Michele Regolo e Bouwe Bekking

Michele Regolo e Bouwe Bekking

Interview with Michele Regolo and Bouwe Bekking, Vera aftergard

Sport

11/09/2018 - 17:18

The impressive afterguard on Vera includes round-the-world sailor Bouwe Bekking and Olympic class champion Michele Regolo.  How do you divide duties on board, what is Michele’s role and what is Bouwe’s?

BB: I’m the strategist on board, the team coach. I talk to the owner and the team, advising them on the next manoeuvres and managing timings.

MR: I’m the tactician on Vera, normally when we’re sailing I concentrate on checking the wind direction, our position compared to the rest of the fleet and the marks. So having a sailing legend like Bouwe on board makes me feel a lot more relaxed. At times I will also consult with him on tactical aspects of the regatta, to get his point of view, and I have to say that 99% of the time we think the same way.

Michele, you are one of the top Laser sailors in Italy, and now you’re also training young sailors, what does working with Bouwe bring compared with your experience as a solo sailor?

Yes, I stopped racing on the Laser six years ago and since then I’ve been racing on TP52s. With Bouwe I’m learning a lot about how to manage a group. It’s incredible how he can see things coming on the boat before anyone else does. That’s something we will definitely work on in the future.

How did you meet and end up sailing on Vera?

MR: We needed someone like him on board, who could manage the team during racing. So Miguel Galluccio, the owner of Vera, called him.

BB:  Yes, it was Mario Pedol of Nauta yachts who I had sailed with before on the Baltic 112 Nilaya who introduced me to the owner.

What is Vera’s sailing programme?

BB: The owner is very happy and that is the main thing, and the team is really nice and works well together.

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