AENIB's awards are a tribute to maritime tradition
The "XV Gala del Mar" of the Association of Nautical Companies in the Balearic Islands (AENIB) was celebrated less than a week ago, and as every year, one of the highlights of the evening was the 15th Nautical Sector Awards Ceremony. On stage, in front of nearly 200 attendees, the association paid homage to people and entities for their outstanding contribution to the sector throughout the year.
The award winners, in addition to receiving the recognition and applause of the sector, have taken home an exclusive work of art with a lot of history behind it. The awards, in the form of a llaüt, are handmade in Santanyí stone by the renowned artist Gori Uceda. He is the author, among other works, of the coat of arms in the Cathedral dedicated to Bishop Taltavull, the monolith dedicated to the victims of Covid and the sculpture to Ramon Llull in Palma Cemetery.
"It takes me a day and a half to make each sculpture and I only use stone from Santanyí, which is very malleable and very noble. I make these works exclusively for AENIB: there is no other way to get one than to win a Nautical Sector Award," he says.
Besides, the trophies represent a very special 'llaüt'. The work is based on the 'Últim', a boat which, as its name indicates, was the last boat made by two 'mestres d'aixa' from Porto Cristo, Joan Vaquer and his son Jaume, from 'Can Vermell'. It was in the 70's when Joan, who was already 72 years old, accepted the commission to build a 'llaüt' with the premise that it would be the last one to bear his signature. Together with his son, he worked for years on this boat, a typically Mallorcan 'llaüt', measuring 25 palms (5 metres) and with a piston engine. Sadly, however, both died within months of each other, leaving the work unfinished. After the deaths, the grandson of Joan and son of Jaume, Joan junior, took on the challenge of finishing the construction and handing over the boat, which over the decades has had five owners, always in Porto Cristo. The last of these is none other than Jaume Vaquer, grandson and son, respectively, of the same 'mestres d'aixa' who built it and who died when he was 10 years old. "A few years ago I saw that it was for sale and I decided to keep it and restore it in memory of and in homage to my father and grandfather and the family saga of 'mestres d'aixa' of 'Can Vermell'," explains Vaquer, owner of Jaume Vermell Náutica and president of AENIB. Vaquer keeps the boat in perfect condition and exhibits it once a year when he takes part on board the 'Últim' in the traditional maritime procession of the Verge del Carme, which takes place every 16th of July in Porto Cristo.
A few years ago, when AENIB was developing the Nautical Sector Awards as a way to recognise a special contribution of individuals and entities to the Balearic nautical sector, the Board of Directors, at that time under the helm of Margarita Dahlberg, decided to shape them in an object that would pay tribute to the nautical tradition of the Islands, which of course has in the 'mestres d'aixa' a fundamental reference. "At a certain point, it was decided that a sculpture representing a 'llaüt' would be the best way to capture this tradition," says Vaquer, who at that time was not yet president of the entity. "We needed an image to give to Gori Uceda as a reference for designing the awards, so we gave him some photos of the 'Últim'," he recalls.
In this way, through a llaüt with a great history behind it, the entity and its artist Gori Uceda pay homage year after year to the traditional and sacrificed work of the 'mestres d'aixa'. "To create a replica as similar as possible to this boat from the model of these two 'mestres d'aixa' of Porto Cristo, is like continuing with their project and their line of work" assures Uceda.
That is how these 'Oscars of the sea' were conceived, which in their 15th edition have gone to the Directorate General of the Merchant Navy as an 'Entity that has demonstrated excellent collaboration with the nautical sector during the year 2022'; Diego Colón de Carvajal, CEO of Astilleros de Mallorca, in the category of 'Outstanding professional career', and Georges Vögele, of Vögele-Bootsbau, award for 'Loyalty and permanence in AENIB'.