"Vincenzo Imparato goes on to say: "The social community, which at that time consisted of no more than twenty or so people who had remained in Castellammare for professional reasons or office commitments, was given back a dilapidated ruin, filthy, stinking of fuel oil and, moreover, even more disfigured by the barbaric raids of September '43.
At the meeting organised in December 1945, 'to reach a decision on whether to re-found the Nautical Club or return to the State the area occupied by the chalet up to that date', were present
Rag. Ferdinando SCIOLI, lawyer Pietro ANGRISANO,
prof. Catello SORRENTINO, rag. Ettore OVAZZA,
Baron Flavio GIRACE, Amedeo SENIGALLIESI,
Paolo SCOGNAMIGLIO, Dr. Vincenzo IMPARATO,
Mario VANACORE, cav. Luigi DEL GAUDIO,
cav. Francesco INGENITO, magg. Raffaele D'AURIA,
Rag. Vincenzo SANTORO, cav. Francesco BUONOCORE,
Rag. Manfredi ABENANTE, Filiberto MIRRA,
Rag. Ottavio MANNARA, Rag. Giuseppe BUONOCORE,
Mario SPAGNUOLO, cav. Francesco D'APUZZO.
This is the chronicle of the meeting: 'In the squalor of that small room (the former presidency), seated on empty boxes and on their feet, the very brief conciliation took place on taking or leaving a seat as the only item on the agenda. There was no hesitation in the commitment to resurrect the Nautico and restore decorum and representativeness in the role of official relations, qualifications that had distinguished it since 1921. We quoted ourselves a contribution of thirty thousand unimpaired liras at the time, and it was to Mr Mario Vanacore's credit that he collected adhesions in favour of the reorganisation of the headquarters from as many other members as returned to the city".
In fact, those present at the first meeting, assembled in General Assembly, had no doubts. Giuseppe Fienga of 13th January 1946, elected the new Board of Directors, whose members were as follows:
President: lawyer Pietro Angrisano
Vice President: Rag. Ferdinando Scioli,
Councillors: cav. Luigi Del Gaudio,
prof. Catello Sorrentino
Cav. Francesco Ingenito,
Secretary: Mario Vanacore.
Further additions and changes were then made by the General Meetings of Members on 9th June 1946, 2nd and 26th March 1947 and 9th November 1947.
At the assembly of 2nd March 1947, Dr Catello Sorrentino was elected as president, who gave new impetus to rowing, entrusting its technical direction to coach Gigino Di Capua, who had already rowed with Renato Schettino, Enzo D'Avino and Gigino Aracri in the pre-war years.
The result of this work was the thrilling victory in the national regatta in Syracuse on 21st August 1949 in the 4 jole rookies, made up of Cacace, M. Marolda, G. Marolda, Siano, Tim. Perna.
Immediately afterwards the technical direction passed on to Russo of C.N. Posillipo who set up a 4+ composed of Salvatore Lusciano, Mario Ildenni, Fulvio Lopez, Antonio Cesarano, tim. Salvatore Perna.
In 1951, President Michele Rossano entrusted the coaching position to Giuseppe Tassan.
The presence of this coach gave new boost to our sport, fuelled by the not-to-be-forgotten seniors of the time: Renato Schettino, Leonardo Pagano, Elio Spina, Andrea La Puca, Enzo Troiano, Gildo Petaccia, Mario Siano, Enzo Cuomo, Peppe Gaeta, Valentino Vecchione, Aniello Pappalardo, Nicola Cacace, Renato Rocco, Enzo Cannavale, Pierino Cascone, the Marolda brothers, Silvano Cannavacciuolo, Salvatore Perna (tim. ) and, later, by young Pasquale Gaeta, Antonio De Rosa, Bruno De Stefano, Giorgio Criscuolo, Renato Pappalardo, Enzo Sammarco, Pino Menetti and many others whose names we no longer remember.
Tassan immediately set up two quatro jole. The first was made up of Nicola Cacace, Mario Siano, Renato Rocco, Pino Menetto with the helmsman Salvatore Perna, known as the president; the second by Enzo Cuomo, Calvanico, Valentino Vecchione and Tavarelli. And already in May 1951, at the opening regattas in Naples, the first boat came second behind Ilva.
After Tassan's departure in 1954 and the brief experience with coach Lovati, in 1956 president Guglielmo Vanacore first entrusted responsibility for training to Enzo Cuomo and then to Marra of the Circolo Nautico Posillipo.
Enzo Cuomo carried out the first revolution for Stabia by setting up a women's crew consisting of Iolanda Pappalardo, Rita Sorrentino, Wanda Aracri and, at the beginning, Enzo Cuomo himself, who were joined, over time, by Carmen Ingenito, Marra Vanna Cardone and Maria Vanacore, who took part in the 1958 Sorrendo Sea Championships, finishing second.
In those same years, the first 4 outrigger was purchased, christened 'Aida' in honour of Mrs Aida Scarselli, President Vanacore's wife.
Those were the years when Castellammare was still living its season as an established tourist resort.
Two bathing establishments, La Limpida and Il Moderno, built in wood in the late Art Nouveau style, overlooked its seafront in summer. In the morning there was a sea bath and in the evening a grand ball with the election of various misses.
The Royal Palace of Quisisana, the ancient residence of the Angevin and Bourbon kings, transformed since the end of the 19th century into an elegant hotel, Royal Palace Hotel Quisisana, in the evenings welcome the young Stabia lions into its park to hunt for foreign teenagers.
In this atmosphere, Circolo Nautico Stabia also played its part.
Having always been part of the city's cultural and social circuit, admission to the Nautical Club was for many the official recognition of belonging to the Stabia middle class.
For this reason, the parties organised there received the honours of the 'Roma' and 'Mattino'.
Even the christening of a new boat was considered a civic event with a bishop and civil and military authorities.
Among the many personalities who succeeded one another in its halls, who does not remember the Marquis D'Auria Filangieri and his impeccable, almost didactic, kissing: a true master. The artist and good-tempered painter D'Angelo claimed that the marquis, to keep himself in practice, hid a wooden hand in his house that he regularly kissed for at least three hours a day.
Ugo Iorio, a chess master, said that when he lost to Dr. Maresca, known as the lion, he had to suffer, from the bystanders, a sort of Greek chorus borrowed from Gerusalemme Liberata (it seems to us): Ed ei del colpo non accorto, andava combattendo ed è morto. To general hilarity, even of the defeated man himself.
Mario Spagnuolo and his fishing campaigns with Count Cesare Coppola. According to the malignant, they never fished anything, but the fish they exhibited had been bought from some fisherman. Sometimes Spagnuolo would fall asleep in front of the television set and regularly be tied to the chair by Marquis Bruno Cardone and Baron Aldo Celoro, with general uproar as soon as he woke up.
Who does not remember the dance parties, always wearing a jacket and tie, even in the middle of August, and there we young people always protested in vain. When dancing, the dance floor was surrounded, almost besieged, by all the ladies who, with lorns and spectacles, supervised the correctness of the dancing.
But with rowing it began to get serious in 1958 with the appointment of Arturo Cascone, a Stabia rower, as coach and the presidency of Giovanni Greco.
This president, a true sportsman and gentleman figure who has linked his name to one of the best periods in the history of the club, was able, despite the financial straits of the time, to dedicate himself both to sport and to the decorum of the clubhouse.
In fact, with only two crews he managed during 1958 and even more so in 1959 to win prestigious trophies.
In 1958 the Stabiesi rowers won the Coppa Città di Marsala (City of Marsala Cup) and in 1959, with just eight athletes, on 25 April the Pinto Cup and the Pattison Cup, and on 24 May the Michele Conforti Cup and the Targa Bruno Sorich, with Michele D'Agostino, Vincenzo (Gegè) Amura, Nicola Cuomo, Del Gaudio, Nunzio Martone, Francesco Cesarano, Francesco Balzano, Salvatore Guarino, Nicola Del Gaudio, Tim. Ravallese.
And finally, at the Italian Championships in La Spezia on 8-9 August 1959, the 4-pointer with cadets won the club its first Italian title, with Francesco Cesarano, Gegè Amura, Nicola Cuomo, Salvatore Guarino, tim. Matteo Ravallese.
In April 1958 there was an event that was to have a decisive impact on the sporting history of Stabia, the start of rowing activity by an unknown 18-year-old from Pompeii, a student at the Liceo Classico "Plinio Seniore" in Castellammare: Giuseppe La Mura.
But in November 1959 Arturo Cascone, for work reasons, was forced to leave the technical direction of Stabia to go to Posillipo and the task was entrusted to Matteo Ravallese, a young helmsman taken by Cascone from the Navy.
After some successes, such as a third place at the national regattas in Padua, a sixth place at an international race at the Idroscalo in Milan and a few results in the 2 jole of La Mura and Vicinanza, the lack of financial means led to a decline in participation in regattas. So much so that some athletes, including La Mura, will be forced to join Circolo Nautico Posillipo to continue rowing at a higher level.
But, despite the limited means, the torch jept burning, and was even picked up by seniors Ciccio Cesarano, Francesco Balsamo, Salvatore Guarino, Nunzio Martone, Antonio Buccarelli (tim.), Nello Lambiase (tim.) and youngsters Nicola Lombardi and Gaetano Nastro who, together with Vincenzo Paragallo, Peppe Corcione, Vittorio Donnarumma, Domenico Parmigiano (tim.), Michele Murolo, and Michele Murolo, were able to give a great contribution to the success of the team. ) and by the young Nicola Lombardi and Gaetano Nastro who, together with Vincenzo Paragallo, Peppe Corcione, Vittorio Donnarumma, Domenico Parmigiano (tim.), Michele Murolo, Paolo Angrisano, Franco Milano, Luigi Martoriello, Catello Spagnuolo, and Nando Montagnano, would take rowing forward in the Club.
In 1963 there were some honourable placings in inter-zonal regattas in Naples, with second place in the Coppa Pepe of the 4+ (Gaetano Nastro, Peppe Corcione, Paragallo, Salvatore Silvestri, tim. Matteo Ravallese) and the following year the second place of the 4+ (Milano, Di Maio, Montagnaro, Murolo, Tim. Matteo Ravallese). In 1964 the 4+ (Gaetano Nastro, Peppe Corcione, Vincenzo Paragallo, Salvatore Silvestri, tim. Matteo Ravallese) in the Coppa Maione and in the 2+ with Nastro, Paragallo, tim. Ravallese.
Then the dark years arrived. In 1964 Ravallese left Castellammare and until 1966 there were only a few sporadic participations in the Naples Zonal.
