Star Sailors League Final - Marazzi siblings to compete
by Alex D'Agosta on 28 Nov 2013
Flavio Marazzi Juerg Kaufmann
http://juergkaufmann.com/
Switzerland is prolific with Star sailors, having 177 skippers and crew present in the Star Sailors League (SSL) Ranking List, but there are no doubts that the Helvetic Confederation's best helmsman over the last decade is Flavio Marazzi.
A long time veteran of the Class and passionate Star sailor, Marazzi competed in four Olympics with excellent fourth and fifth place finishes as best results. He was Class Vice-champion twice, in addition to European and South American Champion. Together with his younger brother Renato his last campaign was Sydney in 2000, but now it's time to come back in the spotlight.
Though saddened because his favorite boat is no longer Olympic, thanks to the Star Sailors League he is enthusiastic to be part of this community again: 'I had thought that the best times for the Star Class were over, but nevertheless some of the best keelboat sailors still compete in this special two man boat. This is exactly the reason to continue to sailing in the Class - it's not about the boat, it's the competition and friendship between Star sailors which will make the Star Sailors League successful.'
For the duo from the Swiss capital of Bern, there is also a special commitment to this event: 'This will be a very special regatta, especially because the last time I sailed the Star together with my brother was in 2001. And I also love the venue, because in 2008 we came second in the 5.5m Worlds in Nassau. For the finals my goal is to have fun again sailing the Star with my brother and score some top three results.'
Regardless of final results, Nassau be an emotional experience for a grateful Flavio, as he recently began a different way of sailing: 'I'm currently competing in the GC32 Sailing Series. 2013 was the first season for this new 32 foot catamaran, with competition throughout Europe. For the 2014 season we expect to have six to eight boats sailing short races in the foiling mode. This will create a new style of sailing after the foiling AC72 boats match raced each other.'
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