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Gmt n°29 - Fall 2012

Angelo Bonati, CEO of Panerai
 

Brice Lechevalier: When did this passion for sailing emerge ?
Angelo Bonati: It goes back to my childhood, when I lived in the country and was fascinated by the sails when I saw them on TV. I wondered how it was possible for them to float in the wind. Unfortunately, the years rushed by all too fast, and it was only after I turned 30 that I was able to take lessons on Lake Como.
What's your best memory in this domain ?
The first boat I bought, a Jeanneau..
And as far as regattas are concerned?
I love the sea but I don't do much competitive sailing. I have excellent memories of a leg raced at 15 knots on the historical Bona Fide tall ship during the Regates Royales de Cannes a few years ago.
Of which achievement are you most proud ?
Of the restoration of Eilean, a ketch built by the Fife shipyard in 1936 and brought back by Panerai from Antigua in 2006 in order to be entirely renovated in keeping with tradition. It took us two and a half years in order to restore its original understated elegance, a period that taught me a lot. It is a symbol of the love of the sea that only sailing can fully express.
What would be your ultimate dream ?
To sail around the world on a monohull, to get to know all the many seas and to meet people on the other side of the world - while taking time to stop wherever I feel like it and for as long as I like.
What do you think of the 34th America's Cup ?
I have no opinion about it and am not even following it. They have totally destroyed a proud tradition.
How does this passion influence your professional activity ?
It's not really a matter of influence, in that I definitely distinguish between the two. I am lucky to be able to manage a brand with b maritime connections, and I am able to bring to the table my knowledge of this milieu. But even though it's pleasant, it's still work. The latter only stops when I'm aboard my boat.
Denis Flageollet, co-founder of De Bethune
 

Brice Lechevalier: When was this passion for sailing born ?
Denis Flageollet: When I was a child, the carpenter's workshop that made fishing boats out of pine and larch wood was 100m from my grandfather's watchmaking workshop and it smelt nicely of a combination of wood and tar and I loved watching him work. My father used to take me fishing on the lake where I always saw orange sail boats that I found incredibly attractive. After making a number of models that irritatingly sank, at about 12 years old I was finally able to sail. Even if it was only the boring but famous Vaurien designed for Glenans sailing school, it was still an adventure for me and an extraordinary discovery of the elements.

What is your favourite memory ?
The first time I crossed the raz de Sein (in Finistere) during the full moon under a spinnaker with a Sparkman & Stephens built by Rasmussen in 1954, of which only a very few examples still exist in the entire world.
What achievement are you most proud of ?
The single-handed restoration of a Shark made of mahogany in 1960! I stopped counting my hours after 1000 and I have now been renovating it regularly for more than 40 years.
What would the ultimate dream be ?
The Everest of sailing - the Vendee Globe - although it would obviously be totally inaccessible at my level. Imagine yourself alone for even a single night on a 60 foot Imoca going flat out in the Southern Ocean !...
What do you think of the 34th America's Cup ?
I think it is a great technological and human challenge. I appreciate the fact that the race is going back to one design sailing and a lot of regattas are planned, from the World Series to the final of the America's Cup.
How does this passion affect your professional life ?
This activity helps you to free up your head immediately, and to take time out. It's a school of patience that encourages introspection. These are virtues that are indispensable to balancing a tough professional life