Interview with Enrico Michel

Last Friday DB Marine built their last Snipe. The last of a long series full of successes. In this interview Enrico Michel, who, with Daniela, created the DB Marine, tells us about his story as a sailor and Snipe builder.

Let’s start from the beginning. When did you start producing snipes and why?

I have been a snipe sailor since I was very young ,  my father was a snipe sailor before me. 

When I passed through a difficult moment of my career as employee in a big company and  I was forced to find a working alternative, it came to my mind to turn my passion for snipe into a job.

In the same period Jan Persson, whom I had  known for years, was willing to retire and sell his activity. I took the opportunity and in 2008 we bought the Persson snipe brand and the moulds directly from him.

Your link with the Snipe class dates back to a long time before, with your dad Sergio. Can you talk about the first contacts with the snipe class?

I think I was ever been in the Snipe class. 

I remember me sitting in my mother’s arms on the back seats of an old car accompanying my father to all major National regattas. I was only 3 when my father and Sergio Morin put me and Marina (the five old daughter of Morin) on their snipe and sailed with us on the bay in front of Imperia the day before the start of the National Championship.

In my first regatta on a Snipe I crewed for my father. I was around 12 and we were in Caldonazzo.  The funny thing is that I was all bandaged because I had a bad crash on my bike just  the day before the race. My legs and arms hurt and of course the bike was seriously damaged but nevertheless we won the Tridente d’Oro.

Let’s talk about the beginning of the boatyard : at the beginning you used the Persson molds, then you started producing a new boat. How was this project born?

In 2008 , to comply with the updated class measurement rules, we had to modify the original Persson’s moulds. The result was an “all round” boat, even faster in all speed and wind conditions, which, on its first attempt,  won the World Championship 2009 in San Diego, California. 

Between 2011 and 2012, keeping to our policy of continuous research, we  developed a new project in cooperation with the Politecnico University of Milan (for the Reverse Engineering of the old model of Persson snipe), the University of Naples (tank tests) and the University of Genoa/La Spezia which gave birth to the revolutionary DB-R1.

The new snipe improved the performances in every wind condition and above all in downwind due to the keen study on the optimization of the volumes which allowed the  development of the maximum length of the boat keeping into the class rules. 

The ergonomic hiking position was specifically studied during the project and the perfect symmetry of the hull (which is not granted by the original Persson snipe) was assured by the CNR technology use.

All along our activity we always struggled for improving our products in quality and performance. In this sense we are thrilled of the innovative shape of our rudder which at the moment is the most copied all over the world.

In addition to the construction of boats, DB Marine has often been at the most important events by providing assistance and chartering boats.

We created our own charter fleet,  which we continuously renovated, renting the boats for single events or for medium to long periods. We also introduced the innovative formula “Rent to buy” which was very appreciated by the market.

In 18 years of activity we transported more than 200 charter boats to all major National and International events in Europe and to many Overseas events such as San Diego, Rio de Janeiro and Peru. I can tell that we drove about 1.300.000 km, pulling boats with triple and double trailers all over Italy and Europe.

The farthest event was in Portugal, but the event where we drove for more kilometers was the Worlds in Talamone when we drove for about 11.000 km in one month to bring back and forward from Trieste the 32 boats we were chartering both to Junior and Overall.
Spain was the country we went more often (in the last years at least 3 times per year), while undoubtedly Master and Overall Worlds in Rio de Janeiro where the most expensive and anti-economic events in terms of economical return.

I will always remember the European in Split because for the first time ever we finished all the repairing stuff (gelcoat etc) we had brought, 2 days before the actual start of the event. This because knowing that we were there giving assistance, many sailors had come with their boat to be repaired by us in order to be able to compete and sail.

At any event we did offered our assistance to each boat no matter the boat builder or if the the owner was or not one of our historical clients. Our team with our Blue van which was our mobile yard, was there for everybody.

The most difficult moment?

When I realized that in order to keep on giving a good quality service to the market, I had to give up sailing myself. As a sailor it was hard to renounce to the competitions and to the fun sailing had always given to me.

But the real hardest moment has been on the 29th of November 2024 when I closed the door of the boatyard knowing it was my last day of work.

Regrets? Things you don’t redo?

I would not have tried to diversify our production trying to build other dinghies (contender, dinghy 12 and optimist). We lost a lot of time and energy and we risked to loose the focus on our core business which has always been the snipe since the beginning. 

What should be improved, from the point of view of a boat builder, in the Snipe class?

I would suggest to restore the Data base of the class with the details of the boats produced per year, boat builder and country as we had in the past. I consider it a very useful mean for everyone and especially for builders who, by consulting the updated data, can obtain useful information and prepare statistics to know their own share in the market. 

In my opinion the board should  involve the boat builders prior to the presentation and formalization of any change in the measurement rules, because often even a small change can have a serious impact on the building of a boat both from the practical and the economical point of view. 

In addition to this, I also think that once a decision of change is taken and formalized, it should involve all boats and accessories which should adapt to the new rule. A period of transition is obviously necessary, but it should come to an end at a certain point, avoiding accepting at the same time boats or accessories which do not comply with the new rule. The coexistence of old and new rules at the same time is bad for the class.

The most beautiful moment?

There have been several best moments. 

From a professional point of view we celebrated with enthusiasm every time one of our boat won one of the most important international events and personally I was proud any time I won as helmsman or crew with a boat built and rigged. This was priceless.

Simply as a sailor I remember with pride any of the 10 National championships won as helmsman: each of them was meaningful to me. 

As a crew the best moments are the second place at the 2010 European Championship in Norway and the 7th place at the 2009 World Championship in San Diego both with Manu Hens.

But the most moving moment was in 2022 when Manu and I together won in my hometown the Sergio Michel Trophy (South European Championship), a trophy named after my father and which was meant to be my last International regatta. 

Speaking as DB Marine, we had lot of satisfactions. The numberless words of respect and praise we received during these years and above all since we posted our farewell, are the best evidence. 

In this sense the article Carol Cronin wrote after Talamone moved us to tears because she recognized all our efforts for being always there with an “Yes we can” attitude at the complete disposal of any sailors.

I’m really proud that the boat we launched in 2012, the DB-R1, which I dreamed and imagined together with the Universities involved in the project, had won most of the Worlds, National and International events from then onward.

And last but not least, the words of gratitude received by Antonia and Andrea (our working team) who recognized us to have lead them to a personal and sailing growth path in DB Marine.

What would you like to tell your customers, friends and class in general?

Even if it was hard and exhausting being on place at any international event, it has been a wonderful adventure. I will keep in my heart all those beautiful moments including the effort and I will miss them.

It has been a wonderful journey and I would do everything again without regrets.

Thanks to all who chose us and believed in us since the very beginning and thanks to each snipe sailor: this is a great class which deserve to keep on leaving forever. 

And last but not least thanks to my wife Daniela who shared with me joys and pains of this job.

What will you do now? Will we still see you again in some regatta as a sailor or spectator?

I still don’t know, maybe it is too soon to tell.

I know I’m not the kind of person who can sit on his hands. I received several requests to train and prepare some clinics and this is a challenge I would like to take and develop. It is very tempting. 

I also completed the measurement course and I’m now a national measurer. 

As a sailor I maybe sail at some of the minor events just for fun. In any case before closing the production I built my own and last snipe. I called it “Hazel Endgame”

Thank YOU Enrico and Daniela (and Antonia and Andrea)