TAG Heuer VELAFestival 2015: are you ready?

One morning three years ago, at eight o’clock in the morning while we were having breakfast together, Cino Ricci, the great daddy of Italian sailing, had encouraged us, “Well done, I like this VELAFestival. You can feel the atmosphere of passion and celebration of sailing and the sea of the first editions of the Grand Pavois de La Rochelle (the largest Atlantic salon held in a real port, born in 1973, ed.). Go on like this and you will see that it will grow well.”

Cino’s auspicious prophecy has come true; our event has grown rapidly and has become a point of reference for operators and enthusiasts. Today, three years later, preparations for the third edition of the great sailing festival, TAG Heuer VELAFestival 2015, are already bustling in the editorial office. There is one more reason to make the new edition special-the 40th birthday of the Sailing Newspaper-and it is at the VELAFestival that we will celebrate this occasion. Meanwhile, we are mixing the ingredients that make this event, which will take place May 7-10, 2015, a unique event.

Here is in no particular order what there is to amalgamate: the best of the production of shipyards from all over the world; the “cult” boats that have made yachting history; dinghies and “small” boats; accessories, equipment, clothing and sails to buy directly; the services for boating and Mediterranean tourism at 360°; practical exercises in seamanship and sailing school for young and old. And then, as befits a festival worthy of the name, the big events such as the awarding of the Sailor of the Year and the Grand Prix VELAFestival, meetings with great sailors and those with experts, videos and films of great sea stories, and a large exhibition where, through the covers and pages of the Newspaper of Sailing, we will retrace the forty years of our newspaper’s life. But the party will not only be ashore and on the dock.

Also awaiting you this year is the VELAFestival Cup, following the success of last year’s edition with 114 boats at the start, a sailing event where boats of all kinds, from six meters and up, can be compared by simply declaring the length overall and the distinction between “cruising” and “racing” classes. After Livorno and Genoa venues of the first two editions, the 2015 TAG Heuer VELAFestival will take place in an exceptional location, Santa Margherita Ligure, one of the most fascinating, characteristic and surprising natural harbors and seaside town in Italy and the Mediterranean, easily accessible from all over Italy, a stone’s throw from Portofino and in the center of the mythical Tigullio Gulf.

A TASTE OF WHAT THE VELAFESTIVAL WILL BE LIKE

The TAG Heuer VELAFestival thus respects its inspiring mission, that of not being a mere social event or yet another boat show, but the moment where enthusiasts, professionals and sailors come together to speak the same language, that of passion for the sea and for sailing. We organize it at the Sailing Newspaper because, perhaps conceitedly, we think this is our DNA. Let the party begin!