Paul Cayard
A common language
In 2020 an Italian approached me with an idea… That’s not the first time that has happened! Marco Trombetti, a technology entrepreneur, wanted to race around the world in the Ocean Globe Race. Marco and his wife Isabelle founded Trans- lated in 1999, a company that provides sophis-
ticated language translation services known as ‘localisation’. Although his tools use AI, Marco firmly believes that technology is created by humans for humans, and that if that relationship is main- tained humans can use technology in a healthy way. Marco was looking for a ‘metaphorical’ project that would illustrate
his belief. He found the Ocean Globe Race. Marco was not a sailor but was intrigued by the rules of the Ocean
Globe because, in honouring the first Whitbread in 1973, the 2023 race would use the technology available in 1973. That meant using a sextant for navigation and a barometer for weather. No router, no grib files for weather, no satellite pictures, no position reports issued by the race office. The other reason Marco liked the Ocean Globe Race is that he
believes that progress is only made by those who reach outside their comfort zone. For him and many of the amateurs who would be involved in this project, sailing around the world was clearly outside their comfort zone. Coincidently, in 1997, I sailed EF Language in the Whitbread
Round the World Race, and that too was a great experience for our language industry sponsor. While sailing isn’t football in terms of commercial selling power, it is a strong communication tool, conveying powerful emotions, forming bonds and allowing the
34 SEAHORSE
enjoyment of mother nature without polluting it. The Translated9 project turned out to be another great example of that. As Marco set out on his adventure he learned that the winner
of the first Whitbread was a Swan 65 named Sayula and that she was hull #3 in a series of 41 Swan 65 ketches designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built by Nautor in Finland. Marco wanted to compete and celebrate the first Whitbread in
the most authentic way possible, so he bought Swan 65 hull #9 and named it Translated9. Then he began recruiting a team to prepare the boat and eventually race her around the world. Shortly after embarking on the project with hull #9 Marco decided
he wanted to share this adventure, and his reasons for doing it, with his clients and colleagues. Since most of Marco’s clients work in Silicon Valley, he reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to take his clients out sailing on San Francisco Bay and share the project with them. I have always gained satisfaction from the fact that those who
interact with sailing, be it riding on the back of an America’s Cup yacht or out on a corporate team-building day, seem to really enjoy the experience –and often have never previously had the opportunity to know our sport. So I agreed to be the ambassador of the Trans- lated SF project and host outings on Swan 65 #23, which we found on the east coast and brought across to San Francisco. To date we have taken out more than 650 colleagues and clients
of Translated, more than half of whom were going sailing for the first time. On a typical sail we head out under the Golden Gate Bridge, set the gennaker and sail back down Racoon Straits, around Angel Island, around Alcatraz and back to St Francis Yacht Club. There are not many more spectacular 2.5-hour tours that one can
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