Aldo - Francesco, I think I have the right title for the next post on the website.

Francesco - Yes?

Well.. it has to do with the daemon that must have been hunting you during the crossing, it’s the only explanation I have to understand what you did.

Yes, I’ve been a little bit crazy, I realise that.

Ok, let’s start from the last time we talked on the satellite phone, that is January the 5th. You told me that the conditions were quite hard and that you were afraid to lose or damage the phone while using it because of all the waves breaking on the boat. You sounded a bit overwhelmed by the huge task ahead of you.

Those first few days have been though, the wind was blowing constantly up to 30 knots. The third night has been the toughest. Imagine the full moon shining on braking waves 4 meter high. I had to steer constantly the entire night to go fast and to avoid being hit too hard by the breakers. By that time I was well off the last of the Canary islands, Hierro. That is when I started to have a strong feeling of how ephemeral was my sail boat, a meaningless dot in the middle of an infinite Ocean.

Despite your many years of sailing with small catamarans across the Mediterranean sea, even single handed during the winter, this was your first experience in the Ocean.

Yes, during the first 2 days I was sailing close to the Canary islands, but starting the third day, when I was off the coast, I started to feel the Ocean. That was a truly new and unbelievable experience. I had a feeling, not a light feeling but something like a thick feeling, a feeling that permeated time and space. The feeling of the indefinite surrounding me.

What happened on the 7th? How did you lose all your equipment?

It was about 1 hour before dawn when the cat capsized. That was caused by a combination of autopilot failure, a knot in the main sheet and the weight being all on the hull upwind. On top of that I was not quick enough to react.
Ooops… one second later I was in the sea and the catamaran on the side. Fortunately the water was not that cold and the moon light was there to help. During the first quick check of the boat I saw the main storage bag floating aside the hull in the sea. Then I concentrated on setting up the leverage kit in order to put the cata back up straight. After a few minutes I realized that the storage bag was no longer there and I could see it a last time amid the waves. It was already too far for me to swim and get it. At the time of the capsize the storage bag contained all the water, all the food and pharmacy, the tools, the sat phone and other equipment. The survival part of the crossing started then.

The first question that most people have when they listen to your story is: how could you survive 12 days without drinking!?

Starting the second day of the survival period I was drinking a few ounces of sea water per day. Every time I was feeling really thirsty I drank 2 or 3 sips, basically what can be hold in my hand no more.

Given the situation, why didn’t you activate the EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon) on the 7th?

When I finally managed to put the boat back up the drinking water was lost but the catamaran had not a single damage. Just one hour after the dawn, the boat and I were ready to sail again. I did not felt like being in a situation of distress, I could have sailed for a few days trying to find a boat for support. Also the Tornado that I built with the support of market leaders like Technocomposit, Marstrom and Ullman Sails was so beautiful that I had no intention to abandon it without a good fight.

What happened in the days following the capsize?

In a few words I was totally concentrated in sailing, day and night, basically without sleeping since also the autopilot had been lost. Sometimes, especially at night, I was falling asleep for a few minutes. The boat eventually changed course and the jib sail started to flap or the waves hit the boat thus waking me up. Those few minutes asleep were enough to give me some rest and to encourage me to continue steering. So I did keep on sailing.

A lot of people told you that a capsized Tornado cat is impossible to straight up, how were you able to accomplish this?

I actually capsized twice. The second capsize happened the night of the 9th and this time the boat went completely upside down with the mast and the sails straight under water. Overall it took me hours before I could put it back straight again but with some improvements it could be done much faster. The key feature needed to accomplish this is weight. Bella Stella is a racing Tornado build in nomex sandwich by Technicomposit and each hull weights just 40 kilos. Its carbon mast, built by Marstrom, is very light and has a wide aerodynamic profile filled with air which gives the mast a high lifting power when it is underwater. I also had on board a 4 meter carbon tube that Italcanna built specifically for the purpose to put the catamaran straight up again. I used the tube as a lever to make the catamaran rotate on its longitudinal axe for about 30° to 40°. The mast was then able to make it rotate up to 80°/85°. At this point I was able to take the sails down and rotate the cat all the way up straight.

As I said also this second capsize happened during the night. The sky was clear and enlightened by the moon but I had to work in the water for a long time and I was feeling cold. I was also nervous and acting fast, too fast… when I climbed on the carbon tube the first time to leverage up the cat, it broke because I did not install it properly. Without the lever it was impossible to turn the catamaran… I needed another lever. The bome was difficult to take apart and anyway too short as a lever. My second and last chance was to take apart the gennaker pole, so I did. During this operation several times I repeated to myself two things: Now it is time to activate the EPIRB and Come on! Gather your energies and make it!

When did you eventually realize that it was time to switch on the EPIRB?