Boating in a Portrait
Boating in a Portrait | Agostino Sommariva: “I discovered sailing thanks to my father’s passion for the sea. Now I am managing a business that is over 100 years old”
Agostino Sommariva has a full list of wins and titles earned while sailing. Today he makes extra virgin olive oil, continuing his family’s traditional business.
Agostino Sommariva, born in 1966 in Genova, has always lived in Albenga and is a well-known sailor. With the Fd, he won the Italian title in 1987 and in 1991 and was third in the European Cup in 1986, second in the Olympics selection in 1988, and was therefore present at the Seoul Olympics as a reserve.
Fourth in the World Cup in 1990, fifth at the Pre-Olympics in Barcelona in 1991 and second in the Olympic selection in 1992. He then moved on to the Soling class, as part of the crew with Favini and afterwards with Celon, in 1993 he won the Mediterranean Cup and was sixth at the European Cup. And then he was second in the Olympic selection in 1996 and won the Italian title in 1997. He then came second again in the Olympic selection of 2000.
He moved to the Star class, as part of the crew with Chieffi, and he won the Italian title in 2003. He participated in the European and World Cups, finishing second for the selections of the 2004 Olympics. In the meantime, he also competed on open water vessels and won the World Cup in 1995 and 1996 Quarter Ton on “Per Elisa” in German seas. He also won the Giro d’Italia a vela in 1996 and 1997. Today he is the owner, together with his family, of an agrifood business making oil, oil marinated preserves, pesto and sauces in Albenga.
Agostino Sommariva how did you discover sailing?
Thanks to my father’s love for the sea, I began doing sailing school at the Circolo Nautico di Alassio with the Optimist class.
Your career and life are studded with victories and great achievements. What kind of sailor are you now? Do you still compete professionally?
No, I don’t compete professionally any more, but sailing still makes me happy because, when work allows, I am able to enjoy the Mediterranean sea cruising on a sail boat.
What advice would you give to a young person interested in sailing?
It is a marvellous sport, and allows you to be in close contact with nature, and being able to have a professional career allows you to travel and see the world.
The advice I feel I need to give is to stay in this sport for as long as it is fun. It is harder to learn how to lose than to learn how to win.
Once you set foot on the ground, you began making and selling extra virgin olive oil, continuing your family tradition. Do you have more satisfaction from sailing or making oil?
They are two completely different worlds. The success that sailing gave me in my youth is difficult to repeat for obvious reasons.
The work, however, done with passion, allows you to have even greater passion also because it is tied to what my family has done for generations and projects me into the future through the addition of my children to the business. Consequently, I will certainly be satisfied to see a hundred-year old business continue to thrive.
Giuseppe Orrù
Photos by Claudio Colombo
You might also be interested in
Boating in a Portrait
Boating in a Portrait
Fulvio De Simoni: “There are a lot of first boats: the first in the studio where you learn, the first in your own studio, the first you created on your own.”
The architect Fulvio De Simoni is one of the most famous pleasure boat designers in business today. His anti-conformist behaviour is clearly reflected in his designs.
Boating in a Portrait
Francesco “Cicco” Rapetti: “Spending 10 years with Alinghi, and the best crew in the world, was and is an honour that will stay with me forever”
Francesco Rapetti, known as “Cicco”, has taken his place in the history of Italian sailing and the America’s Cup for having been the first Italian to win the Cup and, until now, the only one to have won it twice, both as a challenger and defender leading a crew.
Boating in a Portrait
Andrea Henriquet: “I fell in love with sailing using a 3-metre launch and the adventures told to me by my father and my family of sailors”
Andrea Henriquet is a sailor born in 1961 in Sestri Levante. Skipper and world champion in sailing, he took part in a round the world tour and some of the most important sailing competitions. He is now a sailing instructor and works in training.
Boating in a Portrait
Andrea Balistreri is the youngest master craftsman in Italy: “I work with my father who taught me to take pride in the trade”
Michele and Andrea Balistreri, father and son, are two master craftsmen from La Spezia. They are two of the last artisans building boats for the Palio del Golfo and who still do caulking
Boating in a Portrait
Gino Battaglia: “Being a cabin boy in Loano kicked off my passion. Now I captain yachts that cross the seas of the entire world”
Gino Battaglia, chairman of Italian YachtMasters, an association of captains, shares his story and the behind the scenes of his work, which is to guarantee beautiful cruises to boaters and charters around the world
