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Welcome to the special section “BAM 35 Years.” We are presenting “cult” articles from the Motor Boats archive, starting in 1990. A journey through time among stories unobtainable today, even in the great sea of the internet! A dive into the world of epic moments in motor boating. Here is one of the stories we were most passionate about.
From Boats by Motor 2005, no. 4, May, pp. 94-98.
Precise and meticulous, Giacomo Agostini is in life as he is on his motorcycle. He races at three hundred miles per hour, but at sea he also loves to relax.
I’m on a motorcycle, is the answer to the cell phone and also the first contact with Giacomo Agostini. And, come to think of it, it could not have been otherwise. The myth, the legend, the man who has written an unforgettable page in the history of motorcycling, the champion who on two wheels has won more world titles than any other sportsman, has not lost the charm of his smile and his piercing gaze that have made him a protagonist in other roles as well, from team manager to sports commentator, from car driver to actor. Today, without ever completely abandoning the world of two wheels from which he cannot break away, he cultivates, albeit in different terms, another passion: boating.
Racing motorcycles has always been the most important thing in life for her. What, on the other hand, is the relationship between Giacomo Agostini and the boat?
“I have to preface this by saying that I have always lived on Lake Iseo, my family has a transportation company on the lake, we do transportation with barges and tugs, we transport aggregates and we always do excavation on the water. I started boating as a child to go to work. More than a way to have fun, at first it was a necessity for me, the boat or speedboat was the means I used to go and check on jobs.”
And is it different today?
“Now, when I am on vacation there is the pleasure of taking a boat ride, being outdoors all day in contact with the sea. It is something I really enjoy.”
What boat do you sail with?
“For the last two years I have had a Morgan 44. I really liked the 60s shuttle type shape, all wood, English style, green with mahogany stern. It’s elegant, very comfortable, has everything on one level, everything in the open air, you always see the sea. I don’t like boats with a dinette below deck, where, when you prepare food, you are below the water level.”
How did you arrive at this choice?
“One day I saw one just like it sailing: I didn’t think it was very fast, although I don’t want to go racing at sea, I prefer to move fast, to sail at more than ten knots, but without racing. This boat can reach thirty-four knots, and I would say that is enough to go out and have fun, to go on a trip. I met the owner of the boatyard and … he convinced me.”
Do you also use it often for cruising?
“The boat also has two comfortable cabins. Over the course of a year I use them three, four times to sleep on board. To go on a cruise, maybe even a long one, and be comfortable you need to have a big boat. For my use of it, day trips for swimming, this is ideal, comfortable, not demanding, I have everything I need.”
From her one would expect the choice of a fast open…
“I have had sportier boats in the past, but I never wanted to have a fast open. I tried them and decided it wasn’t the boat for me. For an outing, they are fun and very good if the sea is flat, otherwise it’s not fun anymore. If you find waves and go fast, you keep jumping: it’s fine for 18-year-olds. That is no longer the case for me. I don’t deny that it can be fun to try a boat that goes fast on the water, but just for fun, once, at least for me. It is not the kind of boat I like to have to spend my vacation. So as time passes for everyone, I thought I would buy a comfortable boat to spend the day at sea, go swimming with my family, and return home in the evening.”
Where does he keep his boat?
“In Sardinia. In addition to the pleasure of going by sea, Sardinia is an island that requires a boat, small or big it doesn’t matter. There are wonderful places to visit, reachable, however, only by boat.”
Do you manage to use the boat much time during the year?
“Enough, let’s say just right, although I understand that ‘just right’ is a relative concept. The long vacation tires me out. I prefer to take a few days more often.”
He has raced motorcycles and cars. Have you ever thought of racing on a boat?
“To this never. Even if it has engines, the boat is on water, not asphalt. You can’t love everything, I already loved a sport. And a lot.”
There is a very close relationship between motorcycle racers and mechanics and therefore also with the mechanical part of the motorcycle. Do you have the same kind of relationship with your boat and the engine?
“It is difficult to make a comparison. Motorcycles were my sport, my passion, my love. There was especially the relationship with the mechanics, a brotherly relationship of great friendship. In Morini I was young, they pampered me, taught me; in the thirteen years of MV it was a long engagement: I wanted to be with them all the time, I had fun. The boat is a pleasure, I take care of it, I never delegate to the sailor. I like to have everything under control, to know everything. If when I’m out at sea, I happen to have a small breakdown, I like to be able to fix it. Of course, I never do big interventions.”
Does the large supply of boats on the current market make it easy to choose?
“There are many boats, many types, and indeed it is not easy. I realize this when I visit boat shows. You have to inform yourself very well. It was difficult for me too, you cannot find everything you want in one boat. Maybe you favor convenience and that is still a subjective thing. For me it was important, as I mentioned before, to have everything on the same level. In general it is difficult to combine comfort, speed, type, whether displacement or planing, whether light or heavier. One needs to be aware of the use one wants to make of it, not just looking after aesthetics. Also, it is not easy to know everything the market offers, it takes experience.”
Does this big choice help?
“It certainly helps, but it can also risk confusion if you are not clear about it. And to know that, you have to go out to sea often, figure out what is the right boat for your needs. And the needs also depend on your age: when I was not married mine were certainly different from now that I am married and have children. Then again, it’s only fair because these changes also allow you to change the boat.”
So have you been sailing for a long time?
“Long enough to have had other boats before this one.”
After racing motorcycles, he was a team manager, raced cars, was an actor, testimonial for some advertising campaigns, and also a sports commentator on the radio in world motorcycling.
“Last year, I commented on all the G.P.’s of world motorcycle racing for Radio Capital. Every once in a while you have to do something different, not to mention that I like to be in my own world, doing something inherent to two wheels.”
Has this world changed much compared to the time when you were racing?
“I wouldn’t say much. A little bit certainly, everything changes: life, progress goes on, there are sponsors, teams are bigger, they have become very big families. It used to be that teams could be together more, you would go out to dinner all together. Every year something changes, it’s normal.”
Ivo Germano-journalist and sociologist-argues that you belong to the last decade in which the great champions did not exaggerate with championism. Do you agree with this thought?
“It’s a different era now. In my time we were ashamed to do certain things. I remember I had a nice car and it bothered me to park in front of the restaurant where I went to dinner. The performances that Valentino does did not belong to us. Maybe today I would do them too. Today television shows so many things, children grow up earlier-my son, who is ten years old, uses the computer better than I do.”
She used to run in different classes. Today that would not be possible. What do you think about this specialization?
“Today there is less work. Before, you would finish one race, get off the bike and immediately do another. Today you earn the same, it’s not essential to do multiple categories. Before it was almost an obligation, everyone did multiple categories, because you were paid for what you did. Since you didn’t make much money, everyone did two categories, both to make more money and to have more fun. Today it’s different.”
Is that good or bad?
“You earn the same, but you have less fun and also win less….”
You have won fifteen world titles and eighteen Italian titles as a rider, three rainbow titles as a team manager. What’s the difference it feels like?
“It’s very different. When I was the one racing, I was the one winning and I didn’t have to say thank you to anyone. As a team manager I had to say thank you to the bike, as well as when I was racing, but mostly to the rider. In this case you are happy of course because your team won, but the credit goes mostly to the rider.”
He said it was sad to decide to give up racing. How did he overcome this pain?
” It was very sad. I was leaving my world, my great love that I had dreamed of all my life. And how to leave a great love when you are still in love. It was hard, but I knew I had to do it. So many little things were going wrong. I thought that “Someone” who had helped me before was trying to make me realize that I had to quit and give way to the young people.”
To suffer less sometimes one decides to stop seeing what was a great love, she instead wanted to continue to stay in that world.
“With a great love you can decide to never see it again, maybe change cities. With motorcycles it was impossible, you see them every day, on the street, on television, in the newspapers. The flame always stays lit.”
So how did he do it?
“Time erases everything. To stop thinking about two wheels, I started racing in cars, so I had something else to occupy my mind. I missed the wins, the podium, the joy of going 300 mph, the risk, but at some point you have to get over it, you have to give way to others.”
Most suffered victory?
“Physically Daytona (1974 on Yamaha 700, ed.), I came in dehydrated, won, but wished I had stopped halfway through the race. I couldn’t take it anymore, but with great strength I managed to get to the end and won. Then the first world title, it was the first, I didn’t know, something could happen, losing at the last moment. So it was an incredible suffering a great stress until the end.”
Most stinging defeat?
“In Japan, at my first world title. I was leading, I had not yet won a World Championship, I was dreaming of victory, and I had an 8-second lead. All of a sudden the bike started to lose steam, a capacitor broke. I had to give way and lost the world championship after being within a whisker of the title until 6-7 laps to go.”
Could there have been 16 world titles?
“There could have been.”
Your 10-year-old son has a passion for soccer. If, like you, he had it for motorcycles, would you have pushed him or hindered him?
“With what I suffered with my parents standing in my way, I wouldn’t have pushed it much, but I wouldn’t have held it back. Also because today, fortunately, it is less dangerous than in my time. Today they fall, but the fatal accident doesn’t happen as frequently as it used to.”
You have argued a lot for safety on the racetracks. At sea do you think enough is being done about this?
“I unfortunately often come across a lot of people who don’t know how to moor, don’t know the rules, who don’t understand how they got their license. It happens with precedence, or as soon as the wind picks up a little bit.”
Did you also sail?
“No, I love things that you can do quickly, I like to play tennis because it’s fast, skiing. I don’t like golf, it’s a very slow sport. I participated in a regatta as a guest and I have to say that the start excited me, maybe because there is a little bit of risk, everyone wants to start first, the boats brush against each other, it seems impossible that they won’t touch. But I prefer the engine.”
In all the roles he played, he always reached very high levels, always gave his all, achieved success. How can you be good at everything, is that your way of life?
“I always try to do everything well, because I like to do that, regardless of whether I do something for myself or for others. I respect other people’s things as if they were my own, even at work I try to be precise, to do well. When I build a house for example, it’s as if it’s for me, as if I have to live in it. I put a lot of effort into it. Maybe it comes from the- the habit that the bike has to be taken care of, prepared: then I couldn’t leave anything to chance. If I think about the badly welded capacitor that made me lose my first world title in Japan, because maybe whoever welded that piece was thinking about something else while doing it or was tired….”
What does Giacomo Agostini do today?
“I follow racing, I am a testimonial for MV Agusta, and I am an entrepreneur in the construction industry.”
Between cars and motorcycles, memories of the past and current events, the time spent at the Agostini home goes by quickly, and eventually there is not enough left to take a motorcycle ride with the legendary Ago. Too bad.
by Gabriella Cottignoli
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