Mechatronic sailor

Clelia Sessa started sailing as a young child, her first regattas were on the Optimists, moving on to the 420, Laser, Melges, Moth and 69F. She has been in the Mechatronics department of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli since 2022, in charge of on-water FCS systems, where, simply put, she is responsible for controlling the foil arms of the AC75, managing a system that mixes hydraulics and electronics. Today she is in Barcelona with the rest of the team, ready for the XXXVII America's Cup: the dream of a lifetime for Clelia too.

I started sailing at the age of four and a half on Lake Maggiore, with my sister Valeria's old Optimist, my dad as a coach and those who would later become lifelong friends. I grew up among boats, my family owns a Marina in Belgirate and my father, at the time, was commander of the Moro di Venezia. I would skip school to go out sailing with Dad whenever there was a good north wind in the morning.

I have so many wonderful memories of trips and adventures, but also of the insecurities and fears that sailing has allowed me to overcome. My first memory is in Belgirate. I was six years old and I was on a training boat, and at one point there was a lot of wind and I was really scared, so we went back to land. My father told me: “The day will come when these conditions will actually be fun for you, do you want to try?”. I took my little boat, an ITA 6321, and put it in the water with all the naughtiness and grit of a six-year-old girl who had just been set a challenge. He was right, it was the first time I had so much fun in the waves and the spray, overcoming my first, great fear.

It was Enrico Voltolini (cyclor of the Luna Rossa, Editor's note) who, during some regattas in Monaco, pushed me to send in my CV. A few days later I was supposed to go to Cagliari for a 69F regatta. In the end I sent it and Max Sirena asked me to come by the base for a brief interview. I was still full of salt, tired and wearing dirty clothes, but I didn't hesitate for a second. I ran there, just as I was, and here I am.

The days are scheduled and planned out by our Operations Manager, Gilberto Nobili. He manages the schedule so that he can conduct all the necessary checks to make sure the boat is in perfect condition before we set sail.

On a training day, the first thing I do is check the boat – AC40 or AC75. Next, I perform a series of procedures to test the systems. After the hours at sea, I share the boat's data with the team and check that the systems are ready to sail the next day, making sure there are no anomalies, which, if necessary, need to be resolved. There are a great number of things to do and the level of attention must always be very high. I can guarantee that the days fly by.

The AC75s we are lucky to work with are gems of innovation and technology. The challenges are many: we build unique prototypes with the aim of improving them every day and making the boat as fast and efficient as possible in terms of performance and systems. The biggest challenge is always to look for improvement, even when you think you have already reached a good level, both in terms of boat development and in personal terms. The goal is to do your job better, every day.

Mechatronics is the fusion of several major subjects: hydraulics, mechanics, electronics and computer science. We are therefore dealing with hydraulic actuations, which in turn involve mechanical actuations. Years ago, the trimmer would adjust the mainsail or jib sheet, and the bowman would hoist the gennaker or spinnaker. Today, using a button, the sailor can request an adjustment, and a computer is responsible for generating the request on the hydraulic and mechanical actuation.

So, mechatronics is a new world, which has developed exponentially in recent years and continues to grow. For us who work there, it gives us so much drive. I am confident that over the years it will become more and more important in various areas, so more and more complex, efficient and secure systems will be needed.

We try to use the latest available technologies, but of course the choice must be weighed up with the need to develop and test the systems. For this reason, at some point research slows down and, barring revolutionary discoveries, the chosen option is perfected. In general, we often work outside the specifications of the use of the products. This requires complex, and sometimes time-consuming, customisation and debugging processes.

It is really hard to pick just one. It's my first America's Cup: it's the dream of a lifetime coming true. The Clelia who watched regattas on TV as a child wouldn't believe it. So you can understand that every day there is something special and unique that I can put away in my most treasured memories: the launch of the LEQ 12 prototype was breathtaking, the launch of the AC75 made me cry with emotion, the first time at sea my hands shook, when I arrived in Barcelona I couldn't sleep the first nights because I was so excited, on my first day of work Filippo, my fiancé, who is also a sailor, accompanied me - he was almost more excited than I was for what we were facing together. Perhaps, however, the most unique and intimate moment was when, on the second day of work in Cagliari, Marco Donati (head of the Electronics department, Editor's note) made me enter the AC75 he had used to race in Auckland. It was bare at that point, but I raised my head and saw the plate on the bulkhead of the boat: it said Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on it. I thought “Oh my, I'm actually really here”.