November 18, 2024
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Tita and Banti sign off in style after dominating Mixed Multihull sailing for seven years
Over the course of seven years, the team of Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti have won four World Championships, three European Championships, two Olympic gold medals, the 2022 Rolex World Sailor of the Year and now the 2024 Team of the Year.
A fitting end for a partnership that has dominated the Mixed Multihull and they both see a bright future for Italian sailing.
Speaking after the World Sailing Awards, Ruggero Tita said, “I think we should be really happy at how sailing in Italy is going. We have a fantastic Olympic team. We came home from the Olympics with two gold medals, we could have won more. We have a fantastic crew on board the Luna Rossa which did well at the America’s Cup, and the young sailors are getting better.
Before we started, Italy was not winning medals in sailing, but with our gold medal (at Tokyo 2020), suddenly the sailing schools began registering larger numbers, and now the level of Olympic sailing is getting better.”
While the fearsome Nacra 17 duo may have come to an end for now, this is not the end of the road for Ruggero and Caterina. Both are looking ahead to the future and are sure to be cheered on by the fans in Italy who have fallen in love with the sport again.
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Caterina Banti said, “There are a lot of ‘nexts’, separately and maybe together. I have decided to retire from the Olympic sport, so for sure there are a lot of challenges ahead – so, I’ll keep going!”
Ruggero added, “There a lot of projects going on, but the only thing that is sure is that we need a lot of support from the Italian fans. They are very passionate and we always appreciate their support.”