Sailor,
sailing instructor, divulger, lecturer, traveller, former president of the
association Vele Storiche Viareggio, presently commodore and most of all
counsellor for classic yachts. Since the end of 1990s the Florentine Enrico,
‘Chicco’, Zaccagni was involved in the restoration of countless important hulls
that have made the history of yachting such as Alzavola, the 1924 ketch that
belonged to Enrico’s family, Magda XIII, Delfino, Kipawa, Orianda, the Officine
Panerai’s Eilean, Marga and Ganbare, the One Tonner countless time victorious. Everything
begins at the age of nineteen , when...
From Florence to Caribe
Mr
Zaccagni, Enrico in formal occasions, is known in the yachting world admiring
his experience and competence, by the appellative of ‘Chicco’. The Florentine
class 1951, first of five, at the
young age of nineteen takes the charge and responsibility of Alzavola, a 21 meters 1924 ketch, built in England out of the finest Burmese
teak planking. At the age of 27, only
few exams far from graduation, he decides to abandon his studies of Naval Engineering to found the Centro
Nautico Italiano of which he will be Secretary General until 1984. Furthermore
he becomes member of the Italian Skipper International Association since
its very foundation. At 30 he sets sail for Taiwan where, on behalf of the
Clipper Club society, he curates the
fitting out of four Eastern Vagabond,
a little series of 12,80 to 14,20 meters length yachts designed and realized
for long cruises. In 1984, after taking
over the ownership of Alzavola from his family, Enrico fully dedicates himself
to charter. The following year he successfully obtains the naval licence for pleasure yachts. This will be the
beginning of twenty years of endless back and forth sailing from the Mediterranean to the Caribe. He
works in collaboration with naval agencies and touristic associations such as
the Gian Marco Borea d’Olmo’s Venturieri,
shipyards and other
operators of the field, he learns English,
French, Spanish and studies meteorology with a particular focus on
tropical meteorology.
Sea tripper
In between
the 80s and the 90s Chicco Zaccagni races
in many ocean races on board of classic and modern yachts so as to became well-know in the world of ocean racing and yachting clubs. He trains pleasure yachts’ sailors and
commanders that, thanks to his experience, learn to work aboard and to interact
with clients. From 1993 until 1999 he writes
and broadcasts daily a weather forecast for the Caribbean Sea in Italian,
French and Spanish. The latter will became known to sailors as the best meteorological
reference for this basin. On top of that, between 1995 and 1998 he will provide
meteorological forecasts for a fleet of more then 20 yachts sailing every year
through the Atlantic Ocean. Zaccagni continues to engage time and energies to
what will continue to be a definitely unique life. He translates into Italian,
for the Publishing House “Sails”, a
manual of theory, use and design of sails from Jeremy Howard-Williams. He will accomplish three Atlantic crossings and cover over 50.000 miles at sea.
1999 the birth of ‘Zacboats’ and
the academic collaborations
In 1997
Chicco Zaccagni supervises for Floating
Village the reconstruction of Pandora,
a 20 meters long motor-yacht launched in
1934. This is just the embryo of an
activity of restoration supervisor and team manager that will develop in 1999 into
Zacboats, a company specialized in
consultancy, survey, project management and brokerage in the field of classic
and traditional yachts. This was a new and important turn in its ‘sea men’
career. From the academic year 2001-02 and thanks to his knowledge background
he will teach a class of “Yachting History
and Classic Yachts Restoration” in quality of external professor at the Florence University of Architecture
within the Department of Technology, Architecture and Design. Young students
are fascinated by this world and in 2003 Zaccagni is the assistant supervisor of Mr.
Marco Gungui’s Dissertation “ Hypothesis of industrial development n the
restoration of historical watercrafts”. Meanwhile the collaborations with the
University of Florence and the Department of Architectural Sciences of Geneva
University continue. It is in 2016 that he will be a new assistant supervisor
for Francesco Rocchetti’s Dissertation on the Restoration of Barbara, a
15,50 meters long Camper and Nicholson’s Yawl of 1923.
The Classic Yachts Restorations
In 1999,
after 35 years in the Zaccagni family, the ketch Alzavola passes onto a new roman
ship owner and is transported by cargo from
the Caribe to Livorno. From here the boat will reach Viareggio, where in
Del Carlo’s boatyard it will be dismantled and completely restored. Mr Zaccagni is entrusted with the direction of
the restoration works. Among the interventions we count the reconstruction of
the iron floors and the substitution of 20% of the oak frames. Thereafter, in
occasion of the most important classic yachts rallies, the boat will be able to
get back on the races’ fields. From that
moment onwards for Chicco Zaccagni starts a restless engagement in the recovery of many classic hulls. Here
below follows a list of the crafts whose restoration works where directed by
him both in the Viareggio boatyard Del
Carlo and Pezzini and in others shipyards
as Fiumicino’s Tecnomar or Castiglioncello’s Cantiere Luciano Gavazzi.
·
Magda
XIII (1937) - 23 mt.
·
Windswept
(1936) - 16,50 mt.
·
Don
Quixotte (1933) - 11,50 mt.
·
Tesse
(1963) - 10,50 mt.
·
Mopi
(1953) - 9,90 mt.
·
Delfino
(1940) - 14,80 mt.
·
Kipawa
(1937) - 16,80 mt.
·
Ganbare
(1973) - 10,80 mt.
·
Orianda
(1938) - 23 mt.
·
Ojalà
(1973) - 11 mt.
·
Eilean
(1936) - 22,30 mt.
·
Oenone
(1935) - 13,50 mt.
·
Marga
(1910) - 15,50 mt.
·
Nocturne
(1935) - 18,80 mt.
·
Agostina
(1946) – 10 mt.
Moreover
Zaccagni is a member of the Italian Association of Historical Yachts (AIVE), as well as part of the Association of Yachting Historians. After a ten-years
presidency, since 2015 he is now Vele Storiche Viareggio’s Commodore.
The on-going restorations :
Barbara, Tirrenia II, The Spray, Tonino and Astarte
No year
passes without major restoration works for Chicco to direct. In this period Mr.
Zaccagni is following the return to the sea of five crafts. Barbara is a Bermudian yawl built in 1923
by the English boatyard Camper &
Nicholsons. The 15 meters long boat belonged in the past to the founder of
the Dom Pérignon label. Since 2015 the yacht is in the Del Carlo boatyard,
where it will be officially launched Saturday the 19th of May 2018. In that day, whoever wishes to, will be
allowed to witness the ceremony of the launch at Viareggio’s boatyard in Darsena
Italia. The same day at Del Carlo’s
boatyard you will be able to admire two other crafts: the classical 1914 gaff
ketch Tirrenia II, 18,80 meters
long, already protagonist of many historical yachts rally in the Mediterranean
sea; and the Spray, a motorsailor rig
as a Bermudian ketch of 16,20 meters length which was launched in 1961 by the
Picchiotti boatyard under drawings of Franco Anselmi Boretti. And finally Tonino of 1911 and Astarte of 1907, both famous first rule 10 Metre racers, already
under restoration at the Fiumicino’s
Tecnomar boatyard.
The awards and editorial collaborations
Many are
the “on-field merits” obtained during the years by Chicco Zaccagni. In 2002 he
won the Best Restoration Prize for
Windswept during Le Vele D’Epoca of Imperia meeting and in 2003 the Yacht Digest Award. He won the same
prize in 2004 for the restoration works of Alzavola, followed by the 2005 Oscar for the Best Restoration assigned
to Mopi in occasion of the Livorno
Accademia Navale’s Trophy. He obtained others awards for his works on Kipawa
and Delfino. In 2015 the prestigious English magazine Classic Boat awarded him for the best restoration of the year with Marga.
His articles and critical reviews were published on Yacht Digest, Yachting World,
Via Mare, Yachting Quarterly and Barche
d’Epoca e Classiche. Moreover he wrote a chapter of the book “Yachts Restoration” edited by the
Department of Architectural Sciences of the Genova University.
And with its free time? We could
say… “of sea and land”. Zaccagni indeed loves sailing, scuba diving, collecting books and classical yachting
documents, listening to classic music
and… of course finding mushrooms.
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