Representing Italian culture around the world
The Amerigo Vespucci, Marina Militare's training ship and ambassador of Italian culture, set sail in June 2023 on a 20-month round-the-world voyage. She will embark cadets from Livorno's naval academy, to complete their apprenticeship and teach them the rudiments of navigation on a - very - large sailing ship.
The ship is named after the famous Florentine navigator-explorer who discovered part of America shortly after Christopher Columbus, and gave the continent its name.
Over the past twenty years, the Amerigo Vespucci has made numerous stopovers around the world. In 2002, she sailed to Auckland for the 31st America's Cup. Two years later, he represented Italy at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In 2005, he took part in the commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar in Portsmouth. In 2008, he took part in the Armada in Rouen, and in 2013 in the Voiles de légendes in Toulon.
Three masts to represent Italy
Owned by the Marina Militare, the Italian navy, Amerigo Vespucci was launched in 1931. She is one of the oldest three-masted square-rigged ships still in service. The dean of the Italian fleet, she measures 100 m overall, with a displacement of 4150 tons. Her crew is made up of almost 400 people, more than half of whom are students.
Apart from the windlass and hydraulic tiller, everything on the Amerigo Vespucci is done by hand. Ropes are linen and sails are burlap.
Each maneuver requires perfect coordination and crew participation. Values that cadets hold dear.
The hull is made of riveted steel, sometimes in two rows to better cope with the harshest conditions. That's why most of the hull is still original, a fine achievement for this old lady approaching 100 years of age.
The Amerigo Vespucci has three decks, housing the crew and officers' quarters, and the engine room.
Her three masts carry 26 sails, for a total surface area of 2824 m2. Her spars include a bowsprit, a 54 m main mast, a 50 m mizzen mast and a 43 m foremast.
In the absence of wind, propulsion is provided by two Fiat diesel engines coupled to two Marelli 1,491.4 kW electric propulsion generators developing 3,000 hp, transmitted to a fixed four-blade propeller.
A crew of young soldiers
The average age on board is under 20. The Amerigo Vespucci brilliantly cultivates the maritime tradition of circumnavigating the globe in a large sailing boat.
In addition to the ocean-going skills acquired by the students, such navigation provides an incredible life experience for a generation brought up in the midst of social networks.
