“Parsifal,” 30 years later: the night that changed Italian sailing

On the night of November 2, 1995, the sea in the Gulf of Lion swallowed the cutter “Parsifal” and six men of its crew. Thirty years later, that tragedy continues to teach respect and humility before the power of the sea.

It was the night of Nov. 2, 1995, when the “Parsifal,” an elegant 16-meter-long mahogany and teak cutter, disappeared in the raging waves of the Gulf of Lion. The storm, with gusts exceeding 77 knots, hit the boat with a violence that none of the nine men on board could have imagined. Only three of them survived.

That shipwreck, which occurred during the “Trofeo Millemiglia” regatta, is still remembered as the most serious tragedy in the history of Italian sailing.

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A race to the ocean, an oncoming storm

The “Parsifal” had left San Remo on the morning of November 1, bound for Casablanca to join the fleet of the “Transat des Alizés.” The first few hours passed in flat calm, but the weather report spoke clearly: deterioration was on the way. As night fell, the wind strengthened and many boats decided to take shelter in the French Riviera. Only thirteen crews, including that of the “Parsifal,” continued the crossing.

• Read also: “What is a Storm,” Vincenzo Onorato’s account from the Transat des Alizés

A classy cutter and a close-knit crew

Built by the Carlini Shipyard and designed by Carlo Sciarrelli, the “Parsifal” was a masterpiece of elegance and solidity. She displaced 12.6 tons and boasted 152 square meters of sail area. On board were a group of friends united by their passion for the sea and competition: owner Giordano Rao-Torres, a lawyer and university lecturer; skipper Carlo Lazzari; professionals Mattia De Carolis and Daniele Tosato; and then Francesco Zanaboni, Giorgio Luzzi, Enzo Belotti, Andrea Dal Piaz and Luciano Pedulli, a longtime contributor to the Giornale della Vela.

The cursed wave opened a hole in the hull.

On the evening of November 2, the wind rose to force 10 and the waves reached 10 meters. Around 9 p.m., a freak breaker hit the boat with devastating power. The mast snapped, the rudder column was torn apart, and an opening in the hull doomed the Parsifal to a rapid sinking: four minutes to disappear. The crew, without the life raft dragged away by the wave, improvised a float with fenders and jerry cans. The Epirb signal departed, but rescue was still far away. Meanwhile, in the darkness and among the crests of the Mistral, the long night of survival began.

Hours of hell in the frozen sea

The water was 17 degrees, the wind was blowing over 140 km/h. The men clung to the improvised raft, clinging to each other. The hours stretched on forever, and the cold began to win. One by one, Pedulli, Tosato, De Carolis, Luzzi, Zanaboni and Belotti slipped into the sea. Only Dal Piaz, Lazzari and Rao-Torres held on, supporting each other until dawn.

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The rescue and the pain

The search did not begin until the morning of Nov. 3, when a French Coast Guard aircraft spotted the shipwrecked men ten miles from the point of the sinking. After several unsuccessful attempts, a Spanish helicopter reached them at 3 p.m. Eighteen hours had passed. The three survivors were recovered in extreme conditions, and Rao-Torres also managed to retain the body of Comrade Tosato, who had died a few hours earlier.

Unanswered questions and a long process

In the months and years that followed, many questions emerged: should the raft have been secured on deck? Was the course prudent? Were rescues too slow? Rao-Torres faced a years-long trial, at the end of which he was completely acquitted. Expert reports proved the goodness of the design and the absence of structural or equipment errors. The tragedy was attributed to the unpredictable violence of the sea.

The legacy of “Parsifal”

Thirty years later, the “Parsifal” remains a symbol. Not only of grief, but of courage, friendship and respect for the sea. That night in the Gulf of Lion reminds every sailor that adventure and passion must always come to terms with the power of nature. And that, as one survivor wrote, “at sea you never win, you survive.”

David Ingiosi