From Italy to Malta, from Trieste to Ta' Xbiex, all hands on deck: the boats are on the horizon, announced in the Manifesto left by Robert Wilson as the sublimation of passion meeting the sea. The season draws to a close with an October packed with memorable events. And in 2027, the America's Cup will shine the spotlight on Naples...
October presents itself as the month of the Barcolana. It has been that way for 57 years. In fact, the Manifesto—the poster for 2025—says: "B57." And it's touching, as usual; perhaps even more so because it was signed by Robert Wilson before his departure, having passed away in early August. The image is the sublime embodiment of Trieste, "where passion meets the sea," as effectively emphasized on the left side of a palette of light-filled blues. Sails, sea, and sky are one.
Downloading the Manifesto is a breeze. Printing it on a wooden board and hanging it on the wall in the most intimate corners of your home is just as simple. Done.
So, we're in the month of the Barcolana, the largest sailing yacht gathering in the world, so much so that it was honored by the Guinness Book of Records due to the extraordinary attendance in 2018, with 2.689 boats registered before the Covid-19 pandemic ominously imposed itself on the world's attention. In 2024, the number dropped to almost 1.800, but it was still a beautiful sight.
The second weekend of the month of dead leaves, as the stylists of the literature related to the Giro di Lombardia by bicycle say, is also the weekend of the happening in the Gulf of Trieste and neighboring Slovenia, just as the following one is characterized by the much more competitive Middle Sea Race of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. With over 600 nautical miles to digest for the contenders, it increasingly places itself in the wake of the well-known America's Cup, Giraglia, Ocean Race, Golden Globe, Regates Royale, Route du Rhum, Vandée Globe, Fastnet, etc. cited in a cocktail of offshore, ocean, and historic regattas.
Fate has led us to occasionally experience both, and to enter the shipyards and venues of these fascinating events in Sanya, China; Alicante, Spain; Ta' Xbiex, Malta; and Trieste, Italy. We eagerly await the 2027 America's Cup, scheduled for Naples, with the hope that it will represent a concrete opportunity to rehabilitate the Bagnoli area, as is the premise of the awarding of such an important and fascinating event to Italy, with the resulting lavish funding from the Italian government.
First the Barcolana, then the Middle Sea Race. Eyes fixed on the horizon and curiosity abounds. The Barcolana Autumn Cup Regatta—that's what it was called in 1969, when a brilliant idea born within the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano became a reality—closes the regatta season. In the 56 editions already consigned to the archives, it has welcomed performances by the acclaimed Ben Ainslie, Dean Barker, Brad Butterworth, Paul Cayard, Neville Crichton, Roussel Coutts, Francesco de Angelis, Mauro Pelaschier, Cino Ricci, Jochen Schumann, Vasco Vascotto... listed strictly in alphabetical order so as not to upset anyone, considering they are all strong-willed individuals who feel they are ahead of the rest.
The Solaris Adriatic Cup, Young, Experience, and B57 (the main event) are the main events scheduled between October 9th and 12th on the classic quadrilateral and will close out a year made magical by having celebrated with the March Special Edition the exceptional landing in the Gulf of Trieste of the iconic Amigo Vespucci which, as we have seen firsthand... also ventured to Malta, bringing Italian pride to the archipelago in April just as Liberation Day was being celebrated in Italy.
On April 25th, the Italian Navy stopped in Valletta on its World Tour, which had lasted practically two years, also touching—or especially!—Los Angeles, Tokyo, Darwin, Singapore, Mumbai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, and nine national ports: Trieste (precisely...), Venice, Ortona, Brindisi, Taranto, Reggio Calabria, Naples, Civitavecchia, and Genoa. That common thread throughout the world once again underscored the Italian identity, which boasts an extraordinary global appeal, pulling us out of the doldrums when needed and placing the Italian flag above other flags when assessing the appeal of... Italians abroad.
We could tell the story of Cino Ricci's near-firing of journalist Flavio Vanetti from Gazzetta dello Sport when he printed a fake ANSA dispatch with just a few words claiming that the sailor from Rimini, a native of Romagna—very popular at the time due to his 1983 adventure as skipper of Azzurra—had fallen overboard and been "eaten" by a shark. Fortunately, the Varese reporter saved Vanetti from the clutches of editor-in-chief Gino Palumbo, and the supposed tragedy gave way to general hilarity once the prank's interpretation was revealed. Vanetti recounted the episode in his book "Il nome della Rosea," which is worth browsing for its wealth of anecdotes about journalists and Italian journalism. For €8,88, you can... forget your worries and spend a pleasant quarter of an hour immersed in reading, which never hurts.
Paul Cayard could also be described as having masterfully helmed Raul Gardini's Montedison-owned Moro di Venezia in the 1992 America's Cup, which ended in America 3, led by plenipotentiary and magnate Bill Koch, who dominated the final in San Diego, California. Cayard and Gardini enjoyed a reckless five-year period, marked by innovation in sailing, thanks to their intuition and special materials. Gardini took his own life on July 23, 1993, at the age of sixty, at Palazzo Belgioioso in Milan, while we were in Bordeaux for the finish line of the Tour de France. The very American Cayard could tell so many stories...
While we wait for the America's Cup in Naples in 2027, let's first enjoy the Barcolana and then the Middle Sea Race. Starting, for example, with a visit to the Bathyscaphe Trieste, which arrived right on time from the Bergamo shipyard on October 1st in Piazza Unità d'Italia. But no rush, as we're certain that director and actor Massimiliano Finazzer Flory—with whom we had a pleasant lunch at the Italian Embassy in New York when he was councilor for culture for the City of Milan led by Letizia Moratti—will be able to tell the story through the documentary film, which is already well underway.
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