The first session of the renewed Citizen Committee of the Maritime Republics was held in recent days at Palazzo Gambacorti. On the agenda is the organization of the 69th edition of the event and the start of work on planning the activities for the 2023-2028 mandate.
The councilor for the traditions of the history and identity of Pisa took stock of the organization of the 2024 edition and the problems that emerged within the General Committee regarding the identification of the date of the event. The appointment is currently scheduled for September 14th in Genoa but Venice has expressed doubts about this date because the Burano Regatta is also scheduled on the same day.
The councilor for the sporting development of the regattas instead addressed the technical-sporting aspects of the event, illustrating the main innovations this year. For the first time athletes can use it for their preparation well three galleonsone for competition and two for training and the team has been training on the Canale dei Navicelli since January.
The historical traditions manager instead illustrated the investments made by the administration. All boats from the Palio di San Ranieri and the support boats have been restored. Overall, 90 thousand euros were invested between the new Galleon and the Palio boats: another confirmation of the great attention of the municipal administration for traditional Pisa events and rowing sports.
Interventions have been carried out which have made it possible to recover a third galleon for training which can be used by the female crew in a stable manner without the need, each time, to modify the settings of the galleon also used by the male crew. The internal floor of the men’s galleon was also redone. In both galleons the entire wooden handrail has been reworked with specific products to guarantee a longer life than the current one. The rebuilding of the racing galleon’s pedals is underway and the figureheads that had been damaged have been repaired.
As regards the boats of the Palio di San Ranieri, after having redone all the oar sets, the Municipality of Pisa intervened significantly on the hulls this year. Repairs were carried out with resin reconstruction, hatches replaced, steel keel plate sealed, hulls repaired and polished. The fences with Teflon bushings will be mounted shortly, so that all boats have the same ones and are thus in the same conditions. The pedal guides and grilloni (coloured wooden part on the bow) were also repaired, given that on some boats they were almost detached. Work is also planned on the support motorboat purchased in the last mandate, with an overhaul of the engine, work on the floor, autoclave system, mooring lights and doors for the lockers, while the hull will be painted Pisan red. Before June the iron barge of the Palio will also be repaired, to which an anti-rust treatment and anti-fouling treatment will be applied.
Finally, the work that the Citizen Committee of the Maritime Republics will have to do from now on was set out, relating in particular to the valorisation of the cultural and historical re-enactment aspects of the event. During the discussion, the need to work together with other cities to create collateral events that can further enhance the event from a cultural point of view, going beyond the purely sporting aspect also emerged.
These are the members of the Citizen Committee for the Maritime Republics: President: Mayor of Pisa; Vice president: Councilor for the Traditions of the history and identity of Pisa; Sports Development Councilor for Regattas; Superintendent and Treasurer: Giuseppe Bacciardi, manager of the Municipality of Pisa; Councilors: 2 municipal councilors; Enzo Meucci (President of the Italian Naval League – Pisa Section); Fabrizio Fantozzi (Captain of the Frigate Authority of the Port of Livorno); Luca Gagetti as sports director; Thomas Antoni, Massimo Bellani And Andrea Bertelloni as technical experts; Iacopo Danielli And Stefano Gianfaldoni, as experts in the historical tradition; Councilor with honorable role: Roberto Balestri. Secretary of the Committee: Michele Molino.
Source: Municipality of Pisa – Press Office
