Thanks to the Italian Sailing Federation (F.I.V), the Italian Contender Association (ICAI) was able to display a fully rigged contender at the 'Big Blu', the latest Nautical Expo held in Rome between the 26th February and 3rd March. The boat was borrowed from Mario Mambro, a contender sailor with 30 years' experience. The boat, a beautiful fibreglass Nordest built in Italy, was rigged with Avantgarde carbon sticks and the new Elvstrøm laminated sail just tuned by the 2008 European Champion Giovanni Bonzio.
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At the stand a monitor continuously played the video from tha Riva World Championship, which captured the interest of many many people. Posters and stickers were given to the visitors and a wide publicity was given to the oncoming 40th Aniversary which will take place in Voltri (Genoa) on 18th September, 2009. Some companies were also interested in our boat.
In Italy we have our own boat builders, sailmakers, carbon mast and boom builders and the technology is always on the run! See the Boat Builder section.
Original translation: Enrico Pellegrini
