New Experience for Trapani Youngsters

For the 14 youngsters from Trapani on board the Spanish vessel Far Barcelona, the race from Genoa was a very good experience that they all would like to repeat again sometime soon. The ten boys and four girls all joined Far Barcelona in Genoa and although they would have liked more wind so they could experience more sailing, thought the voyage was very special. 

Giovanni Campo,17, said that when they first joined the vessel they didn’t know anything about sailing as none of them had ever been to sea before. “We didn’t know the names of the ropes or parts of the ship so it was hard to understand what we had to do,” said Giovanni, “but it didn’t take long before we all got to understand what we had to do and now we are all experts,” he joked.

The youngsters are all in full time education in Trapani, either at school, college or university. None had sailed before but all are now united in their love of being on the water. “Far Barcelona was the best boat so we were very pleased to have sailed on her,” said Giovanni. 

Another youngster, Filippo Marchese, 19, said that the food was really good on board so they ate well, but that they didn’t have much opportunity to shower. “We had limited fresh water on board so could only take a shower every few days but none of us minded very much and we’ve all been home for a very long shower!”

Xavier Ges, one of the crew members on board said the Italian youngsters had been really good and were always happy and keen to get involved in sailing. “We managed to talk in a mixture of Catalan, Italian and English so it was quite a mixture at times,” said Xavier. 

The Italians said they would have preferred to be on board for longer but really enjoyed their time and particularly liked steering the ship as well as working with the sails. “We saw a lot of wildlife like dolphins, jellyfish, moon fish and even whales so it was great to be so far from land and see that,” said Giovanni. “We didn’t really get a lot of sleep but it was great fun and really fantastic food!”

The crews will enjoy a special crew party being arranged for them this evening, while tomorrow they will get the chance to parade through the streets of Trapani with their fellow crew members in the traditional crew parade, which will end at the prize giving. The final results of the race will be announced tomorrow. 

The Garibaldi Tall Ships Regatta is organised by Sail Training International