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RADIO INTERVIEWS
RADIO 24
RADIO 24
Date: 19 May 2024
Program: "Non mi capisci"
Conductors: Federico Taddia & Matteo Bussola
Rim El Boudi is 17 years old, attends the Frisi scientific high school in Monza and together with her classmates Tommaso Cassano, Camilla Fontana and Carlotta Bitto she won the Italian Debate championships, a teaching methodology imported from the United States that compares different teams through a debate on current issues. Smilla Savorelli is 24 years old and has a degree in zoology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was at university that she met her boyfriend James Dunning and together they decided to buy a sailing boat and return home to Italy "by sea", traveling 6,500 km through 6 countries. Ariete, a singer-songwriter from Anzio with millions of streams on Spotify, has just concluded a tour in four Italian high schools with the project La notte nelle scuola, in collaboration with the Scomodo magazine, talking about friendship, drugs, the future, fears, love, sexuality and failures. London is 20 years old, she lives in the Via Guerra camp in Asti and on social media she is known as London the Gipsy. He has a TikTok channel with more than 37 thousand followers where he talks about the life of the Roma with irony and fighting prejudices.
RAI RADIO 1
RAI RADIO 1
Date: 13 April 2024
Program: "Radio di bordo"
Conductor: Raffaele Roselli
Direction: Nino Giuliano
The launch of a dream, a tricolor sail on the waves of myth. This Saturday, in Cagliari, the new Luna Rossa AC75 will be revealed which - again with Max Sirena, Team Director and Skipper - aims to win the 37th Louis Vuitton America's Cup, starting next August in the waters of Barcelona. For 'Radio di Bordo', correspondent Germana Brizzolari reports on the event. Other preparations, another story, with Smilla and James, 24 and 29 years old, both from Verona although he is half British: after their studies and first jobs in Scotland, they decided to return to live in Italy. But only after having invested all their savings in a boat to sail back, sailing from the Scottish coasts, 3,500 nautical miles, expected six months of navigation. Another landing place, this time in Lecce, to discover nudibranchs, molluscs without shells, surprising and colorful marine creatures, together with biologist Giulia Furfaro.
ABERDEEN STUDENT RADIO
ABERDEEN STUDENT RADIO
Date: 28 March 2024
Program: "Granite talks"
Conductor: Tom Pizarro-Escuti
The Sailing Home Project on the Medousa is a mission to sail sustainably from Lossiemouth to Venice, covering 3,500 nautical miles, or 6,500 km, in about 6 months. The couple on board, Smilla Savorelli and Dr James Dunning, have a shared passion for the sea, sailing, and protecting the marine environment.
Smilla Savorelli is from Verona. In June 2023, she completed her 4-year degree in Zoology from the University of Aberdeen. During high school, Smilla spent a year in Iowa, USA, as an exchange student. Her interest in scientific communication using art as a medium was the central theme of her Bachelor's thesis. Smilla has been practicing painting and drawing since a very young age, and she continued pursuing her passion throughout her studies. She loves nature, the sea, sports, and learning about different cultures.
Dr James Dunning is also originally from Verona and a University of Aberdeen alumnus. Dr Dunning holds both British and Italian citizenship and currently works as a fisheries acoustician for the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government, where he uses echo-sounders to understand the impact of offshore wind farms on the marine ecostystem. He has been passionate about the sea and sailing since a young age, and used to skipper a sailing boat on Lake Garda, as well as organise various summer cruises throughout the past years. The "Sailing Home" project will be his biggest sailing challenge to date.
The journey will take them through at least 6 different countries, starting from Lossiemouth and sailing through Loch Ness along the Caledonian Canal, heading south towards France, crossing Bay of Biscay o reach Spain, and crrying on along Portugal. The Strait of Gibraltar will be a major milestone, marking the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. From there, they plan to visit the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily, and finally reach their home Venice.
The Sailing Home project is not just an adventure of a lifetime, but also a scientific commitment. The couple has partnered with the University of Milan-Bicocca and several international projects to collect scientific data to better understand and protect the marine environment.
NEWSPAPERS
ARENA ARTICLE english translation
ARENA ARTICLE english translation
Translation of the article in the Arena, 29th March, 2024
“Goodbye Scotland, after five years we’re returning to Verona. In our sailing boat.”
James, Marine Biologist, and Smilla met and fell in love in Aberdeen. They leave on the 26th April and their arrival is scheduled for the Autumn.
Lorenzo Fabiano
She is Veronese from Bussolengo, is 24 years old and has graduated in zoology, loves nature, Africa where she went on a field trip, and painting; her name is Smilla but unlike her the protagonist of the famous novel by Peter Høeg, has more a sense of the sea than for the snow. He is half Veronese and half British, is 29 years old and has a doctorate in marine biology, works for the Scottish government in the department of science and research for the sustainable development of marine based renewable energy; his name is James and is mad about sailing, a passion he has nurtured since he was a boy on Lake Garda. They both left Verona to study in Scotland at the University of Aberdeen where they completed their studies and crossed their destinies of life and heart.
The crazy idea came out when one morning James, somewhat fed up the grey skies of Aberdeen asked Smilla “Erm, why don’t we return to Italy by sail?” “Well, why not?” she replied. And so on the 26th April, James Dunning and Smilla Savorelli will set sail from the North of Scotland for a voyage of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 kilometres) about six months navigation: James, who for his doctorate sailed around the icebergs of Greenland and in the waters of the North Sea studying cod, explained “We’ll set sail from Lossiemouth and we expect to arrive in Venice towards the end of Autumn. We sail down the famous Loch Ness along the Caledonian Canal to then head South towards France, across the Bay of Biscay, continuing along the Portuguese coast, we’ll pass through the Straits Of Gibraltar to enter the Mediterranean, passing the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and Sicily, up through the Adriatic along Croatia to arrive in Venice.
The first questions were: “Do we have the necessary skills?” “Do we have the financial resources?”, “Can we really do this?” Yes, we can. The idea, now christened “Saling Home” was the only thing that they had, they planned to take a couple of years, especially as that morning under the grey skies of Aberdeen, they didn’t even have a boat. “We found her at Chatham near London – continued James – and to buy her we had to use nearly all of our savings. Last summer with two friends and Smilla’s father, an expert yachtsman, we sailed her to the port of Lossiemouth. Now she’s ready to set sail for Italy."
They have called her Medousa, after the ancient Greek goddess of “Protection” – Medousa also has a strong connection with Poseidon (the god of the sea) and has the role of “protection” – explained Smilla, who designed their flag with the figure of Medousa on the Scottish-Italian inspired background – “Sailing Home” is not only a wonderful adventure in a sailing boat, but also has a scientific purpose. "We contacted the University of Milan-Biocca and we will collect water samples for chemical analysis and environmental DNA; for a French organisation we will also collect data on plankton; these are scientific data that our partners will use to understand and better protect the marine ecosystem."
There remained a problem, and not just a minor detail, how to finance the adventure? But they have also thought how to cover this: through a crowd funding campaign that they have launched on their site sailinghome.eu. “We should be able to cover our costs; then when we arrive in Italy we can sell the boat to recover those costs. We will also put on sale oil paintings and maps together with a limited number of post cards in water colours – using the sea water where we pass - that Smilla will paint along the route. Of course, we are also looking for a sponsor or two who buy into the overall project, explains James, all of which combine to provide the necessary means – explaining with a good dose of irony – “We leave work in Scotland and we return to Italy happily unemployed”.
Sure, but why leave Scotland to return to Verona and begin everything from the beginning?
“I have been in Scotland for 10 years, but home has always been Verona. “Sailing Home” will be an experience that we will carry with us for all our lives” he replied. For Smilla “ My family is in Bussolengo, I love the Italian style of life, the culture and the warmth that you find in Italy which are priceless for me. I am ready to return to Italy after five years in Scotland. I can’t wait to start this adventure, to listen to the silence of the sea and to fill our hearts with life. We close one chapter and open another", adds Smilla.
Fair winds and following seas to the both of you.
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