Red Bull gets serious and buys a port and an island in Italy

It will be in Italy, in the upper Adriatic Sea in the Gulf of Trieste at Marina Nova in the natural oasis of Isola dei Bagni, the new sailing and nautical kingdom of Red Bull.

The project of 77-year-old Austrian tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz, inventor of the world’s best-selling energy drink and a sports empire ranging from Formula 1 to football and now also an America’s Cup team, is, as usual, ambitious and unconventional.

Isola dei Bagni

The new Red Bull marina

The ownership of this area on the Adriatic Sea, now owned by Red Bull, includes the Marina Monfalcone (formerly Marina Hannibal) with 300 berths up to 40 metres, a shipyard, a yacht club and the prestigious Tito Nordio Sailing School. But that’s not all, there are blocks of flats, gardens and beaches.

Red Bull took over the tourist/nautical complex for €4 million from a Chinese holding company, which in 2016 for €1.1 million. It had previously snapped up the Hannibal Marina part.
Red Bull has an island in Fiji.

Dietrich Mateschitz is no stranger to such ventures. At the beginning of the 2000s he took over the island Laucala in the Fiji archipelago, which is now a wonderful luxury resort costing at least $10,000 a night.

But in the case of Marina Nova Red Bull has no intention of making it an exclusive haven for the few.

A centre for water sports to be created

His plenipotentiary for water sports, Austrian Hans-Peter Steinacher, managing director of Marina Monfalcone since June, to create a global centre dedicated to water sports, with a particular focus on the Olympic classes from 2024 onwards. Not forgetting the port and reception facilities for yachtsmen, which will be totally renovated.

Hans Peter Steinacher

Mr. Steinacher is also the manager of Red Bull GmbH’s Sailing Racing team and has a history of great sailing, winning two Olympic gold medals in 2002 and 2004 in the Tornado class.

America’s Cup dream in the Adriatic

Steinacher himself is one of the key men in the new America’s Cup challenge of the Austrian-Swiss Red Bull Alinghi team. The Friulians’ hidden desire is that one day the America’s Cup may land in Trieste, thanks to Red Bull. But for now it is only a dream

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