Admiral’s Cup, dreams of glory: July 17-31, Italy chases history

It was the year 1995, roaring years for Italian sailing, in Cowes the team captained by Rinaldo Del Bono, Pasquale Landolfi and Paolo Gaia, won the legendary Admiral’s Cup, what at the time was considered the World Championship for nations. Shortly thereafter this cult regatta, which also included among its offshore events the Fastnet, went into decline, and for all these years, however, there has been a lack of a major international, team event with this formula. At the time, the Admiral’s Cup rules stipulated that each nation had to have three hulls, for Italy there was the ILC 46 Capricorn, the ILC 40 Brava Q8 and the Mumm 36 Mumm a Mia. The last Admirals Cup was held in 2003, but the competition was already on the wane.

Thirty years after that legendary Italian victory, the regatta is about to return, and there will also be a tricolor team. From July 17-31, under the organization of the RORC, it will be staged again in Cowes, and as if it were truly a return to the golden years of offshore racing, the provisional entry list for the regatta is eye-popping.

Admiral’s Cup 2025 – What a regatta it will be

Let’s start with the most important data: as of today, but it seems that the entry list is still provisional, there are 13 teams entered, for a total of 26 hulls. In fact, the 2025 rules provide for two boats for each team: the smallest must be from a minimum of 11 meters to a maximum of 13.40 meters long; the largest can be from 13.41 m to 17.20 m. They will race on IRC compensated time (there is also a minimum and maximum range for TCC).

The program includes for the first official day of racing, July 19, an offshore race that will last a maximum of 24 hours, for this reason a rest day is scheduled for July 20. This will be followed by 3 days of racing between the buoys ending on July 24. The 25th will still be a rest day, because on the 26th the unique, and inimitable, Fastnet Race will start, which with its 695 miles will effectively award the Admiral’s Cup. The rankings will be compiled by adding up the placings of each team’s two boats throughout the championship.

Admiral’s Cup – Italy on the hunt for glory

Giovanni Lombardi Stronati, with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, will be the owner of the Italian team that will field the Wally Rocket 51 and the JPK 1180 Django. Competition will be very high, because the world’s best offshore sailing boats are expected in Cowes, some of which in recent years have collected important results in the world’s major offshore races, such as Middle Sea Race, Fastnet and Sydney Hobart.

Names such as Teasing Machine, Red Bandit, Caro, Beau Geste, and Ran, just to name a few, will be the opponents the Italian team will have to deal with. The news of the last few days is that there will also be a team from the Yacht Club de Monaco, promoted by Pierre Casiraghi and Peter Harrison, which will also field Boris Hermann and Will Harris on the two boats, but the emerging oceanic and now “web star” Cole Bauer will also be part of the team.

The tricolor team will be captained in sea operations by Vasco Vascotto, who will be aboard Wally Rocket, but both crews will have top-notch sailors that we will announce soon. The sail program for both boats will be taken care of by North Sails, with sails coach Giulio Desiderato being the man dedicated to the project.

Il Giornale della Vela will be closely following the return of the Admiral’s Cup, and soon we will bring you a closer look at how the Italian team is preparing….stay tuned!

Mauro Giuffrè