BIGGER BOATS BUT THE SAME SKILLS
Italian sailor Giulio Desiderato, a leading member of the North Sails Italy team, is widely recognized as one of Europe’s top one design sailors. He’s now taking his skills and applying them to Grand Prix.
Based at the North Sails loft in Carasco, an hour east of Genoa, Giulio has made his mark in numerous classes while simultaneously branching into the Grand Prix ranks aboard several high-profile campaigns. Most impressively, as either a tactician, coach or trimmer, he’s won hardware in either World or European championships in every one design class in which he’s sailed: RS21, J/70, Melges 20, Melges 32 and the Melges 40.
Now, in recognition of his many achievements and his versatility as a sailor across multiple disciplines, he also has earned a promotion at North Sails with a new title: Grand Prix Manager, Italy. With this prominent role, Giulio will begin his new duties aboard the Wally 82, Django, at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo, Italy.
📸 ClubSwan Racing | Studio Borlenghi
“To be named the Grand Prix Manager in Italy is a huge honor for me,” said 39-year-old Desiderato. “My colleagues at North Sails Italy, Alessio Razeto and Daniele Cassinari, are top sailors that I really respect, and it really is an honor to feel this confidence that they have for me. I plan to stay sailing and coaching in one design fleets and working with those classes, which is very important to me. But I’m also super-excited to jump into and be more focused on the Grand Prix segment. It was a challenge that I was looking for and has made me really, really motivated.”
“We’re really pleased to give him this opportunity,” said Paul “Flipper” Westlake, the executive vice president of North Sails who focuses on the high-performance side of the business. “His pedigree is in one design classes but from the first time I met Giulio it was clear he was going to have a great future with us. Alessandro also identified him as someone special really early on and he’s just grown and grown. It’s not a standard step to go from One Design Manager to Grand Prix Manager but Giulio has shown that he can adapt to both, and that he wanted to do more with his career. He’s so well-regarded in one designs and has such a strong work ethic. But he’s always been a sponge for wanting to learn more and gain broader experience. It’s awesome.”
“I was a 470 sailor myself so I knew who Giulio was and that he was a very good sailor,” said Cassinari, the Head of North Sails Italy and Southern Europe Sales Manager. “Once he joined the company, our relationship became much, much closer. What makes him so good is that he understands sail shape and tuning, but he’s also knowledgeable about what makes a boat sail fast. It’s a good combination, to have both the technical and practical knowledge.”
As a youngster, ironically, Giulio had little interest in sailing; his first true love was soccer. That began to change after taking sailing lessons in Opti prams at age 11, and progressing to Lasers and the 470. “One of my first one design sailing was with the Melges classes,” he said. “I went to the very first Melges 20 regatta which I won. After that, I started to get offers in other one design circuits to sail as the tactician, mainsail timmer and coach. After a couple of years I joined Melges 32 team which is where I met Daniele and Alessio. After a couple of regattas sailing with them, in 2015 they asked if I was interested in joining North Sails in the one design segment. That was the beginning.”
When asked which of all one designs is his favorite, he laughed and said, “It’s hard to say, because I have such great memories in all the classes I sail. And one designs are like a big family, they have different characteristics but the dynamics in each are similar. And I like to change classes because you can take a little bit of everything you learn at the time and then mix them together, which makes you a better sailor. I’ve been so lucky to sail on so many different boats, because I take something from all the different experiences, from all the boats I sail. Being able to share that experience is the most important thing.
All that said, he does have fond feelings for the Melges 20. “It’s probably the one design class that I liked the most along with the Melges 24.” he said. “But in the last years the boat that I enjoyed the most and gave me the most satisfaction has been, for sure, the J70. What I like of this class is that you can push the boat like a dinghy, and boat handling is so critical. This reminds me a lot of my 470 background. That’s the reason I really like the one design classes.”
Sailing skills are, of course, transferrable, and Giulio is looking forward to taking what he’s learned on small boats and applying them to the Grand Prix scene. “I usually have three roles on a team,” he said. “I start as a tactician, then I become a coach, and what I’m now liking more as crew is trimming the main.”
Which is of course appropriate, as he’ll be on the mainsheet aboard the Club Swan 50 Django in the Rolex Swan Cup. “I like this role a lot because you really feel and affect the speed of the boat,” he said. “You can really push all the time. At the same time, you’re of course connected with the driver, but also connected with the teamwork with all of the other trimmers. And this connection is what really brings the team together, which is why my favorite role on Grand Prix boats is mainsail trimmer.”
Westlake believes Giulio has what it takes to raise his game to the next level. “He’s obviously a great natural sailor, and the great sailors in our industry have that natural feel of wind, wave, boat. He definitely has that. He’s driven to do more, and be more exposed to more and more opportunities, both for his own personal development and for the good of North Sails. He is North Sails through and through, his blood is as blue as any of us.
“It’s so good to see younger guys rise up through the ranks,” he continued. “Not only in Italy but globally. Giulio has absolutely shown that he has a C.V. that proves he’s result driven. He pushes the people around him to improve, but with this great temperament. Yes, he’s got that Italian fire in his belly, but he knows when he needs to listen, pass his messages on, and follow the processes. For someone of his skill level to continue to push and want to do more, it would be really remiss of North Sails not to give him the opportunity.”
