The Bris restaurant terrace in Portopiccolo baptized the presentation of Anywave and the numerous projects of the Sistiana Sailing Team on Friday 17 July
In the frame of Sistiana, during the Press Conference there was talk of regattas, ecology, commitment and future, in front of an attentive and involved public, in the presence of the Councilor for the defense of the environment, energy and sustainable development of the Friuli Region Venezia Giulia Fabio Scoccimarro and the Mayor of Duino Aurisina Daniela Pallotta who brought greetings from the institutions.
Paola Del Negro, general director of the OGS National Institute of Oceanography, has always participated in the conference, always active in fighting the pollution of the sea with plastics.
Anywave is a restored and optimized Frers 63, it is a team of champions and a project for young people, it is a careful look at the future, with the desire to contribute with a drop of optimistic commitment to make a small difference in the ocean.
Designed by the prestigious German Frers studio in 2000, Anywave is completely made of carbon fiber. The hull lines, the advanced technological systems and the very small displacement make it extremely competitive both in coastal and offshore tests, in particular in IRC or ORC compensation regattas. It is 2015 when a group of sailors from the Sistiana Sailing Team purchase the almost abandoned hull and bring it back to its former glory, starting to ring a series of victories in the most prestigious international regatta courses, in competitions reserved for Maxi, in long and in the classic Barcolana, which the crew never fails.
The team is led by Alberto Leghissa (4 World titles, 3 European titles, 4 Italian titles, 1 Mediterranean title) assisted by professional sailors including Alessandro Alberti, Andrea Marengo, Andrea Bussani, Matteo Valenti, Ciro Di Piazza and Gian Battista Ballico .
On board the competitive level is very high and a strong body spirit and authentic friendship guide the team's choices. In particular, after an adventure in the Gulf of Naples during the participation in the Tre Golfi regatta, the group of sailors goes on to question themselves on issues less related to racing.
It is night and Anywave suddenly stops while he was reaching the starting line. After a quick inspection, the Team realizes that it has hooked a very long floating net, studded with various plastic waste, on the bulb and rudder, which blocks maneuvers and prevents progress.
Alberto Leghissa recalls: “We realized that while we were crossing a place where the beauty and power of nature felt predominant, what held us back was the work of man. At that moment we understood that racing was no longer enough and we found the motivation to activate an ambitious ecological project aimed at safeguarding the sea ".
In dialogue with Partners and Sponsors, Sistiana Sailing Team realizes that feeling is common and thus the R.Eco project was born, which wants to raise awareness of the problem of waste at sea and has the aim of pushing crews, yacht clubs and institutions to activate practical behavior to protect the marine environment.
“If every racer, every boat owner, every club did something concrete to preserve the sea, I am sure that important results could be obtained both in terms of reducing waste in the water and in terms of civic and ecological education for future generations. We all agree that disposable plastic should be abolished and that we must switch to the use of recyclable materials, but of all that is now there, we must understand what to do with it and possibly get to give it new life. " concludes Leghissa.
The R.Eco (Ecological Manager) project was born for this: a decalogue with concrete indications that each of us can follow to avoid waste and harmful actions towards nature and to try to reuse what is thrown too easily.
In addition to the competitive aspect, Anywave's mission during the sailing season will be to dialogue and stimulate boaters, sailors, clubs and institutions to appoint an on-board (and land-based, for the clubs) Ecological Manager, with precise responsibilities.
The ambition is to push all Italian sailing clubs and institutions to make the R.Eco a mandatory figure, present by statute in the circles, on board each boat and to be named for each regatta.
R. Eco of Anywave is Gino Becevello, one of the founding members of the Sistiana Sailing Team, on board since the first maneuvers and soul of the project.
To immediately accept the proposal of Anywave was Barcolana, who in the registration for the 2020 edition will ask the owners to insert, in the crew list, the figure of the R.Eco indicating their name and surname, next to that of the skipper and helmsman.
“We really liked the Anywave project - commented Mitja Gialuz, president of Barcolana presented by Generali - and we decided to adopt it and become the first disseminators of this idea. It is an environmental responsibility project that guarantees continuity to the awareness raising activities we have supported in recent years. The element we like most, which I want to emphasize here, is that this initiative requires the collaboration of everyone, it falls in the full spirit of Barcolana and in the title we gave this year to the event, "Together", and derives directly by a crew, by the sailing community. Tuesday 21 July we will open the registrations for the Barcolana 2020 and in the registration process we will ask, with the crew list, to identify the person who will be responsible for the eco-sustainability of each participating boat ".
Even Mauro Pelaschier, a great sage of Italian sailing, recently awarded the title of Commendatore della Repubblica for his commitment to the protection of the seas, has long felt the need to talk about these issues especially to young people and immediately gave his support to the initiative of R.Eco.
Following the inspiration given by Mauro, ambassador of One Ocean Foundation, Sistiana Sailing Team wanted to give life to a crew made up of boys and girls, who can bring the competitive passion for this sport among the new generations together with the spread of an environmental culture that leads to environmentally correct behavior.
This is how Anywave Junior was born, Tod 33 who races for the Sisitiana Sailing Team in compensation regattas. Responsible R.Eco for Anywave Juniore is Giulia Leghissa, a young Trieste sailor who took the first steps in drift and then landed on the high seas.
R.Eco also received the praise of Alex Bellini, the Italian navigator and explorer known for his extreme endeavors, including the solo rowing ocean crossings, who spoke at the press conference with a video stating: "When I crossed the the ocean I noticed the amount of floating plastic. We have exiled Nature from our consciousness. We need a new ecological thought, we must consume and produce responsibly, with our actions, with good practices and with new habits we can contribute to reducing pollution and mitigating its damage ".
The first Italian boat to join the R.Eco project was Moxie, X-35 by Paolo Bonsignore, who decided to spend himself personally to promote the project, carefully following the decalogue on board and promoting its principles in national regattas and international ORC class in which he participates.