Serena, Bruni and Richie: Children weaned in the Sardinian Sea

Young heirs Max and Chico, captains of Luna Rosa, in Cagliari already win the optimism and windsurfing competition and at Marina di Capitana Franco Ricci took the helm from Abi Sino, the legendary skipper of the Azura

Cagliari. In the area selection for the optimists’ category, which took place in the waters of Angels Bay, everyone lined up after winning four of the six scheduled races. Lorenzo Serena won the under-16 regatta, thus reaching the Primavilla Cup, the water baptism at the National Arena for the very young, scheduled for August 29-31 in Cagliari.

Lorenzo is the son of Finn, his father “Max” Massimiliano is the captain and manager of the Luna Rossa team, who in October 2019 was granted honorary citizenship by the municipality of the island’s capital. The children’s helmet captain of the Optimist class went out to sea with a series of training sessions and social regattas held in Auckland, New Zealand, while his father Max was a participant in the 36th America’s Cup.

Ubaldo Bruni, 15, of Palermo, also has a famous title on the international sailing scene. Meanwhile, experience the vibes with a foil-equipped windsurfing club at Windsurfing Club, the historic sailing club in Poetto’s “first stop” that saw Marta Magti’s origination, ready to fly to Tokyo. He is the son of Francesco “Checco”, one of two Luna Rossa sponsors in Auckland. “I think I never influenced him in his choices – says Chico Bruni, three Olympics in three classes (Laser, 49er and Star) last week in Lake Garda won the Italian Moth Championship – so much so that he chose surfing and not drifting another sailing class. By exercising any pressure on him before: the important thing is that he practice sports with passion and fun.”

A few kilometers from Poitto beach, in Marina di Capitana, he took the helm from his father Franco Ricci, son of the legendary Sino, born in 1934, first skipper of the Azura, the boat that in 1983 represented Italy for the first time in Newport in the America’s Cup. It is impossible, for a character like the skipper of Azzurra, not to pass on the passion for sailing to their children. But Franco Ricci, in addition to being a sailor and organizing the Autumn Naval Championships, is above all the coach of the Italian sailing school.

“I was not influenced by my father, because he always made me do what I wanted – says Franco Ricci, born in 1968 – that he was racing and I was studying sailing. I have always done everything myself and I have felt good about the school I run in Marina di Capitana, which I also won Italian titles, such as those for the Beneteau 25. My father never took me to do sailing or stepping into circles. Of course, I would be involuntarily conditioned, but I repeat, I chose to be an instructor, to teach sailing to my students, and to accompany them in boats to teach them the secrets going to the sea “.