by InTrieste
Interviews: Wade Hookham, foredecker; Cheryl Webster, backstay; Jacqueline Hürlimann, foredecker; Bradley Ransom, foredecker; skipper David Mizrahi; Guiding the strategy was Marco Bodini
The Gulf of Trieste shimmered under a soft October sun on Saturday as crews trimmed their sails and fine-tuned their tactics ahead of Sunday’s Barcolana regatta — one of the world’s largest and most colorful sailing events.
Among them was Night Shadow, a 16-meter Maxi yacht whose international crew could have doubled as a United Nations assembly at sea. “We are a very international team, and diversity is what makes us stronger,” said skipper David Mizrahi, grinning as the boat sliced neatly through the Adriatic.
The team’s roster reads like a map in motion. Bradley Ransom, from the United Kingdom, spoke of the thrill and challenge of racing a Maxi-class vessel. On the foredeck, South African sailors Jacqueline Hürlimann and Wade Hookham worked in unison, hoisting and dropping sails with a kind of practiced ballet that only the sea could choreograph. “You really need to trust each other up here,” Hürlimann said, her tone suggesting that trust — and perhaps a sense of humor — were essential survival tools.
At the backstay, Cheryl Webster of Anguilla managed the boat’s balance and tension, ensuring that the yacht responded gracefully to every gust. “It’s all about timing,” she said, “and keeping calm when the wind decides to have opinions.”
Guiding the strategy was Marco Bodini, a native of Trieste, whose intimate knowledge of the gulf’s famously fickle winds offered the team a quiet advantage. On Friday, his calls steered Night Shadow through patches of calm and bursts of speed that could make even seasoned sailors mutter prayers to Aeolus, the god of wind.
Now in its 56th year, the Barcolana transforms Trieste’s waterfront into a grand festival of sails, sound, and salt air — part competition, part celebration of everything that happens when humans and wind decide to collaborate. And aboard Night Shadow, that collaboration couldn’t be more literal.
