Giancarlo Pedote is the guest on Tip & Shaft’s Into The Wind

Her first encounter with the sea, she goes through planning… windsurfing. At the age of 14, on the beach of the Golfe de Follonica campsite where he spends his family holidays, Giancarlo Pedote, 47 years old today, discovered the adrenaline of skiing but did not yet plan to set sail: “Sailing is for guys who don’t have the physique.” And he lives in Florence, in a modest environment: his overflow of energy goes into combat sports, until his baccalaureate, where he becomes a board instructor – finally free.

One morning, he has to replace at short notice a colleague who supervises dinghies: after the fiasco of the first day, he becomes a sailing instructor, and sails more and more, while embarking on philosophy studies. Soon it was the first deliveries, the first skippages and the first regattas that allowed him to satisfy his taste for sport and competition.

Very quickly, in the early 2000s, having just graduated from the university of philosophy, he became a professional team member. At the same time, he discovers the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Mini-Transat won that year by Yannick Bestaven. The Mini becomes his goal. It will take him 7 years to achieve this, first in series (in 2009) then in prototype (in 2013), under the colors of Prysmian. It was then that he moved to Lorient, where he still lives today.

After his brilliant but disappointing 2nd place in the 2013 Mini in prototype, Giancarlo has a string of victories and titles in Sailor of the Year. His career accelerated, he took part in the Rum Route 2014 in Class40won the Transat Jacques Vabre with Erwan LeRoux in Multi50taste theImoca in 2017 and is attacking its following objective: Vendee Globe. He redeems the old Virbac-Paprec in 2018 and will continue racing, still supported by Prysmian until the last Vendée Globe, where he won a splendid 8th place.

On arrival, he already knows that he will leave, with the same boat, which he will upgrade each winter by 2024.

Always with the same method, made of incredible determination, unfailing passion and constant commitment. Like this 2-hour episode, where the Italian sailor speaks frankly and with hindsight, without hiding anything from the difficulties and joys that sailing races provide.