Matteo Celon. Italianness is never banal

We meet Matteo Celon while he is at home in Torri del Benaco, on the Veronese shore of Lake Garda. At 26, he is the youngest member of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli crew, a very young addition to the series of sailing boats that compete under the Italian flag, among other competitions, for the America's Cup.

Even during the usual pleasantries he can't help but talk about water, the natural element with which he has a visceral, deep, symbiotic relationship, built not without effort. His girlfriend won't be offended if we report that Matteo tells us that when he went to visit her last week, in Madrid, he had a hard time sustaining the distance from his element: I can't stay that far away from the sea, from the lake. I miss it.

I am originally from Lake Garda where wind, sun, currents, mountains, woods, snow are powerful and real. In half an hour, an hour at most you can get anywhere: from Malcesine to Monte Baldo, from water to skis. I call it “my natural playground”, where the interaction between man and nature makes me feel unsurpassable emotions, both delicate and violent.
The Lake is a continuous discovery of many typical places, that have a taste of Italianness: history is written on the walls of the castles, between the beaten paths and on the piers corroded by the water. I travel a lot and often dock in fake ports, constructed, without a past and I appreciate my roots even more.

Matteo is the son of an artist, his father was a great sailor who participated in three Olympics and sailed the seas during two America's Cups. His mother is a ski teacher, as well as a physical education teacher. If one day we find Matteo's biography in a bookshop, the chapter on his childhood and adolescence will most likely be entitled "bread and sport".

Before going to school I trained. I changed many disciplines when I was young and in each one I dedicated myself completely, always managing to reach competitive levels. I liked to see how with dedication and practice I could catch up with classmates who had started long before me or who were naturally more suited to that activity. Well, I have never been "the talented one". But it was better this way because I saw many really gifted and valid kids burn out quickly, giving everything and too much right away. Sport, on the other hand, is perseverance, patience, hard work.

A life, a calling. Since he was a child, Matteo knew he would be an athlete. The passion for sports and the taste of sweat that nourished him since he was a baby have transformed over the years into ambition and thirst for success, without ever a hint of arrogance, always with humility and a predisposition to sacrifice.

But my love for water wasn't love at first sight. I've never loved water sports like swimming, but, even though I never felt pressured by my father, it seemed natural to try sailing. At 8 years old, I started sailing with a dinghy, a single-seater, but the wind and water scared me: after two years of always arriving last and making up strange excuses for not going out, I gave up. At 15, after trying an infinite number of other sports, I asked myself: how come I can do everything, from athletics to cross-country skiing, but I struggle so much with sailing? I set myself this challenge and I understood that tenacity, dedication and training can take us beyond the limits that our mind would impose on us. At 18, I gave up cross-country skiing in the winter to dedicate myself to sailing all year round. The seduction for this sport was initially mixed with feelings of hatred... In the end, I fell madly in love with it.

As in every great love story, a period of getting to know each other was necessary, characterized by a strong attraction, spiced with a pinch of aversion. Again, concentration, patience, trust in time and in one's own mental and physical resources. We ask him, therefore, if he is a methodical type also in everyday life.

I answer by talking about serious things, that is, food. (Laughs, ed.) Let's take carbonara or a tart for example. Everyone says they know how to make them, but how many know how to make them WELL? What are the right ingredients, what are the quantities, what are the times... In everything you need method, study, concentration and to have a clear objective: whether it's cooking carbonara for friends or preparing for the America's Cup.

We discover that Matteo is also good in the kitchen. An immoderate love for Italy at 360 degrees, therefore.

When I compete I feel like I carry the tricolor flag. Italianness is never monotonous. In everything we do, from fashion to food, from sports to simple daily life, there is always originality. There is simplicity, lightness, but never banality. I have traveled a lot and my favorite destination remains Italy: its coasts are breathtaking. From the sea you can appreciate cliffs, ruined villages and unparalleled vegetation. Let's put it this way: if something is beautiful, or good, going back to the carbonara from before (Laughs again, ed.) , it is always Italian.

At 19, sailing becomes his job, thanks also to the initial support of his family. The costs are high and only summer jobs help, but they are not enough. An investment that soon pays off: at 21, Matteo is chosen for the Luna Rossa Pirelli team.

Everything changed there. Sailing in every sailor’s dream boat with 10 other sailors is very different from the dinghy or laser – single or double-seater sailing boats – that I used on Lake Garda. The responsibility increases, the pressure increases.
I approached the world of sailing more as an athlete, but experience and maturity allowed me to understand that physical prowess, solid muscles and good resistance are nothing if there are no mental attitudes and concentration. It is the mind that controls sensations, that puts you on alert in case of danger, that in a fraction of a second must provide you with the intuition that leads to the solution. Weather, currents, equipment, race course, opponents, are all variables that during a competition must be put in order in the head and not pile up in a jumble, otherwise mistakes are made, otherwise everyone's work is compromised. It is emblematic that I always carry with me a mat for physical exercises and a book to train the mind.

Now, we have no trouble understanding why Matteo chose sailing: there is so much room for improvement as there are infinite unforeseen events. We remember it from the last edition of the America's Cup, lost due to a technical error in reading the course: a sudden gust of wind arrived, which the team could not foresee. Matteo was busy carving the waves with the role of grinder, one of the 8 winch operators. They are the sailors who cannot stop, who puff out their chests and move their arms in rhythm, with strength, vigor, but also ease and application.

The role of grinder suits me particularly well, but I am still young and I feel like I don't want to fossilize in this position. I want to experiment as much as possible: in every part I find interesting and stimulating peculiarities and I like to feel like I am in a constant challenge.

Teamwork and personal work are pressing daily. There is no moment of rest from the dedication to training and the boat, which is not just an object, but the other in a relationship between two that must be continually nourished.

I encourage those who approach sailing to dedicate themselves to the boat, to get their hands dirty in cleaning, improving and caring for it. It is the sailor who must make it performant and solid. Having started with single boats and being the only person responsible for them has helped me. I replicate the same attention to the boat even now that I am in a team that is made up of 120 people, professionals from every sector who go from extremely humble activities to delicate jobs and for which you need to be highly qualified.
Knowing the boat in depth in every component is also a way to overcome the fear of waves and wind. It is true that when you are out there you are face to face with nature, and it is she who has the last word, but if you know perfectly what resources you have at your disposal you are certainly at an advantage.

Another way that Matteo found to overcome the initial fear that the water and the waves caused him was to dive into it head first, literally.

In Cagliari, during training for the 2021 America's Cup, I took swimming lessons. I then started scuba diving and freediving. I said to myself "crazy, all these years spent above water, to be intimidated by it, and look what I was missing out on down here". Unexplored worlds, in which man is only a guest who can do nothing but be amazed. Knowing also means respecting.

Naturally, when speaking about respect, Matteo cannot help but dwell on the topic of sustainability.

The topic of maritime sustainability is very important for those who work in my environment: when you live by the sea you come across all kinds of waste, especially after a storm that brings all kinds of rubbish back to the surface or to the shore. We must think that every little gesture, every little negligence, has repercussions on the entire system: love the sea and if you can pick up a piece of paper from the beach before it ends up in the waves... do it! I madly love Italian landscapes and every time I see them made ugly by human laziness and carelessness it is a great disappointment for me.