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Re: Obituary for Ambrogio Fogar
From: Courtney Thomas
Date: 2005 Sep 13, 10:12 -0500
From: Courtney Thomas
Date: 2005 Sep 13, 10:12 -0500
Any of his writing available in English ? Thank you, Courtney On Mon, 2005-09-12 at 23:40, Peter Fogg wrote: > Ambrogio Fogar, who died on August 24 aged 64, survived for 73 days in an > open boat amid the frozen waters of the South Atlantic after his yacht was > sunk by a killer whale off the Falklands in 1978. > > Fogar was one of Italy's best-known sailors and explorers, and first came to > notice in Britain when he entered the 4th Transatlantic Race in 1972. This > contest had begun in 1960 as a half-crown wager between Francis Chichester > and Lt-Col "Blondie" Hasler to see who could sail fastest single-handed from > Plymouth to Rhode Island. The notable navigator David Lewis of New Zealand > was another entrant. During the 1972 race Fogar lost the use of his rudder > and then his radio soon after leaving Devon, but he continued and finished > 26th out of the field of 54. > > The following year he became the first Italian yachtsman to sail solo around > the world in a westerly direction, against the prevailing wind, and only the > 50th man to circumnavigate the globe alone since Joshua Slocum made the > first passage in 1898. > > When Fogar arrived in Britain to compete in the 5th Transatlantic Race, in > 1976, officials looked askance at his catamaran, Surprise, as it lacked a > cabin and Fogar slept in a crate inside one of the hulls. But they conceded > that the Italian "seems to know what he is doing", even though he candidly > admitted that he was expecting to capsize several times during the voyage. > Fogar said that he had plans in place to deal with this eventuality. > > Two years later, shortly after returning from an expedition to the Bermuda > Triangle with Uri Geller, he was faced with just such an emergency. While he > and a friend, Mauro Mancini, were making an attempt to circumnavigate > Antarctica, Surprise was overturned by a killer whale, and the pair were > forced to take to a rubber dinghy. > > They had virtually no food supplies, and nothing but rainwater to drink. For > almost two-and-a-half months they drifted across the waves, sustained by > their friendship, their reserves of fat and by Fogar's faith in God, which > Mancini eventually came to share. > > Eventually, they were spotted by a Cape Town-bound Greek cargo vessel and > were rescued after having travelled some 1,300 miles towards Africa from the > location of the wreck. Two days later, however, Mauro Mancini suddenly died, > apparently after contracting an otherwise innocuous cold aboard ship that > his weakened system was unable to throw off and which speedily developed > into pneumonia. > > On his return to Italy Fogar was blamed for the death of Mancini, a > journalist, by the media. Only the posthumous publication of the diary > Mancini had kept when aboard the dinghy cleared the yachtsman's name. In the > diary Mancini had written: "Fogar is an exemplary sailor and a very > courageous man. I hope that the newspapers will treat him with the respect > and morality that he has shown me aboard this vessel." > > Ambrogio Fogar was born in Milan on August 13 1941. He first made a living > selling sports cars, then qualified as a stunt pilot. His initial love was > for parachuting, but after a serious accident in which he lost most of his > teeth he gave it up in favour of sailing. > > He renounced this after the death of Mancini, and in 1983 attempted to > become the first man to walk unsupported to the North Pole. The British > explorer David Hempleman-Adams set off at the same time, but in the event > neither man reached his goal, the Briton being hampered by injury and the > Italian by disintegrating pack ice. For a time Fogar claimed to have reached > his destination, but it was later revealed that he had been taken there by > the aircraft which had picked him up. > > Nonetheless, his exploits - which also included the ascent of several peaks > in Africa, where he contracted malaria - earned him much renown in Italy, > and he was able to parlay this into a successful career as a television > presenter and author. His books include My Atlantic (1974) and The Raft > (1978), the story of his time in the lifeboat. > > Then, in 1992, Fogar was rendered permanently paralysed as the result of a > crash while competing in the Paris-Peking rally. He spent the last 13 years > of his life in bed, unable to breathe or to speak except with the aid of > machines. Many regarded it as a cruel destiny for a man of action, but he > inspired admiration by his defiance of his condition. > > In 1997 he took part in a round-Italy yacht race strapped into a > specially-adapted wheelchair. He also became an ardent supporter of > Greenpeace and of anti-whaling campaigns. > > Ambrogio Fogar was a Commander of the Order of the Italian Republic. > He was divorced, and is survived by two daughters. > > This obituary comes from the Telegraph, London.