Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti are on an extraordinary run in the Nacra 17 class. Gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Gold at the European Championship in Aarhus, Denmark, and then Gold at the World Championship in Nova Scotia, Canada.
At the Worlds they won an extraordinary 14 of the 16 fleet races, which handed them the title before the medal race. They are quite simply sailing at a different level to the rest of the fleet, and were rightly named both Male and Female winners at the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards – the first time a pairing on the same boat have won the two accolades.
In the SSL Rankings Ruggero Tita is currently third in the Men’s Skipper chart, topped only by Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic and New Zealand’s Peter Burling in first and second respectively.
Caterina Banti is fourth in the SSL Ranking for Women’s Crew, just 15 points behind The Netherland’s Annette Duetz, and only a few more behind Brazil’s Kahena Kunze in second place. Fellow Nacra 17 sailor, Great Britain’s Anna Burnet, remains top, but will be looking over her shoulder due to the unstoppable Italian team’s form.
With this string of successes are they resting on their laurels? Far from it, as Ruggero explained after the World Championship:
"We already have a big list of things to try and to do. It's going to be a busy winter."
The rest of the fleet had better be even busier to give Tita and Banti some competition in 2023!
Mark has been managing sailing websites since 1996, always being at the forefront of technology, and now manages the combined Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com network. He has covered events such as the International Moth World Championship and Cowes Week, focusing on the sailors' thoughts and words. Mark has been European Champion in the Farr 30 & J/24 class and has won numerous UK titles, and competes regularly in local and national events in dinghies and sportsboats.
Focus on / Sailors / Regattas
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