Unshakeable moments in sailing

Luissa Smith, PR Director for the 2022 Bacardi Cup invitational Regatta, quizzed well-known sailing personalities about unshakeable moments that propelled them forward and incidents that still keep them up at night:

Diego Negri (ITA)
2000 Olympics – Gold, 2000 Star World Champion, 5-time Bacardi Cup winner (1997, 1998, 2002, 2009, 2017), 1999 Rolex World Sailor of the Year.

Breakthrough:
The Laser Class was not Olympic until its nomination in 1992 for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and I started dreaming about it. I was already in the national team with a good curriculum, which opened the door for the Army and the opportunity to sail full-time.

I sailed my first trial for the 1996 Olympics in the Laser but was probably not ready yet and I lost it against Francesco Bruni on the last sailing day. I started working harder and harder to qualify for Sydney 2000, then for Athens 2004, and then for Beijing 2008. Without realizing it, I sailed during all my life.

The highlight moment in my sailing career is for sure the win at the 2021 Star World Championship. Before that I came three times in second place and one time third over 12 years. I really enjoyed the opportunity to hold the Star Class Trophy in my hands as the crowning of a long path.

Hold onto your hat:
Luckily I never had very dangerous situations in my sailing life. I had to wait for the passing of a storm once under my capsized Laser and come back to the marina well after sunset because the wind dropped during the training. But I think that it is ordinary once you spend so many hours on the water.

I had to helm overnight in huge waves in offshore racing, but more or less the situation was under control. Once I fell overboard with my Star but it was inshore racing, wearing a life jacket and my crew Frithjof Kleen pulled me in after few seconds.