CONI CELEBRATES THE HISTORY OF ITALIAN SAILING
CONI Award, Acquacetosa Olympic Preparation Center, Rome, 17 April 2024
Paolo Bottari, Tommaso Chieffi, Enrico Chieffi, Andrea Madaffari and Guido Antar Vigna.
The members of the Marina di Carrara Nautical Club were awarded the Gold Medal for Athletic Valor for having written, through the America’s Cup campaign with the Moro di Venezia, an unforgettable chapter in the history of international sailing.
In the presence of CONI President Giovanni Malagò who started the ceremony, also the Minister of Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi, the President of Federvela Francesco Ettorre and the Olympic Champion Alessandra Sensini. Malagò invited on stage all the members of the Moro di Venezia crew, to whom Carlo Mornati, General Secretary of CONI, presented the Gold Medal for Athletic Valour.
The honor refers to that 30 April 1992 in San Diego (USA), when the crew of Il Moro di Venezia defeated Team New Zealand in the final regattas of the Louis Vuitton Cup (final result 5-3), thus winning the Louis Vuitton Cup and becoming the official Challenger at the XXVIII edition of the America’s Cup. The Moro di Venezia was the first boat from a non-English speaking country to challenge the holder of the Trophy in 141 years of history.
All the yellow and blue sailors awarded the CONI’s high honor – Paolo Bottari, Tommaso Chieffi, Enrico Chieffi and Guido Antar Vigna – continue to race in the most important competitions on the international scene; Andrea Madaffari, athletic trainer of well-known sailors and teams for many years, is one of the technicians of GAN: the National Optimist Competitive Group of which the excellence of youth sailing is part.
“I congratulate our athletes – commented Carlandrea Simonelli, President of the Marina di Carrara Nautical Club – who are a great source of pride for our club and our city. This 2024 – continued Simonelli – is a crucial year for Italian sailing involved in prestigious events. One of these, we remember, the Optimist Class European Championship, will be hosted at the Marina di Carrara Nautical Club which, at the end of a rigorous selection, was preferred to the best sailing clubs in all of Europe. “Our multi-medalist sailors – concluded Simonelli – will be present at the Club during the European Championship to promote sailing with the new generations.”
During the awards ceremony, the President of Federvela, Francesco Ettorre, recalled how much the Moro di Venezia made the general public passionate about sailing and underlined “the importance of the fact that many of the winners still continue to teach sailing to our young. I think this is the most important message.”
“In 1992 – declared Minister Andrea Abodi – for professional reasons I had a close relationship with the Moro di Venezia experience and with those who promoted it; therefore, my thoughts certainly go to Raul Gardini. I experienced firsthand the emotions of that period and this is the spirit of my presence here today. It was a wonderful experience that made Italians fall in love, made sailing much more known and changed the level of attention, even of the institutions, towards this sector which is sporting, but also industrial, creating added value , generates wealth, offers jobs and is an element of excellence at an international level.”
In his speech on the sidelines of the award ceremony, Ivan Gardini, guest of honour, addressing the crew, underlined that: “Il Moro di Venezia remained in the country’s memory certainly because it represented an innovative, technological and sporting challenge, but above all for the human aspect that you guys conveyed at the time and the empathy generated with the fans. All this is still recognized today after more than thirty years. My father would certainly have been happy about this and honored to share this important recognition with his crew.”
Davide Tizzano, two Olympic Gold medalists in rowing and grinder on board the Moro di Venezia, spoke on behalf of the entire crew: “together with my two Olympic successes, participation in the challenge of “Il Moro di Venezia” represents one of the most beautiful pages of my human and sporting memories. I had the honor of meeting a great man and shipowner, Raul Gardini and I had the privilege of having raced with a group of athletes and sailors of the highest level. This for me is the most important value. Il Moro di Venezia represented innovation. It was one of the first sailing teams capable of being fast on the water, but also of knowing how to achieve great goals, going beyond technological frontiers and I am referring to the first carbon sails. “Il Moro” represented and will always remain a fundamental stage in the history of Italian sailing. Congratulations to the entire crew who have been awarded the Gold Medal for Athletic Valor, one of the most important honors in Italian Sport.”
The crew of the Moro di Venezia
Gabriele Bassetti Graziano Bellomo, Lars Borgstrom, Paolo Bottari, Daniele Bresciano, Carlo Castellano, Paul Cayard, Tommaso Chieffi, Enrico Chieffi, Duilio Coletti, Marco Cornacchia, Luca Dignani, Alberto Fantini, Massimo Galli, Gianluca Lamaro, Vittorio Landolfi, Andrea Madaffari, Roberto Martinez, Sergio Mauro, Lorenzo Mazza, Andrea Merani, Andrea Mura, Tiziano Nava, Alessio Pratesi, Massimo Procopio, Francesco Rapetti, Marco Schiavuta, Sandro Spaziani, Davide Tizzano, Ulisse Vicinanza, Guido Antar Vigna.
In the two photos: from left, Andrea Madaffari, Paolo Bottari
Tags: MEMBERS MARINA CARRARA NAUTICAL CLUB CREW MORO VENEZIA AWARDED GOLD MEDAL ATHLETIC VALOR
