In the wake of Captain Riccardo Benoni’s passing, family, friends and members of the global sailing community have come together through a GoFundMe campaign to support his wife, Elettra, and their three children. In this deeply personal tribute, Elettra shares the story of the man behind the captain, a devoted husband, father, mentor and sailor whose impact continues to be felt across oceans and generations.

Riccardo was water.

Clear, transparent and crystal pure. Sometimes calm and still, other times impossible to contain, wild with emotions, instincts, ideas and dreams. Like the sea he chose as his home, he could be gentle one moment and overwhelming the next.

Water adapts, moves, carries life, and leaves traces everywhere it goes.

So did Riccardo.

Riccardo was born in Lazise, on Lake Garda, and grew up with a large window overlooking the water. No one in his family sailed, yet somehow the water called to him from the very beginning.

Before sailing, there was rowing. And even there, the person he would become revealed himself immediately. It did not take long before he became an instructor. That was simply who Riccardo was: whatever he did, people naturally followed him. He guided, encouraged, taught and made others believe they could do more than they imagined.

He often told me the story of the day he and his cousin found an abandoned sailboat on a beach near home, a Star Class Olympic boat. They had almost no money and almost no experience, but they decided to rebuild her anyway.

They called her Staren a Vedar, a dialect expression from Lake Garda meaning:

“Let’s see what happens.”

“Let’s see if we can repair her.”

“Let’s see if we can sail her.”

“Let’s see if we can afford our first regatta.”

Without realising it, they were also saying:

“Let’s see if sailing becomes our life.”

And it did.

Riccardo later found seasonal work aboard one of the historic sailing ships on Lake Garda. That was where he understood that boats, crews and life at sea were not simply a passion, they were where he belonged.

Against expectations, he left engineering studies behind and followed the life he felt drawn to.

His journey eventually led him to New Zealand, the place he would always call his second home. Crossing after crossing, storm after storm, he transformed himself from deckhand into the captain so many trusted without hesitation.

By the age of forty-three, he had completed five Atlantic crossings, two Pacific crossings, two Indian Ocean crossings and two full circumnavigations through the canals. Weather systems, routing, rigging, sail repair, electronics, ropework and mechanical engineering, he carried an extraordinary depth of knowledge.

But what made him truly exceptional was never only what he knew.

It was the way he shared it.

Riccardo believed in people before they believed in themselves. He trusted others with responsibilities usually reserved for highly experienced sailors because he saw potential everywhere.

He did not build crews. He built confidence, loyalty and family.

Since his passing, stories have reached us from every corner of the world. Voice messages, photographs, memories and moments I had never heard before.

Again and again, I found myself reading the same words:

“He believed in me.”

“He made me feel capable.”

“He changed my life.”

Only now am I beginning to understand how many lives he quietly touched.

For years, Riccardo believed that a life at sea could never coexist with lasting love.

Then we met.

From that moment on, his adventures became ours.

I stepped aboard Ammonite, and together we crossed oceans and built a life shaped by freedom, resilience and shared dreams.

Then came Luna.

Then Zeno.

Then Milo.

For us, the sea was never simply work.

It was home.

I can still see him laughing endlessly with our children on deck, inventing games between sunsets and waves, making the middle of the ocean somehow feel safer than land. No matter how exhausted he was or how much responsibility rested on his shoulders, he always gave our children the very best of himself.

Even when he was far away, he never truly felt distant.

A voice message.

A photo.

A quick call saying:

“I was thinking about you.”

That was enough to make us feel loved and protected.

On 12 March, our world shattered.

But after the shock came something extraordinary.

People from all over the world began reaching out. Friends, crew members, owners, and people whose lives had crossed paths with his. Through grief we discovered something beautiful:

Riccardo had left pieces of himself everywhere.

In kindness.

In courage.

In friendship.

In knowledge shared freely.

In every person he made feel seen.

This fundraiser was created to support me and our three children as we face a future we never imagined. But more than that, it exists to honour everything Riccardo represented: love, resilience, generosity, and the rare ability to make every person feel valued and welcome.

Everyone who met Riccardo carries something of him within them.

And I believe that is how a person continues sailing, even after the horizon takes them out of sight.

Support Elettra and the children, scan the QR or visit gofund.me/e591cce24