VELA Cup, all together passionately in La Maddalena

The island of La Maddalena, a sailing paradise at the center of the archipelago of the same name, which is also a national park of outstanding beauty, gets a makeover with a new waterfront and marina, with many services for boaters, in A city that is not just a summer vacation destination but one that lives year-round. We have been to the island to touch on the latest developments, and on this occasion, the VELA Cup also made a stop in the Mediterranean Caribbean. Boats of all shapes and sizes, from 95 to 21 feet, battled it out on a somewhat unusual race course, affected by a light wind and lots of current.

All the stages of the VELA Cup 2023

• May 26 / 28 – VELA Cup Toscana / VELAFestival
• June 3 / 4 – VELA Cup Brindisi
• June 24 / 25 – VELA Cup Magdalena
• July 22 / 23 – VELA Cup Venice
• August 19 / 20 – VELA Cup Costa Smeralda
• October 7 / 8 – VELA Cup Sicily

Cala Gavetta and the new waterfront of La Maddalena

Sheltered from all winds except noon, Cala Gavetta is the beating and economic heart around which the town of La Maddalena has developed. Enlivened by boats and sailors, islanders and tourists alike, savoring the crisp sea breeze and the scents of wild vegetation, this marina offers as many as 140 berths up to 60 meters, on dock depths up to 12 meters. This is where the boats of the participants of the VELA Cup La Maddalena were moored, who were able to experience firsthand and as protagonists the island’s services and hospitality.

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On the east side of the harbor, the new XXIII February Square, dedicated to Domenico Leoni, known as Millelire, the first gold medalist for military valor in the Italian armed forces for the defense of the archipelago from the attack on February 23, 1793, by the fleet of the French Republic, in which the young and future Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte was included, with the rank of lieutenant. An all new waterfront, opened in 2022, where the VELA Cup La Maddalena awards ceremony and party were held. This is considered the city’s “good living room,” from which starts Via XX Settembre (later Via Giuseppe Garibaldi), a shopping street that runs through the Genoese-founded historic center, among alleys, caruggi and ancient 18th-century palaces, embellished with colorful patterns and elegant wrought-iron balconies.

La Maddalena expands with Cala Balbiano

But the news we found on the island did not end there! After nearly 20 years of construction, La Maddalena in 2021 expanded its mooring offerings with a new marina, positioned west of the historic Cala Gavetta. The new harbor at Cala Balbiano has increased Magdalenian port capacity by 110 berths up to 10 meters, or 50 meters if English moored. Equipped with 6 breakwaters and a floating pier Ingemar, as with the adjacent Cala Gavetta, water, electricity, fuel and guard services are also available here. The island of La Maddalena and its ports, easily accessible from major Italian cities and abroad (they are only 40km from Olbia airport), also thanks to smart working, are now increasingly experienced by boaters throughout the year.

SAIL Cup La Maddalena

While we were in sight on the island, Saturday, June 24, the third leg of the VELA Cup, the most fun-filled racing circuit ever, was staged, organized in cooperation with the Italian Naval League sez. of La Maddalena and with the support of La Maddalena Park. After a day marked by tense winds (20 knots) with gusts up to 40, which unfortunately discouraged many competitors from Tuscany, Liguria and Lazio from making their way to the archipelago, the boats in the VELA Cup La Maddalena struggled not a little to find that gust of wind necessary to counter and overcome the current.

On the starting line, placed in front of the half-pass shoal, a diverse fleet, consisting of Nina, Antonio Bevilacqua’s splendid 1998 Wally 95, to NOX Oceani, RS21 by the young crew of the Yacht Club Cala dei Sardi, did battle with tacking in a 6/7 knot mistral. The route was to circumnavigate, keeping it to starboard, the island of Spargi and the Spargiotto rock, then cut between the island of Barrettini and the islets of Barrettinelli and, finally, descend to La Maddalena by skirting the island on the left.

See all the photos of the VELA Cup La Maddalena

Right from the start, Wally 95, taking advantage of the huge sail area and apparent wind, took a good lead from the rest of the fleet, followed closely by the smallest boat, NOX Oceans, already the winner of the VELA Cup Cala dei Sardi 2022. They will cross the finish line, of the reduced course due to lack of wind at Barrettini, with only a half-hour gap. Excellent performance also for Roxanne, Pier Paolo Celeste’s Dufour 50 Classic, which not only won the Overall Cruising Boat award, but also won in Class 4 Classic Boat. Among Sport Boats, in addition to Nina (Overall Sport Boat, Line of Honours, Class 6 Sport Boat and Maxi Classic Boat) and Nox Oceani (Leg Winner and Class 1 Sport Boat), the following won Aurora, the Sun Odyssey 49 by Massimo Mocci, in Class 4 Sport Boat, and Mira, the Grand Soleil 52 LC by Fortunato Unali, in Class 5 Sport Boat.

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On Saturday evening, after the awards ceremony and before the party in the beautiful XXIII February Square, the rich prizes raffled for all VELA Cup participants were also awarded. The Garmin InReach Mini 2 two-way satellite communicator was won by Teta (the Bavaria 34 of the Lega Navale Italiana sez. of Lerici), while the lucky winner of the Leatherman Wave®+ multipurpose and maintenance kit was Massimo Mocci (owner of Aurora). The SUP raffled by Jobe(Forniture Nautiche Italiane) was won by Adriana Tiron (owner of the Genesi 43 Starway to Heaven 2), the 100 euro voucher to spend on HiNelson.com by Antonio Bevilaqua (owner of Nina), the YachtIngBond jacket by Pier Paolo Celeste (owner of Roxanne).

See all the photos of the VELA Cup La Maddalena

VELA Cup – See you in Venice on July 22

The VELA Cup returns to the Adriatic next month, making a stop in the Venice Lagoon.
On Saturday, July 22, on the island of San Giorgio
, in Venice in front of St. Mark’s Square, the fourth leg of the most fun racing circuit there is will be staged. We will take you along a route that spans 2,000 years of history, traversing the canals and islands of the lagoon and circumnavigating the Venice Lido, the most glamorous island in the lagoon, where even today Hollywood stars still visit every summer to get on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival.

Sign up now for the VELA Cup Venice

Photos by Simon Palfrader

James Barbaro