“Why do we go sailing? Because going out in a boat is not just a way of immersing yourself in a natural environment, of getting to know yourself, your horizons and limits, but, above all, it is a way of living in another dimension, which for many reasons is different from that dimension which we experience every day on dry land.
Going to sea – and at sea there are no certainties – involves a very special philosophy of travelling: it is uncomfortable, it requires ability, a certain physical strength, resistance to fatigue, self-control; in short, it can be dangerous. But it restores the old sense of adventure, and despite the invaluable help of new technology to establish your position or measure distance, your experience of time, and the passage of time, remains substantially unaltered with respect to the past.

When you reach an island by plane, it is just an island, like many others; but when you reach it by sea at the end of a voyage, be it long or short, it becomes a place of enchantment. It does not matter where you go; the important thing is to go there: it is the journey itself that sets fire to your emotions and liberates your imagination, with that mixture of wishes and regrets, nostalgia and hope.
With days of flat calm, or the sun shining in a clear sky, with breeze or strong wind, storm or tempest, a voyage in a sailing-boat is an allegory of life: indeed, it is life itself.”

Piero Ottone, Piccola Filosofia di un Grande Amore: la Vela, 2001 (“Small Philosophy of a Great Love”)

Scopri di più

Un’isola raggiunta in aereo è un’isola come tante altre; raggiunta dal mare al termine di una traversata piccola o lunga che sia, diventa un luogo incantato. Il viaggio – non importa dove si va, quel che importa è andarci – accende le emozioni e libera la fantasia, tra desideri e rimpianti, nostalgie e speranze.
Con le sue giornate di calma piatta oppure di pieno sole in un cielo sereno, di brezza o di vento forte, di burrasca o tempesta, il viaggio a vela è un’ allegoria della vita, la vita stessa.”
Piero Ottone, Piccola Filosofia di un Grande Amore: la Vela, 2001.