Ninth edition of the Raid of the 808 Fleet with fifteen HC16 participants: the bulk of the Fleet departing from the sailing base of Pescara (Barracuda bathing establishment), others from Ortona (the “Stalingrad” of Italy, also the site of the first raid called the “Raid of the Saraceni”) because we know that 808 is a palindrome so it’s fine to read it from whichever side you start from to get to the centre of the world of the Hobie Way of Life!
On Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July, the Hobie sailors of the “Dannunzian” Fleet renewed the twinning with the 340 Costa Pontina Astura Bay Fleet and the 383 of Terracina: very welcome guests in fact were Commodore Mario Pastore with his bowman friend Alessandro Perriccia as well as Marco Canocchi together with Antonio (Tony) Mastromarini who took advantage of the availability of some sixteen members who were absent due to their commitments. This is also the vision that unites these fleets from Central Italy: participatory, aggregative exchange, without moving boats with cumbersome trolleys but making the most of the potential of the fleet of boats in the Fleet’s nautical base, obviously granted (free of charge or modestly price) to crews with proven experience and covered by RCT insurance.
This time, I will not talk in detail about the chronicle of the ninth edition of the annual Raid (15 sixteen sailors, nine crews bivouac in tents, 30 people present at the Saturday evening dinner), but about the spirit that animates it.
Given that on 9 and 10 June there was the first edition of the Raid of La Route de L’odyssèe – Sailing in the sea of myth (Terracina-Ponza-Marina di Latina) organized by my friend Mario Pastore with numbers and results lunar (so much so that I can define the Raid I organized as a small matryoshka), I would like to highlight the atmosphere created around the Raid.
As Executive Director David Brookes wrote in the IHCA (International Hobie Cat Association) newsletter: “One of the unique characteristics that distinguishes our Hobie family is the diversity of the races. While most classes are limited to upwind/leeward or triangle courses, we have the luxury of even more types of racing. For example, Italian Hobie fleets are experimenting with a series of “raids”. These long-distance sailings involve an overnight stay in one location and departure and/or arrival in another. Recently, three Hobie fleets, the 340, 383 and 808, collaborated to create a new Hobie Raid. This exciting event began south of Rome, with participants racing to an island 25 miles away, spending the night with other Hobie sailors, and then sailing 35 miles back to a different location. The Raid is planned again for next year and we are working to have more sailors and will open this Raid to all international sailors.
In my humble opinion, we can summarize the recipe for multiplying sailors, racing and otherwise, in the GOAL of having fun.
Sailing where you have fun and share wins over competition could also be the solution to avoid the phenomenon of youth dispersion and the “flee” from clubs and regatta fields.
Ours is a wonderful sport, but it brings with it practical and institutional difficulties that make it closed or unattractive, and it is not uncommon for people who have experienced the thrill of sailing to continue to frequent the beaches but through simpler and less formal than regattas such as windsurfing and kitesurfing; while the clubs slowly empty, competitive participation decreases or volunteers can no longer be found to organize the regattas.
Shifting the focus from competition to entertainment at a younger age would also have a double effect: on the one hand it would allow the creation of a broader and more solid base (of athletes and families), on the other it would allow resources to be focused on kids who are not only talented, but also motivated during the most critical years such as adolescence.
Sailing has an advantage over any other sport: it allows entry even at an advanced age, 30, 40, 50, and 60. For this reason, routes are needed to encourage sailing for adults and create more relaxed environments for them to enjoy the sport.
The classes that have the greatest success are not those of the fastest boats but the simple, economical ones with a nice social context on land, of parties that unite young and old: the great success of old-style classes such as Windsurfer and Hobie Cat 16 is an example of this. The Hobie 16 offers pure fun: the multi-medal winner Caterina Banti, who arrived at sailing through a more playful class like the Hobie16, is a true testimony.
The main focus is, I repeat, that of fun. Clubs should also think of more creative ways of bringing people together: regattas starting from the beach, night sailing, arriving at a sleeping place at anchor and returning—anything that promotes interaction by lowering barriers to entry. Evidence of this is: Hobie Le Mans 808, night-time trapeze rides, atoll 808s in the open sea, capsizing days, etc. etc.
And all these events fully reflect the HOBIE WAY OF LIFE!
Commodore 808
Sandro
PHOTOS OF THE RAID 2024 HERE
P.S.:
Article received from Tony Mastromarini:
“A dream trip
Having arrived in Pescara, the representatives of two HOBIE CAT fleets, the 340 and 383, are welcomed like a family meeting again by Commodore Sandro Marino, the father of the 808 fleet.
Tour of beautiful Pescara and dinner in a restaurant on the seafront, at sunset, based on the legendary kebabs.
The next morning we prepare for our cat trip to Ortona, welcomed by the other participants, wonderful people who immediately make us feel like one of them, as if we have known each other forever and this is the height of hospitality.
Having left, we travel along the entire coast of Pescara in the sea until we land on a still semi-wild beach, thanks to a small bird, the Fratino.
We park our cats all grouped together by the sea and go to get a granita from a local character with his own philosophy of life that we would all like to undertake but don’t have the courage, he personifies peace and love, offers little on time and days he decides and you are welcomed into a garden of a botanical center for the variety of plants.
We pitch our tents on the Hobie16 trampolines on the seashore and go to dinner with our nearby restaurateur Fabrizio Leonzio, also an affable and very kind person who, together with his wife Claudia, manages the Baia Cattleya bathing establishment: thanks to him we have showers and services available and an excellent dinner.
Now, inside our tents we hear the buzz of the voice of the sea, which is just one meter away from us: wonderful! and what to say when at the first light of dawn we open our curtains and, lying down, open the curtain towards the east, we see the sunrise behind the horizon of the sea feeling a great emotion and we think that we are part of a family of fleets and that thank you to this we can live these experiences.
Thank you 808 from 340 Costa Pontina – Astura Bay and 383 Terracina for letting us participate in your Raid.
A big thank you to Paolo Melillo, a person we didn’t meet but who made this adventure possible by letting us use his sixteenth. Thanks again to all the participants and wonderful people
. A hug goes out to Sandro Marino, Commodore of the 808 Pescara Fleet.”