Supplying the boats from optimist sailor to Olympic champion

by ISAF World Sailing on 21 Jul 2010 ISAF Youth World Championship equipment of choice, the 420 class celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The 420 was at the very first Championship, held at Angelholm, Sweden in 1971 and has been at almost all championships since including this year in Istanbul.

Nautivela based in Milan, Italy have 40 years of involvement building the 420 and have supplied the boat for the ISAF Youth World Championship since 1997 when the regatta was held in Fukuoka, Japan. Nautivela have only missed two editions of the championship since then in Denmark and Canada.

At this year's Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul held from 8 - 17 July, Nautivela provided 66 brand new 420 boats and as well as nineteen 29ers (under an exclusive dealership agreement covering the Southern Europe region).

Alberto Portiglia explains the process, 'We are proud of the quality of our boats, it takes six to twelve months to build and create the stock. All the boats are like private boats, individually assembled.'

The fittings are then added and sails are provided by Zaoli Sails based in San Remo under an agreement with Nautivela.

Nautivela then organise shipment of the fleet. Six trucks were loaded with twelve boats in each truck to take the journey from Milan to Trieste. From Trieste they continue by ferry to Istanbul where they were again loaded onto new trucks to reach their final destination at Atakoy Marina, venue for the 40th edition of the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship.

In 2009 Nautivela released a new hull shape that has been very successful in producing many national champions especially in Europe. This is despite the fact that there are local builders in these countries!

Alberto explains the company philosophy, 'Our focus is on the pinnacle of sailing, we try to follow the dream of the young sailors on their journey taking them from the Optimist to the 420 and on to the Olympics.'

'We also work with the coaches to help them improve the performance of their sailors.' he adds.

A team of four personnel were on site in Istanbul to advise, carry out any repairs and maintenance of the fleet throughout the championship.

At the end of the week long championship the brand new state of the art boats are sold, some remain in Turkey but many are available for sale at discounted rates. Boats are bought by individuals, sailing schools, coaching academies as well as top level 420 campaigners.

The standard package includes a one week old boat and rig, sails and foils but custom packages are available on request. A full after sales service is provided by Nautivela.

After 40 years of supplying state of the art 420 boats Alberto remains confident of the future, 'We look to continue the tradition of providing top class boats to keep developing the growth of youth sailing.'

www.nautivela.com