NEW ENTRY AND THE FIRST OF THE “FLYERS”
In third place is a “new entry”:Enrico Danielli’s X-35 Cavallo Pazzo, which won the title of Owner of the Year in Class 3 after a season of good results between the buoys (629 votes), while in fifth place we find the first of the “flying” sailors, a sign that times have changed now. Carlo De Paoli (568 votes). 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.

PROVISIONAL TOP TEN
The provisional top ten is completed with Pierluigi De Felice in sixth place (568 votes), Marco Carpinello (560 votes), the aforementioned Gentilina, Francesca Clapcich (511 votes), and brothers Francesco and Giacomo Galimberti (439 votes).

THE HOT ZONE.
In the rear ranks, meanwhile, it is pure tussle: the 50th place, the last one needed to advance to the next stage, is currently occupied by Star Spirit, skipper Andrea Stella’s world’s first catamaran without architectural barriers, has made a journey along our peninsula under the banner of universal accessibility, from Lignano Sabbiadoro to Genoa, as part of the Wheels on Waves project (66 votes), but competition behind is fierce: Francis Lanera is in 51st place only 17 votes behind, trailing in turn Guido Gallinaro e Federico Colaninno.

BLESSED ARE THE LAST
It is true that, as someone said, “the last will be first”: but those at the bottom of the rankings, for now, have not yet played their cards in terms of self-promotion. In third to last place is Paola 3, Stefano Pozzi’s Solaris 50, with only three votes, ahead of H20, Riccardo De Michele’s Vallicelli 80, which has only two votes and shares the last step along with Ulika, Swan 45 of Owner of the Year Andrea Masi. To them we can only say: hurry up and get your votes in, don’t “wait for Godot,” time is running out!

Our editorial staff will constantly update you with news, posts on Facebook and stories on Instagram, on the Sail Newspaper profile and on the Sailor of the Year profile.

HERE THE DETAILED REGULATIONS OF THE SAILOR OF THE YEAR

THREE VOTES PER PHASE
Starting this year there are two new features: it will be possible to cast three votes per stage (and no longer just one)! You can decide to give three preferences to a single candidate, or divide them among several candidates. For the validation of each vote, you will be asked for your email address: we recommend that you type in the right one; you will find out why in a moment:

VOTE AND WIN!
This year there are 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).

FIND OUT ALL THE NEWS ABOUT THE SAILOR OF THE YEAR