The return of the Captain - Shosholoza in Italy

by Di Meek on 7 Jul 2008
The recent trucking of South Africa’s America’s Cup campaign yacht Shosholoza RSA 83 from Naples to the mountains beyond Pompeii for a week long display in the piazza of the small Italian town of Nocera Inferiore was never a secret.

Rather it was something Team Shosholoza managing director, Captain Salvatore Sarno, was reluctant to publicise.

In the four year lead up to the 2007 America’s Cup he had successfully used Shosholoza as a vehicle to showcase South Africa’s new democracy on the world stage. Now he was taking the space-age 24 metre yacht, designed and built in his adopted Africa, on an emotional pilgrimage 'home' to his birthplace.

'It’s a private thing. We don’t need to write it in a press release,' Sarno replied when asked what was planned in the town where he and his wife Sandra fell in love as 14 year olds; where his twin brother and extended Sarno families still live; where he climbed the highest mountain for a glimpse of the sea – 'just a silver slither on the horizon' – to fuel his dreams of becoming a ship’s Captain.

But while the world didn’t know where Shosholoza was disappearing to after her VIP guest appearance at last month's annual nautical festival in the southern Italian city of Naples it was already big news in the nearby valley towns stretching from Salerno to Sorrento.

'The Return of the Captain!' (Il Ritorno del Capitano) was the headline emblazoned across the 1000’s of posters and pamphlets that featured Shosholoza on every billboard, in every shop and on every windscreen.

In fact people had already started gathering by the time the Shosholoza delivery crew finally managed to get the yacht to Nocera Inferiore’s main Piazza Diaz after some tricky late night traffic-free manoeuvering through narrow cobbled streets.

Twenty four hours later the yacht’s 34 metre mast had been craned into place and a huge South African flag hoisted. A deck height scaffolding bridge was erected along the hull for easy viewing and crowds arrived in droves to meet the Captain, the crew and feel part of the 'African Dream' they passionately supported through the America’s Cup.

'We were told to get the boat there, nothing much more. So the response we got, plus the grand opening and nightly festivities of music and dance held on a stage specially erected in front of the yacht were all a fantastic surprise.' said Shosholoza shore team manager Jo Lees.

'Everybody was proud to be associated with Captain Sarno, and the Sarno family in some way. We were treated with admiration and awe - like any popular sports stars - and everyone wanted to talk to us and get autographs. It was wonderful to be welcomed into such a tight community,' said Lees.

The Mayor of Nocera Inferiore, Mr Antonio Romano, also used the opening ceremony to announce that Captain Sarno had been awarded the Freedom of the City.

'We do this in recognition of the high civil, social and humanitarian values that characterized the commitment of this man, who in his personal and business life, has so admirably managed to combine the strength and tenacity of his dreams,' said Mayor Romano.

'For me and for all of us the great satisfaction is not the boat itself being here in our town, but what Sarno represents: The desire to help redeem a nation, the importance of being a united team and making people believe their dreams are possible,' said Romano.

'The key reading of this event is the empathy we in Nocera can share with the people of South Africa by presenting young people with a positive model to be inspired by.

'Captain Sarno left here as a 16 year old to follow his dreams. He became the youngest Captain in the Italian merchant navy and for over 20 years he has lived in South Africa as chairman of Mediterranean Shipping Company, but his heart never left Nocera.

'Now the Captain is ready for new challenges. The adventure does not stop here. The next goal, to be achieved by the passion and enthusiasm that is always him, is to bring the America’ Cup to African soil,' said Mayor Romano.

Captain Sarno presented the Mayor with a model of Yacht Shosholoza RSA 83 and a South African flag. In return the Mayor presented the Team with the flag of Nocera Inferiore.

It was all quite a revelation to the Shosholoza crew accompanying Captain Sarno. They learnt that Nocera is not really the 'small village' that the Captain refers to from childhood memories but a bustling town of 50 000 people.

They also learnt that there is a town called 'Sarno', which with Nocera Inferiore, now merge with others in the 'Sarno Valley' - so named after the 'Sarno' River which flows between the verdant mountains of the Campania region just 20 km south east of Naples.

'Yes, the name of my family has everything to do with the river, the town and the valley. In the little village where I was born there is still a Sarno’s Palace which hosted the elementary school. Unfortunately my family was belonging to the poor branch…' said Captain Sarno.

Sarno’s twin brother, Carmine, who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes for Team Shosholoza also pointed out the apartment block with its first floor balcony where the family grew up.

'Their' corner Café Sportivi also still stands at the confluence of four neighbouring streets - each of which had enough youngsters for their own soccer teams. In passing Carmine mentioned that Captain Sarno is sponsoring the restoration of the nearby Church of Saint Antonio where he and his three brothers were christened.

The Shosholoza crew also climbed to the historic medieval Fienga Castle built on Roman ruins atop Mount Albino for the filming of the first episode of a series that will feature Captain Sarno in the popular Italian TV programme 'Second Life'.

'Captain was very emotional when he started talking - up there above Nocera with Mount Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples in the distance,' said team secretary Shirley Mullins.

'It was an emotional time for all us. Not even a storm kept people away from coming to see Shosholoza on the first Saturday night. It was amazing to see people’s faces as they touched Shosholoza, especially the elderly folks,' said Mullins.

Shosholoza’s 120 kg grinder from Boksburg, Reinhardt Rauscher, fellow grinder Moctar Fall and shore crew John 'Spilly' Spilhaus made up the rest of the delivery crew. Salvatore Siviero of Sorrento, who had been the team’s training manager in Cape Town in 2004 also assisted.

'During the Cup our flag flew across Europe but this was something utterly unique. It made me feel so proud,' said Rauscher.