Nautical Expo: Venice capital of the sea The International Nautical Expo of Venice has been totally renowed. This was the fair’s fourth edition and it has marked an historical turning point both for the Venetian expo and the nautical science in the lagoon and in the whole Adriatic sea. What has been proposed is a new way to enjoy navigation, thanks to which it is possible to live one’s passion for sea and shipping, but also to get to know culture and history, with no disregard for entertainment. The main theme of this year’s exposition is summarized by the expression “Waves of emotions”. All these opportunities are offered in the extraordinary environment of the lagoon and of the city of Venice, which offers a thousand charming points from which it is possible to observe the sea.

This exposition was able to be appreciated by exposers and loved by the great public, an event that has grown bigger year after year and that now aims at reaching the 50 thousand visitors.

The Venetian expo owns the biggest basin reserved to the water exposition of crafts and can host up to 300 boats. This is a feature that distinguishes it from many other fairs.

Venice is also the last nautical expo before the beginning of the sailingseason, thus allowing latecomers to buy crafts that are immediately ready to set sail. Today, the Venice Nautical Expo represents the biggest rendezvous of the Adriatic, and it has also passed national borders reaching France, China and Russia. Nowadays they are negotiating a twinning relationship with the world’s most important nautical fair, the Annual Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.

Venice’s Passengers Terminal, besides being one of the main sponsors together with the Venice Casino, has physically hosted the Expo at the Stazione Marittima, with crafts inside water as well as stalls. The fair expanded between the water basin and three pavillions (103, 107 and 108), while in the San Marco basin there was the exposition of big yachts, an important peculiarity of the Expo.

This edition of the Nautical Expo “marked a turning point, starting the new path that we are going to follow”, as to what Eugenio De Vecchi, director of the International Nautical Expo, declared. It represents a more and more international event, with many foreign visitors, more foreign exposers and the constant presence of Rai International documenting events which have already been broadcast to the more than 60 million Italians living abroad, that could thus follow the event with a live broadcast.

This was the best possible context to present the ambitious expedition of Antarctica. “Antarctica Sailing Project”, is the circumnavigation of the Antctartic Continent at the Earth’s lowest latitude, an experience which was never been done before with a recreational sailboat. Their main aim was to win an important sporting record. But the expedition guided by skipper Davide Freschi has also humanitarian and scientific goals, indeed thanks to the help of the Italian Red Cross they will deliver humanitarian help and medicines in several countries of Africa and Latin America. The University of Tuscia, which is involved in the project, will collect data about the presence of cetaceans in southern oceans.