Loro Piana Giraglia 2025, after race at Race Village

We are in Saint Tropez. Where the Loro Piana Giraglia regatta starts, 241 miles from Saint Tropez to Genoa, passing the legendary Corsican rock of the Giraglia. But first, four days of coastal racing. For us on site is Ida Castiglioni, who collects stories, boats, characters atmosphere from the great Mediterranean classic. Here is the first installment.

Loro Piana Giraglia 2025, after race at Race Village

Dominating the scene on the 2nd day of inshore racing, those preceding the Loro Piana Giraglia 2025, was a determined but not overly so, Mistral, which started from 20 knots in the morning and touched 34 in the afternoon. Ideal winds, sunshine and blue sea made it an ideal day for a “title sponsor” that pays every attention to the environmental context and the image it communicates.

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Some of the regatta buoys, which are hyper-technological and self-positioning thanks to GPS technology, are the color that Loro Piana adopts for its communication, namely a dark brick (kümmel) color that characterizes the website, shoppers, and printed fonts.

A care and attention no longer practiced. Starting with the bundles of flowers in the hotel: peonies, roses, different flowers in bud in various shades from white to green. Next, the setting of the long tables to welcome shipowners, guests and journalists, personally supervised by PR Director Giuseppe Sperandio. On the first evening, on the tables with long white tablecloths, a continuous centerpiece composition of dahlias, daisies and lilies of all kinds, in shades from yellow to orange and pink, among very light stemmed glasses, strawberries, half oranges and lemons. All lit by candles protected by thin glass cylinders.

At the next dinner to dominate the two long tables lavender from Provence mixed with many wildflowers in shades from lilac to purple, sage green and gray. Also, bamboo-handled cutlery, low glasses covered in rush, protected candles. To top it all off, Sunday’s table at the poolside of an old mansion in the old center of Saint Tropez features a table setting was inimitable. A long centerpiece of roses and peonies from pink to orange amid green wheat stalks, wild grasses and sprigs of woodland. Scattered on the tablecloth were strawberries, cherries, and small radishes, all lit by rustic green candles in thin glass to protect them.

In front of me the Japanese journalists are truly overwhelmed by such beauty. They had already been surprised in the previous two days by the wonder of seeing the place and the bay, realizing the mildness of the climate: mild and breezy. Like those who came from Dubai, where the humid heat dominates the environment, and told me that one cannot spend an evening outdoors there, as is the case in Saint Tropez, which is always crossed by a light breeze.

Returning to Sunday’s racing, the attention of those who followed the second round of the Maxi A’s on a power boat (which at times struggled to keep up with the competitors) was greatly distracted by Roberto Lacorte’s foiler FlyingNikka, which sails at an impressive speed, and sees the owner more than once forced to ‘brake’ to avoid taking risks. The wind is strong just enough to feel some extra excitement for those who, like Carlo Cameli, President of the YCI, had decided to accept the invitation on the Flyingnikka. Reaching 39′ and under gusts he felt the hull tilt quite a bit and hang on an edge for a moment before returning to normal trim. “Interesting but very noisy,” he later commented once ashore.

It will not be easy to repeat a day marked by the perfection of the environmental setting, with the jury concerned about the predicted strong wind increase (which turned out not to be the case) issuing a note reminding crews of their obligation to wear life jackets during trials.

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After regatta celebration at Race Village. Everyone is glad to have a dedicated place to meet. It is a 200-meter-long, stone walkway, just raised above the sea, that connects the Loro Piana Lounge to the Tour du Portalet. A large room with a terrace overlooking the sea has been set up in the Lounge, dedicated to guests, with spaces dedicated to the cara judges and the organization alongside. At the base of the Tour du Portalet was set up the platform intended for each day’s prize-giving. Opposite is a space that from 4 to 8 p.m. is reserved for crews, an ideal choice for this area of the port where the passage of tourists is continuous.

Inside the Race Village many voices, exclamations, laughter, calls: it is a time to tell each other about the race, a maneuver, a passage, a tack. After races, especially physically demanding ones like those with a lot of wind, there are small ham or vegetarian baguettes for the crews, wrapped carefully, as well as drinks of all kinds. As an awards ceremony with the presentation of cups goes on, full of applause, a gust of wind takes away a couple of flags meant for those who dominated the rankings that day. And it feels like a fitting end to a perfect day.

Ida Castiglioni