2005. Farewell to Straulino, the star of Italian sailing

Welcome to the special section “GdV 5th Years.” We are introducing you, day by day, An article from the archives of the Journal of Sailing, starting in 1975. A word of advice, get in the habit of starting your day with the most exciting sailing stories-it will be like being on a boat even if you are ashore.

Farewell to Straulino, the star of Italian sailing

Taken from the 2005 Journal of Sailing, Year 31, No. 1, February, p. 40/43.

Admiral Agostino Straulino, the essence of Italian sailing, passes away at age 90. From his first victory in a regatta in 1934 until his last in Naples in 2002, he won with every boat and in all the seas of the world. He is remembered by friends and crews who had the honor of sailing with him.

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Good wind Admiral!

If it is a Great One who goes out of the scene, there is a risk of going out of history and straight into legend. And Agostino Straulino, who passed away on December 14, at age 90, was indeed great. For the victories and for the way of living the sea, sailing and if we want even life. On the first front, we are helped by numbers that are more truthful than many bla-bla heard and read in the days following the sad event. Six Olympic Games appearances, including one as reserve at Kiel 36. A medal lost through bad luck at Torquay ’48. A fantastic gold in Helsinki ’53, a silver in Melbourne ’56, a fourth place (terrible disappointment) in Naples ’60, and again a fourth in Enoshima ’64. with the 5.5 S.l. that was the boat of maturity after many seasons with the Stars. With the queen of the Olympic classes he won three Worlds and ten European Championships. Then two more rainbow titles: that of the 5-5 S.I. in Naples (sort of the official closure with the sailing he liked) and that of the One Tonner in Porto Cervo, at the helm of Hydra. It should not raise a smile that only Alessandra Sensini (“very good but windsurfing is not sailing,” he commented immediately after her Sydney gold) can boast a resume worthy of comparison on paper. As for the man, it is only fair to mention that beyond his innate talent, fostered by being born in Lussinpiccolo (once Italian, now Croatian) and having chosen the Navy as his school of sailing and life, Straulino was Italy’s first modern, all-around racer. Able to create a perfect pair with Nico Rode, to prepare and fine tune boats in an extraordinary way (here is the sailor), to masterfully lead offshore crews and even that of the Amerigo Vespucci, which under his command afforded some “performance” that entered history such as sailing up the Thames. Not in legend because as four sailors who competed with him will recall, Agostino Straulino was not just the boat whisperer but a helmsman who wanted to win anytime, anyhow. From his first regatta (1934) until his last race in Naples in 2002. Won of course.

The memory of Carlo Rolandi: “The first Italian professional.”

First an opponent then his bowman in the last star period. Carlo Rolandi, honorary FIV president, won two European titles but also shared the pain of the Naples Games with the Admiral. “An unrepeatable experience, with many regattas around the world and several victories. Straulino was the first ‘professional’ in our sailing, just think that we trained at least two-three times a week throughout the year and competed in all the important events. Then he was an exceptional technician who made it a priority not to have any problems with the hull and equipment: hence the maniacal checks we did daily and the solutions we introduced first, such as the shrouds tensioners that went below deck. In racing, he had the ability to bring the Star to tighten five degrees more than the others. Which led him to never force the start: he was alone or in the lead group at the first windward mark anyway! He loved extreme conditions because with strong air he imposed his experience and with little wind his instincts took him to the right side. I like to remember his triumph at the World 5.5 S.I. in Naples when, with a seemingly absurd maneuver, he let go of the leading group and foreseeing the Mistral coming in from offshore, he won the title. An absolute masterpiece.” .

The memory of Franco Franzese: “He felt the wind before others.”

Same sea. same dialect, same love of sailing: yet they met in Fiumicino, only in the early 1970s. Franco Franzese, class of ’38, born in Pula and a Triestine by adoption, was first an adversary and then bowman to Straulino, in the Admiral’s best sailing seasons. “An exceptional man, as pleasant on the boat as on the dock. He was not gruff as I read in so many newspapers: sure, in an officer’s uniform he maintained aplomb but he could not otherwise. I have extraordinary memories of races raced with him on the Hydra: he was as capable of staying all night at the helm, serene and focused, even in strong winds, as of ‘inventing a success in the becalmed. Once as an opponent, he trimmed a couple of hours off us by guessing that the wind would come in that way: never seen such a thing. But even in the Barcolana of ’76. raced without a breath of wind, with that “caisson” of the Kerkyra he managed to finish 17th overall. Straulino understood a lot about offshore sailing, he was not by chance one of the animators of the AICI (‘Associazione Italiana Classi lor, ed.) in the mid 1970s. I am left with dozens of memories, beautiful ones. Like the time he asked me where the buoy was: he was beginning to see very little. In dialect I replied that he could lean. And he, again in dialect, told me ‘Tell me where it is, to lean in case I do.’ I will miss the Admiral very much.”.

Straulino. Gigio Russo’s remembrance. “An extraordinary sailor.”

Imagine an enthusiastic 15-year-old boy being asked by Straulino if he wants to be his bowman on one-tonners. It happened in 1971 to Gigio Russo, North Sails, who even won the World Championship with the Admiral two years later. “He helmed Marina Spaccarelli Bulgari’s boats, first Kerkyra and then Hydra. The success in 1973 was largely due to him; Americans like North and Hood admitted it without a problem and understood that, finally, the Italians were no longer the last ones on the high seas. In addition to his technical qualities, I was struck by the fact that at 60 years old he was psychologically and physically tough: he gave constant stimulation to the crew and was able to hold the helm for hours on end without failure. Tactically he was for conservative racing, because he was confident in the craft he prepared perfectly and of course in his own qualities. And besides being a man with a capital U, he was really an extraordinary sailor: he had respect for the boat, the equipment and the sails he cared about as I have not seen anyone else do. He was interested to the last in sailing. He wanted to know the technical aspects even though he ultimately disliked modern boats and new formulas. He wanted to go to sea as long as it was possible: few people know this but almost until he was 80 years old he indulged in sailing, cruising, from Fiumicino to Mali Losinj. Steering almost all the time.”.

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The memory of Angelo Lattarulo: “The legend who never gave up.”

Commander Angelo Lattarulo, who has been at the helm of Marivela for four years, shared with Straulino the last success of his career, the Admiral Acton Trophy in Naples in April 2002. “The Admiral was the skipper of the Sagittarius, with a crew of only retired Navy officers. On that occasion, I had the honor of being part of it, if you will as a ‘boy’ considering the age of my colleagues. I guarantee that at 88 years of age Straulino had lost none of his characteristics: fixated on the preparation of the boat, knowledgeable about the opponents, very demanding with those who were with him. He loved sailing and racing too much to take them too lightly: I smile at the thought that the day after his victory, during the Velalonga, a sort of competitive walk in the gulf, he scolded me for a jib that was not carried well… Beyond the living legend he was for all of us in the Navy as a sailor and, let us not forget, as an officer. I like to remember him as someone who never wanted to monetize his triumphs and abilities. What he did and his love for sailing and the sea was enough for him. His feat? In ’65, he managed to get the Vespucci out of Taranto harbor, maneuvering the sails. And believe me, given the size of the the ship, it is not easy to do even with a motor. A master “.

Straulino. Gianni Brera also wrote about him.

One of the very few pages (its reviewers say the only one) on sailing signed by Gianni Brera could only be dedicated to Straulino. It dates back to January 24, 1972 and is part of the Arcimatto, a kind of all-round diary of Italy’s greatest sports journalist. Here are excerpts from the article that is part of the collection “La bocca del leone – L’Arcimatto Il 1967-1973” published by Baldini and Castoldi. “In front of yachting I am less bristly than in front of golf. Sailing undoubtedly has an arcane appeal. It is a wing invented to console us of our precarious earthiness; it is also a relief to all of us who rowed at Lepanto: but our condition as freedmen of the fork is still humiliated by ignorance. A wing quivers and swells if it is opposed to the wind with non-random beats. It is a fact, however, that the sail steals your eyes and carries itself away suggesting thoughts of marvelous levity…A hand of Straulino moves the tiller until it becomes a skillful and suasive proxenete of the wind. The sail then swells with sensuous throbs and I am saved by Rode’s belly, grotesquely arched overboard…” (Gianni Brera)

Maurizio Bertera

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