History
A boat as ancient as DESIREE has experienced many adventures and events of which our research has been looking for certain traces. From 1928 under the name Sirocco she was owned by Andrea Ossoinack (an important Rijeka politician and autonomist from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who was very active in demanding the annexation of Rijeka to Italy) and its port was Rijeka.
In 1930 the boat was bought by the Venice Sailing Company,(Compagnia della Vela ) renamed Dux and used for regattas and offshore cruises. At the time, the boat was still rigged with a gaff cutter and maintained the international 12 M rating.
In 1939, after the last Lussino-Zara regatta, Dux was moved to the Galeazze Pavilion in the Venice Arsenal to protect her from the war. But in 1943, put in the water by order of the German command to vacate the Pavilion, she sank miserably due to the open seams after so long on hard without maintenance. Salvaged, she remained in the lagoon in the mud until the end of the war, looted and plundered.
Rescued in 1947 by a member of the Compagnia della Vela, she was renamed Marisetta.
Undergoing extensive restoration work, she lost her appearance as a powerful racing boat. Hence the Bermudian ketch rig, the disappearance of the menacing bowsprit, the raising of the deckhouse to create living space and the installation of an engine.
Easier to manoeuvre but still fast, the boat confirmed her grit in regattas, adding the 1951 edition of the Rimini-Venice-Trieste Green Ribbon to her other important victories of the past: the King of Spain's Cup and International Regattas of the Balearic Islands (1929), the Tirrenia Trophy (1930), the 40-day record on the Venice-Tripoli-Trieste route (1933), and the Istrian-Dalmatian (1939).
After other changes of ownership and other names, the current name DESIREE dates back to 1970 when she again received a thorough refit. An appearance at the Porto Cervo regattas in 1991 demonstrated her potential to the world of vintage boats, which had been competing in those waters for a few years. Further changes of ownership brought her into the hands of a group of enthusiasts in 1996, who entrusted Cantieri Navali Delta of Fiumicino with a complete restoration, maintaining her Bermudian ketch appearance and rigging.
Since then DESIREE has participated in a number of regattas on the CIM circuit, continuing to demonstrate the potential of her splendid hull shape with a first place at the Argentario Sailing Week in 2003, a third place in the 2004 edition and a second at the Vele d'Epoca in Porto Rotondo in 2005.
Between 2022 and 2023 DESIREE returns to the shipyard at the Delta in Fiumicino for a new refit and thorough inspection of systems and equipment.
In March 2024, the expert report complete with sea trial and shore visit by an naval surveyor concludes as follows: "This wonderful vintage boat, despite its years and history, is in splendid condition in terms of use and maintenance (...) The current owners have coped by doing what is necessary to keep her in a splendid condition."
