This Barcolana 55 will be unmissable. Here’s why

What will Barcolana number 55 be like? We talked about it with Mitja Gialuz, president of the Società Velica Barcola e Grignano, the organizing club of the world’s most crowded regatta, who assured us, “It will be a must-see edition.” Crews at the center, inclusion, celebration ashore and at sea. And there’s a Lexus up for grabs!

Let’s start with the history of the Barcolana. What is the secret to keeping an event alive for so many years?

The secret of Barcolana’s success is a right mix of innovation and respect for tradition. The regatta itself is quite similar to what it was in its origins: simple, fast and without compensation. Already in the 1980s it had become the most crowded regatta in the Adriatic, then in the Mediterranean, but the real breakthrough came in the late 1990s, when the village was built around the regatta. Over the past ten years, we have added so much content: from cooking to literature to music to sailing-related events such as Barcolana Fun, with foil sailing, and Barcolana Classic, for vintage sail enthusiasts. Although the focus remains on the big regatta on Sunday, we have built a schedule around it that involves the entire city of Trieste.

From sailing festival to sea festival. Can you tell us what’s brewing?

This year’s focus is on the crews and their stories. Last year we made more than 1,200 portraits with Carlo Borlenghi. Charles, in addition to having immortalized the greatest sailors in history, has taken the faces of Barcolana fans. These faces, with their stories, will be the stars of Barcolana 55.

Let’s talk about this year’s poster. What are you doing to break down gender gaps in sailing?

We have been trying for a number of years to convey this idea that women in boats, but the boat is then a metaphor for society, should not be in the galley but should be valued. So Barcolana, already a few years ago, established with Generali an award, Women in Sailing, to promote solidarity and inclusiveness. Never would we have thought that in so few years this award would coincide with the victory of Wendy Schmidt, the first woman helmswoman in history to win the Barcolana.

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Another theme close to Barcolana’s heart: the younger generation. What activities do you offer for younger people and how do you make sailing more “cool” and attractive?

The real challenge in the sport is not so much entry into Optimist but to avoid dispersing sailors between the ages of 18 and 24, the age group where kids go to college and enter the workforce. We have been trying to create programs for foiling sailing, and we are working, also with other societies in the Gulf of Trieste, to do activities on one-design boats such as the J70 and Melges. There is not only room for professionals, because sailing is also a sport made up of enthusiasts and, indeed, young people are the sailors and leaders of the future.

Before the actual regatta, Go To Barcolana events are planned. What are they and what do they consist of?

Over the years, regattas have sprung up with the goal of enhancing all crews arriving from outside, both from the Slovenian and Croatian coasts and from the Italian coasts. The optic, however, is not only to bring boats to the Barcolana but to enhance Adriatic sailing in general, whose connotations are certainly different from those of the Tyrrhenian. We have to be aware that even in Adriatic we built something. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Azzurra, and when I think about the cockpit of that boat, there were names like Cino Ricci and Mauro Pelaschier aboard, to name a few. Go To Barcolana is thus a form of recognition of an Adriatic pride.

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So many people have been known to register for the Barcolana if only for the gadgets. What will they find this year, and is there anything new?

The Barcolana 55 bag will be very rich. We have created a new collection with Murphy & Nye, and there is also the return of the Illy mug, with the Barcolana poster. Also, big news this year, a Lexus Hybrid will be raffled among all entrants. A car that ties in well with the concepts and way of sailing because, being electric, when driving it is reminiscent of that feeling you get on a boat when you turn off the engine and hoist the sails.

Are there also any charity projects related to Barcolana?

Barcolana last year through Rete del Dono made a very important collection. This year we want to do more and better. Each member will be able to link to a project of a non-profit organization. We did not want to support just one activity, but to give the owner and crews a way to choose. Ideally, on Sunday, October 8, in addition to the crews, volunteers and especially the people who benefit from the activities of these associations will participate in the regatta.

Want to give us a prediction on who will win Barcolana 55?

Enrollees and participants will win. For us of course it is important that there are boats like maxis and professionals, but the Barcolana is everyone’s.

What is your fondest memory of the Barcolana?

Perhaps the edition with which I participated with friends, then just over 18, in the mid-1990s, who later became professional sailors. I was in the boat with Michele Paoletti, Ruffo Bressani, Federica Salvà, and with Diego Paoletti, our reference partner at the helm (called Mr. Barcolana because he boasts the enviable personal record of having participated in all editions, ed.) I must say it was a beautiful edition, with little wind and with a boat that was certainly not among the favorites, but we came seventh and it was a great success for us.

James Barbaro