LUCA DEVOTI WINS 2010 BEST ITALIAN DESIGNER AWARD

Monday evening was a high moment in the short history of the D-ONE dinghy as its co-creator, Italian Olympics medalist Luca Devoti together with Phil Morrison and Roman Teply, won the Velista dell'Anno 2010 award for the Best Italian Yacht Designer, presented in scenic Villa Miani (Rome) by Acciari Consulting in partnership with the Italian Sailing Federation and italian sailing magazines FareVela, Yacht Capital, Nautica and Yacht&Sail. Marina di Loano, Feudi di San Gregorio and Istituto per il Credito Sportivo sponsored the event. Andrea Mura (winner of the Route du Rhum 2010 in the Rhum category with his 50ft Vento di Sardegna) was awarded with the Velista dell'Anno for the Best Sailor.
The awards are recognized as the highest honours an Italian sailor can receive in recognition of their outstanding achievements during the previous year. Similar to the previous editions, the awards this year had the same guideline, not only to reward past results but also one's capacity to popularize the sport of sailing and the overall spirit with which they approach it. The jury's deliberation was exhaustive, since it was not easy to determine rankings among all the well-deserving nominees.

Luca Devoti was presented with the award of Best Italian Yacht Designer in 2010 for his D-ONE dinghy. According to the jury, Devoti's innovative D-ONE was key to bringing back to sailing a great number of sailors that had distanced themselves from the sport.

"I wanted to try everything in sailing", explained Devoti. "I raced, I coached younger sailors and then I dedicated myself to yacht design. Receiving this award is like going through a second youth, creating new challenges for the future."