FALLING IN WONDER
BEAUTY IS A LINE MARIELLA
“Go up there and look.”
I climb over the lines stretched across the bow. Mariella narrows gently but decisively, creating such an acute angle that only my feet fit in it. I hold onto the steel cable stretched from that point to the top of the mast. I balance, turn my back to the sea and focus.
“Look at the contour”. Carlo, the owner, steps aside to allow me to see clearly. He brings his hands together and forms an arch, as if caressing the two sides of the boat: from my privileged viewpoint I can see they create a shape that is, quite simply, beautiful.
To explore Mariella of 1938 with Carlo means first of all to learn his gaze: attentive, thorough yet delicate, matured by sharing so much of his life with the boat. It is perhaps this thoughtfulness that explains why his relationship with Mariella has lasted 30 years.
“Now go to the mast”. I retrace my steps, climb over the lines and stand a metre from the mast. The wood is a warm, bright gold. I look at it from bottom up and I am struck by unexpected vertigo. “Do you see how it narrows and bends slightly at the top?” Mariella’s powerful beauty immediately translates into technical might: “When you put her in the equilibrium position, at the slightest touch she just goes, despite her 70 tonnes.”
It is often said that beauty lies in nuance, details and imperfections. Aboard we can experience another type
