It was a weekend full of sporting achievements for the sailors of CUS Trieste, competing for the first time in two major international regattas: the Naval Academies Regatta in Livorno and the Elafiti Slalom Regata in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The two Trieste teams were invited by CUS Bari for the Dubrovnik regatta and by the Italian Naval Academy for the International Sailing Week, a major sporting event now in its fifth decade.

The high level of competition in the two international regattas gave the Trieste teams the opportunity to compete against strong opponents. In Livorno, the crew made up of helmsman Luca Centazzo (first-year student in Economics, taught in English), Nicolò Coslovich (first-year Physics student) and Anna Tesser (first-year Management Engineering student) took 1st place in the National Tridente Regatta and also won the Under 23 category aboard a Tridente 16 one-design boat provided by the Livorno Naval Academy.

“It was an incredible four days,” said Nicolò Coslovich, “because it gave us the opportunity to enjoy a highly stimulating competitive experience and to discover the world of the Livorno Academy and of naval academies from all over the world. Looking back at the regattas, the three of us immediately developed good understanding and a very positive team spirit, even though it was the first time we had all sailed together on the same boat. Our starts were definitely our strong point, although we struggled a little with upwind speed, which forced us to make more complex tactical choices. However, we managed to overcome the difficulties and achieve excellent results.”

In Dubrovnik, the mixed CUS crew, made up of nine sailors — one professor and eight students — competed on an X-41 boat provided by CUS Bari. At the end of the three coastal races, the team finished 1st among the Italian crews and 2nd in the university ranking, on equal points with the winning university, the host institution.

Sailing under the CUS colours were Prof. Piergiorgio Trevisan (Professor of English Language and Translation at the Department of Humanities), Carolina Bontempo (20, first-year Chemistry student), Sara Calici (20, second-year Business and Management student), Leonardo Centuori (21, third-year Naval Engineering student), Lorenzo Centuori (19, first-year International Economics student), Kim Francesco Magnani (20, second-year Naval Engineering student), Giovanni Marchese (20, second-year Financial Economics student), Julia Rubesa Perini (19, first-year Business and Management student) and Samuele Trovò (20, second-year Computer Engineering student).

“I think this kind of experience is unique and extremely valuable,” said Prof. Trevisan. “I believe that CUS and the University should continue along this path. Personally, having less sailing experience than the students, I learned a great deal, especially about the tactical management of the races, and I was able to admire up close a group of enterprising young people and skilled sailors.”

“We competed,” added Kim Francesco Magnani, tactician of the crew, “in two days of racing marked by ideal wind conditions, during which we showed great solidity as a team, standing out for consistently precise and effective starts, as well as excellent cohesion on board.”

Dubrovnik event website: https://www.jk-orsan.hr/elafitislalom.html

Livorno event website: https://www.settimanavelica.it/