Sapienza Foiling Team.

03 / Our story

The first thing I built was the website.

I proposed the website because we needed an identity. Other teams had one; we had an idea, but no boat, no images and little to show yet. The first site was a way to start giving that idea a shape, even before there was much to put on its pages.

I did not know how to build a website, so I learned by trying, making mistakes and trying again. The early versions were rough and painfully slow, with heavy images that took too long to load. React and Next.js became tools I learned through a real need. As the team progressed, the pages finally filled with people, work and a boat we had built. Seeing that change is incredibly satisfying.

My starting point was the HTML, CSS and JavaScript I had learned at university. I had also tried Ruby on Rails, but it did not feel like the right fit for me. Discovering React and Next.js gave me an approach I enjoyed studying in depth. After two years of building and maintaining the site, I can understand how its components, APIs, backend, frontend and rendering fit together, and how those choices affect performance. There is still plenty to learn.

04 / Our story

Learning when to keep it simple.

The slow first versions made performance a concrete problem. I gradually learned to pay attention to image weight and loading, and to question what each visual effect added to the site. Improving it meant returning to mistakes I could now recognise and understand.

The first design was rough. It has improved, but I still see plenty of room to make it better. Working with other people, listening to feedback and revisiting the choices is part of the learning. The blog gives that work a purpose: helping the team tell what it is building.

05 / Our story

From a website to tools for the team.

As the site grew, I built a backend and a private administration area for the communication team. They can now update the site’s content themselves, without every change having to go through me. Something I had initially built to learn became a tool other people could use independently.

My role grew with those needs: from the website to telemetry and electronics, then communication, organisation and coordinating a small software and electronics team. Each new responsibility came from something the group needed to move forward.

06 / Our story

A shared workspace for the next season.

For the 2026–2027 season, I also built the team’s CRM with Next.js, React and Supabase. It is a new project, intended to become our main workspace for commitments, deadlines, internal files and presentations. The public website tells our story; the CRM will help us organise the work behind it.

07 / Our story

Making the boat’s movement visible.

I moved into electronics because the team needed it and I wanted to experiment. I had always wanted to tinker with hardware, even though I had little experience. Taking that first step introduced me to a physical side of building that I had barely explored, and made me want to try more projects.

Working alongside Francesco Miletto made a huge difference. He also belongs to Sapienza Gladiators, the university’s motorcycle team, and brought experience I did not have. We chose the components and designed the PCB together, then worked through assembly and soldering. Having someone experienced beside me helped me learn far more than I could have done alone.

The aim was to record the boat’s position, speed, acceleration and movement with a compact system. We chose an ESP32-S3, a GPS module, a Pololu MinIMU-9 v5 with accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer, and a microSD reader for storing the data, powered by a battery intended for small FPV drones. The system is designed to sit inside a waterproof enclosure, so the electronics can stay dry aboard the boat.

That started on a table, with computers, cables and sensors. Before designing a finished board, I had to make the individual parts communicate and understand what they were telling me. The photograph captures that stage: the project spread across a workbench, while software and electronics began to meet.

08 / Our story

From loose wires to a boat on screen.

On the workbench, the electronics sit next to a browser displaying the boat’s orientation. The ESP32-S3 reads an inertial sensor and GPS. The firmware combines sensor readings to estimate roll, pitch and yaw; a bridge then sends that information to the web visualiser.

For me, the important step was connecting both ends: a physical board and a model I could inspect on screen. It gave the code a visible consequence. The bench prototype made that connection tangible: moving from readings in a program to an object whose orientation I could see.

09 / Our story

Giving the electronics a structure.

We chose the components together, while Francesco handled the PCB design software. We had the boards manufactured by JLCPCB and shipped from China. Once they arrived, the design had to become something physical: soldering, assembling and checking whether the connections worked as intended.

A wired prototype is useful for trying things out, but it also makes every connection part of the experiment. The circuit boards represent the next step: moving towards a more organised assembly, with a place for the modules and their connections.

It is a different kind of design from building a web page. The result has dimensions, connectors and components that have to work together in the real world. That is one of the things I enjoy most about this project: software keeps bringing me back to the physical object.

10 / Our story

The parts, finally together.

Here the modules are assembled on the board. The microcontroller, inertial sensing and GPS are now parts of one object, instead of separate elements on the table. Seeing that progression matters to me as much as seeing the visualiser respond.

Making the readings meaningful and the system dependable also means checking sensor behaviour, calibrating, understanding missing or noisy data, and testing each step. A moving model is a useful milestone; building confidence in what it shows takes more work.

The hardest part was intermittent behaviour: connections that seemed fine, a system that worked one moment and failed the next in apparently identical conditions. It took repeated attempts and checks to understand what was happening and find a setup that worked consistently. With hardware, writing the code was only part of the work.

As of October 2026, the telemetry system has not yet been tested on the water. The boat was launched too late for us to fit those trials in. Testing is continuing this autumn; validating the electronics aboard the boat remains a step ahead of us.

11 / Our story

Explaining what we were building.

Holding the board and explaining it brings the project back to the people around it. I can talk about sensors and firmware, but the reason they are there is the boat, the team and the experience we shared.

That connection is what I want to remember here: the first experiments on a table, the electronics coming together, and the boat we took to Garda. The technical work and the human story belong to the same project.

12 / Our story

An idea taking shape.

October 2024. We set out to build a single-handed foiling Moth from scratch. With Sapienza Foiling Team, an idea became something we had to find a way to make real: a hull, a sail, the ability to rise out of the water. Each stage brought something new to learn and solve together. We had a fantastic group of people.

Looking at this photo, I see more than a finished boat. I see everything it took to get it there. And the people who made it possible.

14 / Our story

Broken. Back on the water in 24 hours.

Then a part broke. After everything it had taken to get there, we were suddenly faced with another problem to solve. We rebuilt the part from scratch, using iron bars from local hardware shops and welding them together. Those legendary hardware shops became part of our project, too.

Twenty-four hours later, we put the boat back on the water. That return means as much to me as the first flight. Because I know what stood between the two: a broken part, a repair to work out, and a team that found a way together.

15 / Our story

Competing. Helping each other.

Around us were students from Cagliari, Munich, Southampton, Milan, Trieste and across Europe. Different teams, different boats, the same desire to build something and see it sail. We competed on sustainable sailing and foiling, and we helped one another. That combination made the experience extraordinary.

I came away with the memory of the boat, but also of how generous and welcoming everyone was. The competition brought us there. The people are a reason I will remember it.