Learn all about VELAFestival from A to Z

More of everything. The richness of its program is the great strength of the TAG Heuer VELAFestival (Santa Margherita, May 7-10). So many boats, accessories, events, initiatives and activities that we had fun creating the “VELAFestival dictionary.” It’s up to you now to discover the whole sailing festival from A to Z!

ACCESSORIES Find everything you need to best equip the boat. From propellers to solar panels, from ropes to sails, from heating systems to weather services.

BEACH VILLAGE A dedicated area on the beach for the world of dinghies, multihulls and water sports, with opportunities for sea demonstrations. Every day young and old can take a ride in special boats together with an instructor,in complete safety.

CARDas VELAFestival Card. A free card, downloadable online from the velafestival.com website with a simple registration, with which you can take advantage of many benefits: access to the events area, tender service if you moor at the roadstead, discounts at participating restaurants and hotels. And so much more.

DERIVES It is not a sailing festival if there is a lack of dinghies. You can admire and try on the water every day the hulls you will find at the beach village. And take a closer look at the legendary Nacra 17, the new star of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

EVENTS Events on land and at sea every day and all day long. A dedicated area will host the Sailor of the Year evening, Fogar Day, the VELA Cup Party and the best of sea videos.

FOGAR
Ambrogio Fogar, as told by those who knew him, will be the star of Fogar Day on Sunday, May 10. An event dedicated to the first Italian loner, forty years after his world tour.

FREE We will never get tired of repeating it: this year’s admission to VELAFestival is free! There is no entrance fee because the whole town of Santa Margherita is wrapped up in the VELAFestival.

HOSPITALITY A lounge area where you can relax, chat among fans and have a drink. A terrace from which you can enjoy the view of the Gulf of Tigullio and Portofino, but also of the entire VELAFestival. Big events take place here, or you can enjoy the best sailing movies and videos with a glass of good wine in hand.

MEETINGS Meetings with the most qualified specialists who will reveal the secrets of their most innovative products and explain how to use them. But not only that. Strolling among the docks you can chat with great sailors such as Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri, or perhaps get tips from Giuseppe Giuffré or Roberto Tomasini Grinover, two of the most successful shipowners of recent years. Mauro Pelaschier will also be there, always ready to exchange some jokes.

J80 A fleet of nine fierce and fast J80s will also participate in the VELA Cup on Saturday, May 9!

KAYAK There will also be the other side of the sea. Kayak, Sup, Windsurf, with which you can go out every day accompanied by the instructors of Outdoor Portofino. You will find them ready on the Beach Village beach from where to “launch” into the Gulf of Tigullio.

SAILING LESSONS
Courses and lessons to learn the basics of the world’s most beautiful sport with professional instructors from the Italian Naval League of Santa Margherita. You will also be able to learn how to climb a masthead or make a splice aboard the schooner Pandora.

MORO DI VENEZIA
Among the CULT boats at the VELAFestival will be the first Moro di Venezia built by the Carlini shipyards for Raul Gardini to a design by German Frers in 1976. You will be able to board this splendid hull and meet all its crew today “under the command” of Massimiliano Ferruzzi.

BLUE NIGHT On Saturday, May 9, the VELA Cup awards ceremony will kick off the VELAFestival Blue Night. The bars and stands will remain open, everything will be lit up, and at 10 p.m. the “Craziest Race d el mondo” will start where a catamaran, drift, Sup, kayak and Aquaglide will compete inside the gulf with commentary by Mino Taveri and judge Mauro Pelaschier.

MOORING At the VELAFestival you can also come with your own boat. There are discounted moorings and a free taxi-tender service to reach the docks.

SAIL SQUARE The hub from which the different areas of the VELAFestival unfold. From here you can access the ground booth area, the shopping plaza, the event area, and even, directly, the brand new beach village.

FOURTY YEARS We are celebrating the Sail Newspaper’s birthday with a major exhibition that traces, through the most important covers and images, forty years of our passion. On scenic canvases the 40 years of our newspaper’s life were immortalized through the most emblematic covers and photos.

REGATARE The VELA Cup, the sea challenge on Saturday, May 9, is the great celebration of Italian sailing in which everyone can participate. You don’t have to be an expert, and you can participate in white sails only. All boats three meters and up are allowed.

SANTA MARGHERITA An exceptional location, the waterfront and harbor will be enveloped in the event. The Ligurian town becomes the capital of sailing and the most beautiful boats in the Mediterranean.

TIGULLIO An idea also for a small vacation to discover the Gulf of Tigullio. Starting in Portofino and ending in Sestri Levante and, why not, continuing to the Cinque Terre.

LAST OF THE VELA Cup will also receive an award!

SAILOR OF THE YEAR
Evening of Champions. On Friday, May 8 from 7 p.m. it will be time for “The 2015 TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year”: a great evening with all the winners of the most prestigious award in Italian sailing. Water Games Sunday will be the turn of the first edition of VELAFestival

WATER GAMES.
SUP competition will start in the morning and Kayak competition in the afternoon. Edited by Outdoor Portofino.

YACHTING Understood as the all-around world of boats. You can admire the world’s most beautiful boats: dozens of hulls at sea ready to be visited and told by the people who build them. The best new developments in world shipbuilding. But that’s not all: there will also be CULT boats, the ones you’ve never seen that have made sailing history.

SHOPPING ZONE A great nautical store where you can find accessories, clothing, nautical bookstore, gadgets that you can buy right away… and take home or directly to your boat.