From Lake Geneva to Cape Horn

My name is Julian, and I'm the owner ofAllures 51.9 #3. Half Argentinean and half Italian, I was born in Argentina and lived there for 37 years, until my wife Daniela and my children and I moved to Switzerland 7 years ago.

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I sailed all my youth, starting out on dinghies when I was a kid, then moving on to bigger boats, and gradually I got into racing and even ocean racing. Then I got married, and had children, but when they were small it was complicated, even I didn't feel like sailing at the time, I thought more about being with them at home and so I stopped sailing altogether. When we moved to Switzerland, the first thing I did was to go and see a cruising school, with the aim of getting a sailing licence on Lake Geneva, but I saw that it had become so complicated in terms of administration and safety that I decided to give up.

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Back to basics

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‍But then, with this coronavirus thing, there was a combination of things. The first had to do with an Argentinian friend of mine, who had also been living in Switzerland for 5 years, and who then said to me "it's time to do something; let's take the motorboat license together because, to sail, you need a berth, and that's really very difficult here, with a waiting list of over 10 years". He goes on to say: "But if you buy a motorboat, it's possible, there's a private marina in such and such a place, and if you buy the boat from them, they'll offer you a berth". I don't really like motorboating, but it was a way of getting back on the water, and I was persuaded. I started taking courses, to relearn what I already knew, but this time in French and with local peculiarities to integrate at the same time. But very quickly, I said to myself "motorboats are great for getting your feet on the water, but they're not for me". So I bought a Laser, I'd had one before in Argentina, and that enabled me to start sailing again for real, and in a way get back to basics. ‍

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Looking out over the ocean

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‍A few months later, the first wave of the coronavirus was gone and we went on vacation to Cadiz, Spain. I remember, on the beach, by the Atlantic, which has this special color, the same one you see on the Argentine side and which I find very different from the Mediterranean. I'm no expert, but I find there's a really different energy. And so, looking at the ocean, I remembered all my dreams when I was young. My wife Daniela came along and said, "Do you remember when we first met, you wanted to sail around the world? I remembered, of course, and said to her: "Yes, of course, and I think the time has come... The children have grown up, and this coronavirus shows us that we shouldn't take anything for granted in life". And then my wife replies: "It's OK with me, let's go"! That same day, I call another Argentinian friend, who lives in Argentina, and who I've known for over 20 years. I tell him all about it, and say "Santi, I'm looking for a boat, and I've been looking at this and that model". He replies, "Stop it! I've been looking for information on the boat I need for two years, and I've been investigating it for months. I've still got a few questions, but if you want, limit yourself to this, this and this", and then he gives me the names of three models built by European shipyards.

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A thoughtful choice

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‍I wanted a bigger boat, Santi wanted a smaller one; he was looking for a sailboat with a maximum length of 46-47 feet, I was aiming for a 60-footer. He said, "No, 60 feet is too big for you; you'll be sailing a lot alone or as a couple, so you'll have to choose a smaller model". My friend shared with me the fruit of his research; I had done mine, which was much more limited, and we put it all together, then made a "short-list". I wanted an aluminum boat, but in my memory, all the aluminum boats I'd seen in Argentina were ugly, square-hulled and poorly maintained. I wanted a pretty, safe, high-performance boat... and that's when Santiago said to me, "You need to look at the production of the Allures shipyard". I'm talking about mid to late July 2020. We did a lot of videoconferencing with Santiago. I said to him: "Let's go, I want to act, I don't want to wait". He says, "No, be patient, we need another two years". And I said, "Oh no, it's now or never".

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"When we visited the Allures yard, we immediately saw the performance, the quality and the professionalism."

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A strong and rapid decision

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‍We came to Cherbourg with my wife at the end of August 2020: we had planned to also visit another construction site in England. As the possibility of crossing the border from Switzerland was limited, we made the trip by car, as we didn't want to take a plane. When we visited the Allures shipyard, we immediately saw the performance, quality and professionalism all around us. We also received an excellent welcome, and when we saw the way you treat the boats, the equipment, the skill... all this played a part in our decision. What's more, we didn't even look at the other shipyards we'd identified before! I had the experience of having built a boat in Argentina, and the word professionalism doesn't apply there, at least not with the yard in question, but unfortunately I'd say that's the case with almost all the yards in the country. They're often family-run, which is great, and I've got nothing against that, but where the first generation does things with a lot of conscience and effort, we see that too often the second generation burns everything, and in what they burn, there's your money and also, alas, quality. I've had a lot of quality problems.

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‍Thepromise of future emotions

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‍Coming here, I fell in love with this compromise between aluminum, the way this material is treated, the elegance of the boat, the shaped hull design, all of it. We signed the contract the day after we came, so it didn't take long.

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"The promise of this boat, when I see myself on board, is to be able to realize my dreams."

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The promise of this boat, when I see myself on board, is to be able to make my dreams come true. Our plans are, starting in the spring of 2022, and for the first year, to sail the Mediterranean, to take the time to get to know each other and fall in love with each other, ourselves and the boat. Then, in December 2023, we'll cross the Atlantic, and from there, once we're in the Caribbean, we'll have two options. The first is to cross the Panama Canal and sail around the Pacific, and then we'll see. The second option, which is unsurprisingly the one I prefer, is to head south along the Brazilian coast, towards Argentina. The arrival in Buenos Aires with my boat will be a highlight. After that, I'd like to sail down to Patagonia, go to the Falklands, a place I've wanted to visit all my life (for us it's the Falklands, not the Falklands!) and of course round Cape Horn, to tick that box. After that, we'll see: we'll either sail up the Atlantic or into the Pacific, probably via the Chilean canals. Nothing is set in stone, as we're talking about several years here, but one thing's for sure: it's going to be a very emotional program for us!‍

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A beautiful story of friendship

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‍When we told Santi that we'd signed the contract with Allures Yachting, he felt the pressure: we pushed him a little; I actually think that he didn't really need to be pushed, but that, coming from us, he wanted to, it was a way for him to see the story through, which is also a shared story. And so we made a promise to sail together, to cross the Atlantic on two boats, side by side. There's an emotional side to it, but also a comforting, reassuring aspect, because he's a really good sailor. There are a lot of people I'd like to do important things with in my life. But there aren't many who, like Santiago, both fit into this category and, at the same time, are good sailors.

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That's the whole story, and I agree that it's also a beautiful story of friendship.