Sailor of the Year: you are all invited to Cala de Medici for a great day of sailing

We are almost there, the Jury of the Journal of Sailing has made its decision and tomorrow, 5:30 p.m., at Marina Cala de Medici, the Velista of the Year 2024 award ceremony will take place, hosted by Rachele Vitello and Mauro Giuffrè, the award that our magazine has been giving out since 1991. The final round comes after the 34,150 votes in the online poll decreed the roster of finalists, confirming that the GDV-branded Sailor of the Year has an impressive audience participation base.

You are all invited, then, to Cala de Medici, also because it will be a rich day since the Vela Cup is scheduled in the morning, with the awards ceremony taking place immediately after the Sailor of the Year to conclude a day of great sailing. The Tuscan VELA Cup is a little bit special because. in addition to the classic regatta, on Saturday evening there is as mentioned the awarding of the Sailor of the Year and the Sunday doubles up with Triton Cup, the first regatta to promote Natura 2000 marine and coastal sites, promoted by the LIFE A-MAR NATURA2000 project..

Sailor of the Year – Early Verdicts.

Let’s start with the already established verdicts: the winner of the Most Voted Category (which collected submissions that came directly from the public) is Giuseppe Veirana, who with 3,261 votes was the most voted. The 59-year-old influencer won the Musto oilskin reserved for the category winner. Credit to its community – it has the same number of followers as Luna Rossa! – which follows its work in popularizing sailing on social media, with engaging and inspirational videos for those who love the sea and the world of sailing.

We will also be awarding the Epic Prize on May 25 at Marina Cala de Medici., which is particularly close to our hearts this year because it will go to what can be considered one of the fathers of modern sailing: the wizard of plumbing and hydraulics Gianni Cariboni, who has revolutionized the world of sailboats with the systems developed by his company. Watch this video to believe:

The “Save the Med” Special Prize will be awarded instead to the
Project M.A.R.E.
, an awareness campaign to monitor and protect the Mediterranean Sea carried out by the Caprera Sailing Center in collaboration with One Ocean Foundation. A project that is more than concrete, as the following video recounts:

Sailor of the Year – Let’s find out the finalists

And now we come to the most anticipated news, the finalists. For the Overall Sailor of the Year category, which awards this year’s overall prize: after a long head-to-head race, the winner of the Mini Transat Luca Rosetti was the most voted by the public, followed by sailor Francesca Clapcich, Nicholas Renna, Francesco Cappuzzo and the superhero of the oceans Ambrose Beccaria, reigning Sailor of the Year

In the Category Passion was a real photo finish, by a handful of votes the first in the audience ranking was the young sailor Elia Favaro (who crossed the Atlantic on a boat he restored, amidst a thousand problems, without ever giving up), followed by Marcello Meringolo (the coach of young optimists and sailing champions and the pair Vlacich-Deganuti (the inventors of “Grand Tour Sailing” who sailed around the world on microboats, from Titicaca to LochNess), then in order Nicolo Todoli and Gabriele Bruni.

First up in the Young Category was Ancona-based baby sailboard prodigy Medea Falcioni, who was ahead of Wingfoil champion Maddalena Spanu, the Demurtas-Santi pair, Francesca Maria Salerno and Leonardo Tomasini.

Among the Owner the head-to-head was won by Marco Trombetti, owner of the Swan 65 Translated9 that has just completed the round-the-world sailing trip and was ahead of another “globe-trotter” (with his Mylius 60 Fra’ Diavolo) Vincenzo Addessi, followed by the Rusticali-Rossi pair, Susie Holland, and Pino Lasalandra.

Instead, the audience in the Innovation category awarded Matteo Polli, the most successful designer of the past 10 years, followed by Fortunato Moratto, then Francesca Galiani, Fabio Bignolini and Guelfi-D’Angeli .