Mediterranean and local Mustang buffs, global sailing captains power up coastal cruise-in east of Cooper

By JIM PARKER
The Post and Courier

In port while leading a worldwide sailing race, Aussie boat captain Scott Cavanaugh drove to a Charleston harborside shindig in a rented muscle car.

“They just happened to have a Mustang,” he said with a grin. “I think it’s fantastic.”

Cavanaugh fit right in.
The sailing pro took part in the Lowcountry Mustang Club’s Mothers Day tribute to the Mustang Club of Italy and to participants in the Global Ocean Race.

Duane Helzer of the Charleston area club helped organize the May 13 event. The club became involved through efforts of captain and racer Marco Nannini in his ‘Mustang’ sailboat and of Mustang Club of Italy chief Salvo Marabella, who hitched a ride on Nannini’s boat.

Known simply as “Salvo,” the Italian club president came up with the global promotion. Sending out emails, he urged Ford Mustang owners at the sailing race’s stops to bring out their rides.

With Charleston the only race stop in the United States, Salvo and Nannini figured that the Lowcountry port of call would be the best Mustang showing.

They weren’t disappointed. The local group, joined by clubs in Columbia and Myrtle Beach, parked close-to-50 Mustangs from mid ’60s classics to a beefed up 2012 model at Charleston Harbor Marina in Mount Pleasant on an overcast Sunday afternoon that saw intermittent showers.

Gayle and Mike Sassano of Moncks Corner arrived in her 1970 Mustang with “calypso coral” finish. “That’s original,” she said.

The event included a poignant note, a moment of silence for famed car designer Carroll Shelby who died in early May.

Nannini said the Mustang fest had an “excellent turnout.” The boat captain teamed with Salvo on the Mustang promotion. “He’s a dear friend, a friend of my sailmaker. He wanted to get involved.”

After starting in Spain, the sailing racers have reached four of their five destinations including Wellington, New Zealand; Cape Town, South Africa, Punta del Este, Uruguay; and Charleston.

“Oh, this has been wonderful,” race organizer Josh Hall said. The race lasts nine months, wrapping up with a 20 day “passage” to France.

“It’s a tight race,” Cavanaugh said.

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com.