Chapter closes for the TP52 Azzurra after 10 highly successful seasons
by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda 5 Oct 2020 16:50 BST
Azzurra at Audi 52 Super Series Sailing Week Porto Cervo © 52 Super Series / Martinez Studio
After 10 successful seasons, the Roemmers family has decided to leave the TP52 Azzurra sporting programme. They leave behind an important legacy, with Azzurra currently reigning champion of the 52 Super Series and undefeated in the only regatta held in the 2020 season.
Azzurra's journey in the TP52 class began in 2011 in the circuit known as the Audi MedCup, which would become the 52 Super Series the following year. Owned by YCCS member Albert W. H. Roemmers and later by his sons Albert Jr and Pablo, Azzurra won four titles in the 52 Super Series - in 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019 - and a TP52 World Championship in 2015, a year in which she was truly unbeatable.
The adventure in the TP52 class spanned 10 seasons and was marked by numerous successes, the most recent of which was a March 2020 victory in the circuit leg in Cape Town, South Africa - the only event held this season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, all good things must come to an end, and so it is for the programme supported by the Roemmers family, which flew the YCCS burgee high in the top-level professional circuit for keel boats.
Over the course of those 10 seasons, the structure of the team built by Guillermo Parada remained practically unchanged, based on bonds of friendship and fraternity that translated into a perfect and winning synergy on board, which was also reflected in daily life ashore. The main changes on board related to the tacticians: Francesco Bruni, and later Vasco Vascotto, left for America's Cup campaigns with Luna Rossa, while multiple Olympic medal-winner Santiago Lange withdrew from the 2020 season to prepare for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Prior to Covid-19 bringing all activities to a halt, new tactician Michele Paoletti guided Azzurra to her most recent victory in Cape Town.
"I would like to thank the Roemmers family, the skipper and the entire Azzurra team for what they have done since 2011." commented YCCS Commodore, Michael Illbruck. "In full agreement with Pablo Roemmers, we accepted the family's decision not to continue with their direct involvement. We are working to ensure that their legacy is carried forward in a fitting manner."
"On behalf of my father and my brother Albert, I would like to thank the YCCS and Princess Zahra, who was the Godmother of all the Azzurra TP52s, as well as the previous Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo." commented Pablo Roemmers, owner of Azzurra. "We have shared a great deal of joy, and a few disappointments, which are part and parcel of any sport, but above all thank you for having chosen to entrust the Roemmers family with the Azzurra name, and all the great sporting heritage that comes with it. See you again soon."
"It has been a great honour to share these years with a team that without doubt is greater than the sum of its parts, and one that can look back proudly on what we have achieved. We started out with youthful enthusiasm, maturing and developing under Alberto Sr and subsequently under Albert and Pablo. Knowing that we gave it our all, I will always be grateful to the Roemmers family, with whom we have shared much of our professional careers. We are looking to the future with optimism and the desire to guide Azzurra towards new challenges." affirmed skipper Guillermo Parada.