SIMONE
29th April, 2003

One of the most complex characters in this Around Alone is the Italian skipper Simone Bianchetti. He is also one of the most experienced and is recognized throughout Italy as one of their top sporting figures. His rise to national recognition has not come easily and perhaps his struggle to define himself as a solo sailor has inadvertently added to his complexity. I first met a much younger and slimmer version of Simone at the start of the 1994 Around Alone. He was there aboard his 50 foot entry Town of Cervia, and one look ar his campaign made it immediately clear that he was underfunded. Simone is no different than many Around Alone sailors; he was determined to make up for a lack of money with hard work, enthusiasm and charm. He very quickly charmed me out of a few yards of sticky-back Dacron for his sail repair kit, and extracted a promise from me to help him with more free material during the race. I was impressed with him, but skeptical that his boat could go the distance. As it turned out I was right. Simone had to abandon the race shortly after the start of the second leg from Cape Town to Australia and he returned to South Africa. It seemed at the time that his Around Alone aspirations were over, but how wrong were we about that one.

Simone is a naval man having served in the Italian navy, and this training taught him to never give up even in the face of overwhelming odds. After giving the Around Alone his best shot, one could forgive him if he was to fade into the background, but Simone was determined to make a come-back. In 1995 he raced the Mini-Transat and finished tenth becoming the first Italian sailor ever to finish the race. In 1996 he raced the Europe 1 Star and finished second in his class. Despite these successes Simone was not satisfied. He wanted to circumnavigate and got his chance in 2000 aboard Aquarella.com. He entered the Vendee finishing a very creditable 12th in an old boat. By the time he arrived back in France he was not only a household name in Italy, but a well known poet for the intense poetry he composed during his circumnavigation. He subsequently published a book of poems in French and Italian. Simone had come a long way since his first Around Alone effort, and when he showed up for the start of this race on Tiscali, one of the fastest Open 60s in the world, much was expected rom him. He has not disappointed.

It's a tremendous effort to enter a circumnavigation race on the back of one just completed, but when Simone and his team arrived in Newport last year he looked fit and ready for the challenge. His first leg was disappointing when a wind shift just west of Great Britain forced him to tack, and in doing so pushed him from fourth place into sixth. Shortly into the start of Leg 2 he was dismasted and had to stop in Spain to get a spare rig installed. He borrowed Bernard Stamm's old mast and was able to rejoin the race, but the delay and subsequent rush to Cape Town to make the start of the Leg 3 was exhausting. He had four hurried days in South Africa before heading off for the Southern Ocean legs. A lesser person would have needed more time to recuperate, but Bianchetti is not an ordinary sailor. As we have come to discover, he is an extraordinary sailor, pushing his cobalt blue yacht across the southern seas at great speeds. For Leg 3 he ended up fourth, Leg 4 he came third, and now with the finish in Newport within spitting distance he has a strong lock on second place for the leg. This improvement in performance is a testament to his dogged determination to have a good showing in this race. Should he finish second, and keep a boat between himself and Emma Richards on Pindar, he will end up third overall for the race. This will be a remarkable achievement for a sailor who saw his hopes and dreams come tumbling down in a pile of carbon splinters and dust in the early stages of Leg 2.

The time he spends alone at sea is a time for introspection. He still passes the long, lonely hours writing poetry which at times exposes a tortured soul. At other times it reveals the true man; a romantic dreamer with an intensely kind heart and generous spirit. I have come to admire Simone for his sense of humor and resolute nature. I have also come to admire him for his sailing skill and when I think back to the younger version of the same person I met almost a decade ago, I can see that the ocean and his poetry have been kind to him. Between the two he has found himself.

--- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net

Source: Around Alone Official Site