J/24 Italy Handicap Children Benefit

by J/Boats on 29 Sep 2017 In the waters of Porto Rotondo, the Italian J/24 class and its fleet on Sardinia are hosting a benefit for handicap children, to give them the eye-opening experience of sailing on the deep blue emerald waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

'While waiting for the 2018 J/24 season, I would like to propose you to participate in the seventh edition of the Vita da aMare event,” explains Captain of the Sardinia J/24 Fleet- Marco Frulio. “The event, sponsored by the municipal administration of Olbia in collaboration with the Lombardy Region, will allow people with different handicap abilities, coming from the peninsula and the city of Olbia, to enjoy and experience three days sailing in the sea of the Gallurian coast.”

For the event, Boomerang Yachting Charter company will make available its J/24s to accommodate one hundred children and fifty volunteers. The children with different abilities will be under the responsibility of adult captains to skipper the 18 boats provided by Boomerang.

'At the seventh edition of Vita da aMare, about one hundred special children and some fifty volunteers and expert sailors are expected. This event took place last year in Genoa. The initiative enjoys the logistical support of the Italian Red Cross organization. In the weeks before the event, the Yachting Club of Porto Rotondo held a presentation about the importance of the event for handicap children and for the sport of sailing in Italy. The presenters included the organizer (Claudio Pedrazzini- the head of FIV in the Lombard Regional Council), the Mayor and the Councilor of Tourism in Olbia (Settimo Nizzi and Marco Balata), the President of Porto Rotondo Consortium (Leonardo Salvemini), Boomerang (Angelo Usai) and entrepreneur Paolo Berlusconi.

'The event started eight years ago, thanks to the idea of a group of friends who wanted to share the passion for sailing with less fortunate people. And so,' said Claudio Pedrazzini, 'something unique has come about not only to people with different fragility but to all those who are able to make themselves available to others with great sensibility. Every year we take the challenge and, at the same time, we grow. This year, thanks to the support of Angelo Usai of Boomerang, our children will have at their disposal 18 boats.'

'Being able to help handicapped children at least for the three days of the event is a wonderful thing. Our community,” said the Mayor of Olbia- Settimo Nizzi, “will support the event to make it unforgettable to all those who are participating.'

For Marco Balata, Councilor of Tourism in Olbia, this is the “crystallization of a project born about a year ago and that is part of the sector where there is so much to do in our country: the so-called accessible tourism. As soon as we started contacts with Pedrazzini, we immediately thought of dedicating the event to the memory of Patrizia Bigi.'

On the same tone, the organizer of the event, Angelo Usai: 'We are not new to this kind of initiative,' said Boomerang, a nautical tourism company. “Although in the past, we welcomed handicap people on board to sail boats in Italy, we are still well behind compared to other nations like Germany.'

For Leonardo Salvemini, President of Porto Rotondo Consortium, “We are here to thank the special people who will come here. Well-done initiatives like these are important for Italian society and important for broadening the positive social impact of the sport of sailing for everyone.”

Paolo Berlusconi also expressed words of appreciation for the initiatives. 'Getting to Porto Rotondo and talking about disability and volunteering is good for the heart,' said the entrepreneur, 'and makes us understand that man is also capable of doing good things to include all manner of handicapped sailors.”