May 13, 2006
Ermenegildo Zegna Regatta in Portofino
The Ranger arrived at Portofino (Genoa, Italy) on Thursday. We were interested in documenting the marine protected area of Portofino. On the other hand, we had been invited by the Fondazione Ermenegildo Zegna to bring the Oceana Ranger and to participate in a well attended press conference, as that weekend there was the 25th Ermenegildo Zegna Regatta.
On Saturday morning we had the press conference with more than 100 journalists from all over the world, invited by the Zegna group. Paolo and Gildo Zegna presented the financial state of the company, and then Anna Zegna talked about the Fondazione Ermenegildo Zegna, their involvement in environmental issues and specially their collaboration with Oceana on protecting marine ecosystems. Ted Danson, actor and Oceana Board Member, was the special guest of the event. He made a fabulous presentation on the two-year collaboration of Oceana with Fondazione Ermenegildo Zegna, and the project we are developing this year on protecting Mediterranean corals and other vulnerable habitats. Last year, the Fondazione Ermenegildo Zegna funded Oceana’s research in the Gorringe Bank, a spectacular seamount with lots of corals and sea life close to the Azores in the Atlantic sea.
After the press conference everybody was invited to the regatta race, journalists were taken in several boats to see the regatta. The weather was sunny so everything went perfectly. In the evening we were invited for a dinner in the Portofino castle, where more than 300 guests had the opportunity to enjoy a delicious meal and a breathless view from the top of a hill where the castle is placed. The evening was rounded off with a concert by the Gipsy Kings at the piazzeta of Portofino.
The next day we boarded the Ranger with Ted Danson, Andrew Sharpless, Oceana’s CEO, Steve McAllister, Board member and the rest of the Ranger crew to take pictures and to film statements from them that we can use with the information that we send to the media.
Marta and I had to leave at lunch time as the plane to Milan and then to Madrid was leaving early, so we said goodbye to the crew. Carlos, Oceana’s director of operations for the Ranger, took us with the zodiac to Santa Margherita. We left happy as the weekend had been worth it and very soon we will have the chance of being back on board again.