|
"My interest is to be a future defender, certainly not a challenger," Raul Gardini said when he decided to challenge for the America's Cup in November 1988. Gardini had already proven himself a winner in the business world. He was the agri-business and food company Serafino Ferruzi and founded the Italian petrochemical giant Montedison holding company. Then in 1991, it all started to go wrong as he lost the control of a business where his image was thought to be hampering the group's progress. The infernal spiral started. Barely more than a year after that unforgettable performance by Il Moro di Venezia V in the America's Cup, Gardini, one of the richest and the most admired industrialists of his generation, took his own life, after his financial and political integrity had been called into serious question. Italy and the America's Cup family, had lost one of sailing's largest characters.
Raul Gardini was born at Ravenna in 1933 into a family of rich farmers of the North of Italy. He joined the group of Serafino Ferruzi following his marriage with Idina, the elder girl of the patriarch. It was Raul's drive and ambition that saw the family business of Ferruzi explode and diversify into a corporate giant. Despite the heavy burden and demands of his businesses, Gardini remained faithful to his passion, yacht racing. He started sailing when he was 12, aboard an old Lightning Giovanna II, bought by his father. Then he raced in a Finn and in the Sixties built his first racing yacht, a One-Tonner Naso Blue, designed by Dick Carter. In 1971, he won his first title, the IOR Class II Mediterranean championship, with another Carter design Orea 43. Then in 1973 he raced another Dick Carter IOR Class II design Naif, which Gardini raced in the Admiral's Cup.
Then in 1976 came his first Maxi yacht, Il Moro di Venezia, designed by Ted Hood. The following year Raul raced the Channel Race and in 1978, the Nassau Race in the USA. In 1979, Il Moro sailed the tragic Fastnet race where 18 yachtsmen were lost at sea when a terrible storm hit the fleet. Four years later, Gardini launched Il Moro di Venezia II, another Maxi which he took to second place in the 1985 World Championship. In summer 1987, his third Il Moro, drawn by German Frers, was launched and Gardini won the 1988 Maxi World Championship in San Francisco. He then bought Windward Passage, which he renamed Passage to Venice, in 1990. This yacht served as training boat to the Italian team for the 1992 Cup. At the end of 1990, Raul Gardini strengthened his fleet by acquiring Abracadabra, a 50-footer designed by Reichel-Pugh, which was also used as a training boat for the Cup team.
Raul Gardini's interest and passion for yachting was absolute. He raced aboard his own boats and his commitment to the America's Cup was that of an accomplished and passionate yachtsman. "When I'm aboard I'm a yachtsman; when I'm ashore, I become a businessman again." This was Raul Gardini's way of living life - without ambiguity.
J.T.
|
)
