From Then to Now: Clovis and Ricky’s 40-Year Love Odyssey

Ricky is a friend, a dreamer, but above all, a passionate sailor. Just a few days ago, he managed to stir our emotions once again when he shared the lines you’ll find below. Clovis, his Clovis, the ketch on which he lives and sails year-round, has turned 40. A birthday that Ricky chose to celebrate by writing a love letter that left us speechless, one that explains the relationship between an owner and his boat better than a thousand technical articles. Happy reading to all, and, if you’ll allow us… happy birthday, Clovis!

Exactly forty years ago, in December, Clovis was launched in the port of Antibes. This boat has been able to offer boundless emotions to all those who, over these four decades, have had the honor of experiencing the sea with her. Stemming from the idea for which it was conceived and built: born to provide freedom, deep and unconditional, to adventurous souls who brought it to life with the concept of creating a vessel without limits, ready for anything, where the only limit was that of man himself.

Thus, at the beginning of 1981, the construction of Clovis began. Over 20 individuals participated in this grand project, dedicated and united for more than two and a half years, totaling over 35,000 hours. They worked with love and passion, with the sole objective of giving her life. The best technologies, materials, and expertise were employed, drawing on cutting-edge companies and solutions that produced concepts rooted in aeronautics and space.

After significant sacrifices, at the end of 1983, the dream became a reality, and thus Clovis was born, ready for launch and for one of the greatest tales of sea and love.

The First Circumnavigation

The adventure begins: Clovis is launched and inaugurated, embarking on its first transatlantic crossing. It reaches the Caribbean and from there, it doesn’t stop, tracing the coasts of Central and then South America, passing through Cape Horn, the mythical Land of Fire, the strait that defines true sailors.

After the Pacific, Galapagos, Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, it reaches New Zealand before ascending Australia and Indonesia, finally pointing its bow into the magical Indian Ocean—Andaman, Laccadive, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar. It doesn’t halt, descending to the Cape of Good Hope and rounding it, ascending all the coasts of Africa, and returning to the Mediterranean. Extraordinary and legendary individuals, such as one of the greatest navigators of all oceans, Eric Tabarly, take part in this adventure. He will command it for many months in the second global circumnavigation that Clovis is about to undertake, immediately following the conclusion of the first.

80,000 Miles of Emotions…

The free spirit of this extraordinary boat leads it to cover 80,000 miles in four years, placing it among the great vessels in the history of oceanic navigation. Many special individuals become part of Clovis’s story: artists, writers, designers, philosophers, statesmen—all cherished and protected by a vessel capable of facing any sea and latitude. From ascending the Amazon River to the Panama Canal, from the Northwest Passage through ice and icebergs to the Thames and arrival in London, Clovis doesn’t stop until destiny places it in our hands.

After navigating all the oceans of the globe, after 8 transatlantic crossings, storms, and epic tempests, it becomes the life companion of My Father Sergio and, for me, a second mother—someone who allowed me to discover the greatest emotions that life has gifted me, but above all, love.

…and of Love

Love for life, for discovery, for nature. Clovis is the instrument that connects dreams with reality, but above all, it is sacrifice, dedication, renunciation, and passion. It immediately becomes my greatest love, the only thing I deeply desired since I was a child. When asked at school what I wanted to become when I grew up, there was only one answer: I want to be a sailor. For me, there existed only Clovis and the sea, and that’s exactly how the desire became reality.

I wanted to experience the purity of that immense emotion and sail into the blue of life’s boundless sea, discovering myself and what lay within me every day. Thanks to this marvelous creation, I could get to know myself and fall more in love each day with the wonders of creation, nature, and everything that our magical world has to offer.

We grew up together; she was a teacher and a friend, a mother who teaches and gives everything, a daughter in need of care, love, and attention—becoming one and a part of me. After 26 years of adventures, she is a life and love companion. She taught me sacrifice, dedication, perseverance, and tenacity. She was able to repay with infinite emotions the enormous efforts required to keep her increasingly alive. It is a place beyond space and time that today can offer pure emotions to all those people who have the heart and sensitivity to understand them.

Where to Feel at Home

Since 2013, it has become the effective floating home for both me and the sweet Mari, the best Sailor that Clovis could wish for. Yet, it’s not just home for us—it is also home for the many wonderful people who have chosen it as the most special place to spend a magical summer exploring the wonders of our sea. In fact, over these ten years, we have sailed the entire Mediterranean, covering more than 70,000 miles through the stunning waters and marvelous coasts rich in history and culture alongside you.

We have traveled from the southernmost pristine and lush coasts of North Africa to my favorite diverse twins, the rugged Pantelleria and the unparalleled Lampedusa, passing through historic Malta and its Gozo to the enchanted Sicilian archipelagos of the Egadi Islands and the beloved Aeolian Islands.

We touched the lands of Ulysses and the Ionian Greece, sailing up the Adriatic to reach the unknown and preserved Tremiti Islands, then heading to Sardinia—glamorous and sparkling in the North, virgin and untouched in the South, with its dunes and crystal-clear waters. We sailed along the enchanting Amalfi Coast and among the Flegrean Islands, reaching up to Ponza and Ventotene, summer residences of the Roman emperors. Our journey continued to the gentle waters of the Balearic Islands—welcoming and luminous, between Ibiza and Formentera, passing through the fjords of Minorca, all the way to the grand and flourishing Majorca.

Always Ready for a New Journey

Clovis has protected us in our travels, gifted us unique moments, sunsets, laughter, adventures, and perspectives in extraordinary places cradled by the waves. It has helped us to know ourselves, growing in harmony with the sea and the nature of its elements. Meanwhile, the faithful crew and I have worked tirelessly to prepare and renew all the equipment: the new and impressive engine, generators producing power to feed equipment like desalinators ensuring a constant supply of precious drinking water, refrigeration units preserving the catch and supplies for guests and the crew, emergency and safety systems ensuring reliability.

All of this makes our Clovis cutting-edge and now more than ever ready to return to the ocean with sails unfurled, supported by strong masts, ready to catch the breeze, making it soar and begin a new journey around the world.

Do you want to learn more about Ricky, Clovis, and their upcoming itineraries? Click here to discover everything!