Andrea Bocelli went windsurfing from a yacht while on holiday, and the short Instagram clip is currently delighting numerous users of the platform. Bocelli is known to be blind, but he cuts a very fine figure on the board. To the cheers of his fellow travellers (and an excited dog), the Italian singer cruises relaxed through presumably Mediterranean climes.
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Many windsurfing celebrities are also happy about the clip: Ricardo Campello sends three flames, Pierre Mortefon comments "Nice", Malte Reuscher invites Bocelli to his surf station on Elba, and Thomas Traversa writes: "You may not be able to read this, but maximum respect!"
Bocelli was born with an eye disease and went completely blind at the age of twelve. The Italian became famous with the song "Time To Say Goodbye", which boxer Henry Maske used in his last fight and which subsequently became a hit across Europe.
Enrico Sulli, the blind windsurfer
Windsurfing and visual impairments are not mutually exclusive. Enrico Sulli, also from Italy, is another example of how you can still get out on the water without sight. We introduced him to surf in 2021. Sulli was a regatta racer for a long time until he went blind at the age of 44. "I've been surfing all my life, the movements are memorised in me," he told us at the time. On the lake on his doorstep, he tried it out on his own, orientating himself by the direction from which the sun was shining in his face and the waves were slapping against the board. "I have a mental map of the lake. If I head in a certain direction and then the reeds rustle, I know exactly where I am." In order to know where he has to go back to, Enrico attached a beeping key fob, which he switches on with his mobile phone, to a buoy near the shore.
Enrico trained his family dog as a guide dog himself and also goes windsurfing on the sea in Porto Pollo. "I didn't have to teach Enrico anything. He is so good that he could easily take part in a normal regatta," said Francesco from the "2Sides" centre, which takes many people with disabilities out on the water. Enrico has a mobile phone and a loudspeaker with him, and Francesco uses the phone connection to tell him the manoeuvres from the motorboat. "Keep going straight ahead, you have the right of way," Francesco calls into the headset.
When Francesco finally calls out "clear water!", Enrico looks like a racehorse before whom the starting gate opens. His body tension suddenly increases, he pumps hard a few times and then glides away. Enrico enjoys the thrust and puts all his weight into the trapeze. The nose of the board slowly lifts out of the sea, with only its tail touching the water. Enrico's movements are a carefully coordinated choreography. Every move is perfect: he swings the sail like a lightweight dance partner, his feet dance across the board and find their own way into the foot straps - a paso doble with the wind.
