"Aleissima" is a sailboat built in an old cowshed in the countryside of Sinnai . Its builders, husband and wife, Alessandro Cabras and Alessandra Atzei, worked on it for seven years , using the necessary material from various European countries and beyond. Late yesterday evening, the boat almost ten meters long and three meters 40 centimeters wide, with 64 square meters of sails, passed in launch in the waters of the Sant'Elmo pier, in Cagliari . And it was a big party, the same day the couple also celebrated their 27th year of marriage. He is a structural engineer and nautical designer, she is a pediatrician at the Policlinico di Monserrato.
The idea of the two sea lovers was to build a sporty boat, a little spartan but with everything necessary to make it livable. A project that Alessandro Cabras and Alessandra Atzei have carried out in an ancient vaccheria in Sinnai, in Miza de fonni.
It all started with the purchase of the beams for the construction of the dock, on which the hull was then built . There were moments of discouragement: the materials for the construction had to arrive from all over Europe in the middle of the countryside of Sinnai and the transport times sometimes removed the hopes of seeing the boat finished.
“After about a year of planning - says Alessandro Cabras - the construction was articulated as if on a mold on which the overturned hull took shape. After this, the lamination work of the hull externally began and after the overturning, the lamination continued internally to complete what in technical language is called sandwich. Bow and stern, ends of the boat, were laminated with the vacuum technique, and the whole hull was 'cooked' at high temperatures ".
This was followed by the construction of the interior of the boat, welding the structures and reinforcements; finally the gluing with the deck, the deck, until obtaining a hull in a single piece. “All these processes - Alessandro and Alessandra recall - required thousands of hours of work. The melting of the bulb alone involved the use of 850 kilos of lead . Many events have hindered our work, including the pandemic ”.
During the construction, the bond with this boat became very strong. So much so that - says the pediatrician - Alessandro hears his voice. The voice? "Yes, every boat has a voice and this is heard while navigating inside with the flowing of the fluid threads of the sea water on its sides and this has a particular sound that changes for each boat, something ancestral that relaxes and makes feel good ".
Last June 3, "Aleissima" left the Sinnai cow-house to reach the Sant'Elmo dock in Cagliari with a truck. Alessandro says: “At the end of construction, my thoughts and that of Alessandra are one of satisfaction, pride, happiness, expectation, but also a bit of anxiety about the logistical and economic tasks, especially in this final phase of the work, the circle comes full circle. The launch was the culmination of many sacrifices . When there is passion and transport, one is able to do and face unthinkable things ".
Since yesterday the Aleissima boat has been moving in the spectacular scenery of the Gulf of Angels.