Yesterday, today tomorrow. This is the red thread of the 2017 VELAFestival.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow. This will be the dominant theme of the next edition of the TAG Heuer VELAFestival, the transposition into a real and tangible event of the daily reality of the Sailing Newspaper, made of paper, digital, and Internet. It will be an opportunity, from May 4 to 7, 2017 in Santa Margherita Ligure, to make sure that what we tell you every day-the all-around passion for sailing-is there to touch, to see, to participate. Why “yesterday, today, tomorrow”? Mind you, sailing is a sport, or rather a practice, a way of life, inclusive. Nothing excludes anything.

Where can you find another discipline that can be practiced from age 6 to 80 and older? In what sport can a 54-year-old athlete win the Olympics, as happened this year in Rio to Argentina’s Santi Lange? In what other manufacturing sector in just a few years does a niche phenomenon such as catamarans (hence the idea of dedicating, for the first time in Italy, an area of the VELAFestival entirely dedicated to multihulls), manage to capture 40 percent of the market, undermining the historical leadership of monohulls?

The latter are responding with continuous innovations that have led – the word of Luca Bassani of Wally – to boats that, compared to those of 30 years ago, have a top speed upwind that is 20 percent higher and on the slack practically doubled, with the same waterline length. All of this maneuverable by a fraction of the crew needed in the past. This is what happens TODAY, but then should the heritage of “YESTERDAY” be thrown away? Not at all. Who dares to consider boats like the Swans of the mythical era of Sparkman&Stephens designs of the 1970s and 1980s obsolete? Because the beauty and uniqueness of sailboats is that they sail perfectly well-historical and contemporary boats, as we have been trying to demonstrate for years by devoting generous space to CULT boats, i.e., those hulls that have indelibly marked the history of sailing, and as last year’s tribute dedicated to fiberglass boats also shows #plasticfantastic. And you will never find a true enthusiast who makes a distinction between a beautiful boat based on age.

What aboutthe FUTURE, which in sailing means the near present, given the ongoing evolution? The VELAFestival will be a good opportunity to come and take a look at where sailing is going, a sail that is getting faster and faster, a sail that flies foils and on kitesurfing. The FUTURE are the young people of TODAY who must learn to fly foils to become professionals and are increasingly attracted to speed on the water, a mirror of an increasingly accelerated society.

You will find the summation of the theme “yesterday, today, tomorrow” at the TAG Heuer VELAFestival next May in the celebration of 25 years of the most prestigious award in Italian sailing, “Sailor of the Year” which turns 25 this year and celebrates the past, present and future by setting up a hall of fame with the history of the award-winning sailors. Waiting to find out at that time (on the evening of May 5) who the sailors of the future will be, chosen from the 100 nominees who will be voted on online by yourselves in January (stay tuned at giornaledellavela.com and at velafestival.com).

The ultimate concrete expression of “yesterday, today, tomorrow” will be celebrated on Saturday, May 6, when hundreds of boats from the past, present and future of sailing will participate in the VELA Cup, where boats of all ages and sizes will take to the sea in the sailing event that allows everyone to compete without bureaucratic complications. Looking forward to the May event we, meanwhile, continue to tell you about the world of sailing through paper, apps, and the Internet. Looking forward to seeing us live, sailors of yesterday, today, tomorrow. No one excluded.