Hi, I have been sailing in the Med for 25 years and owned a First 40.7 for 15 years. I am very passionate about sailing and exploring new destinations. I am fluent in both English and Italian and have a happy, easy-going character.
I am a sailor with an Italian no limits licence for sailing and motorboats up to 24 meters. I started sailing many years ago with my uncle on a Grand Soleil 43' in the Tyrrhenian Sea but then I decided to enrol in the Caprera Military School of Sailing, where I completed 3 courses to establish the basics of sailing on smaller boats like J24.
In 2008, I bought a Beneteau First 40.7 Regata, which was a very technical boat, and I kept her in Ravenna, where I started racing in all the local regattas, then moved up to long-distance regattas sailing from Italy to Croatia and back. I have sailed her 13/14 times from Ravenna to Trieste to participate in the Barcolana (The biggest race in the world), always arriving in the first 300 boats. One particular year, 2850 boats were participating, and I finished 167th, which is incredible for a standard sailboat with an amateur crew and keeping in mind that the first 200/250 boats were all professional.
I sailed every year with my family and friends for summer holidays to Venice, but mostly to Croatia. Occasionally, I would rent my boat with me as a skipper to international clients for daily trips near Ravenna.
After 15 years, I decided to sell my boat and move on to larger and different boats, becoming a skipper for private clients and charter companies, sailing on various seas and destinations. I have skippered for a charter company with a brand new Grand Soleil 52' for a few years with a base in Genoa that had only international clients. We would sail from Genoa to the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, including all the nearby smaller islands, but also during the winter months, when things were much more complicated because of the weather conditions.
For the past three years, I have been the lead boat of 3 x 45' sailboats working for an American school that recruits kids from the ages of 12 to17 years old from all over the world speaking only English on board The trips were organised to leave Nettuno near Rome sailing to the Pontine islands for a week then returning to change for a new group of children for 4 weeks with a total of nearly 100 children. The idea was to teach the children how to live on board a sailboat also learn the basics of sailing.
I was born in England, but I have lived in Italy for over 30 years, so I am bilingual and having travelled to France very often, I also know basic French. I have a very calm character and I get on well with both children and adults. I have always exercised a great passion for sailing (not motoring) and the sea. I am currently retired, so I can practice skipper activities with plenty of freedom. In my life, I have practised many professions in commerce, sales and import of antique furniture from all parts of the world and in catering ( management of family restaurants and ice cream parlours) in my younger days. During the last few years before retirement, I worked as an export manager for different companies in Umbria, promoting their products internationally.
Having sailed for over 30 years and owned a very technical race sailboat for over 15 years, I consider myself not only a skilled all-around sailor but also an expert in the management and maintenance of a sailboat. I believe I have the right experience to conduct various types and sizes of sailboats in the Mediterranean, having sailed extensively both the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas.
In my spare time, I work voluntarily in the kitchen of the CARITAS cafeteria, providing for the poor and homeless people in my area.
I am very fit for my age and strong, practising daily 5km walks every morning, yoga with meditation.
I am vaccinated for Covid 2019 with certificates, First Aid Basic and HACCP food.
I have recently attended courses for Offshore personal survival and firefighting, STCW 2025
Please feel free to contact me for a chat. I use WhatsApp.
Further Abilities
I have been sailing for many years , at the begining I trained at the Caprera MIlitary school moving up to local regatas in Ravenna on my Beneteau First 40.7 sailing all the Adriatic sea including Croatia.
Then I moved to work as a skipper on larger sailboats in the Tyrrannian sea starting from Genoa to the islands of Corsica and Sardinia with all the smaller islands around.
For the past 3 years I worked as the head skipper for 3x 14 meter sailboats from Rome to the Pontine islands with children form all over the world.
Soft skills
I have a very calm and easy gowing caracter so I get on with everyone from adults to children and animals having worked for all kinds of people on sailboats in the past.
Organizational skills
Having worked on large sailboats private and charter I know how to organise the crew and provisions also the routes to take.
Technical skills
Having a tecnical sailboat for 15 years has given me the knowledge to keep and maintain a boat.
I also know how to use navigation systems like GPS apps for weather and navigation.