The 50th edition of the Trieste regatta is presented at the embassy by Mitja Gialuz, the head of the Barcolana and Grignano Sailing Club and one of organisers of Barcolana, and Andrea Illy, the chairman of Illy Caffè.
A breakfast was hosted today by the Italian ambassador, Raffaele Trombetta, for journalists and web operators specialising in competitive and leisure sailing. The event featured Professor Mitja Gialuz, the head of the Barcolana regatta, and Andrea Illy, whose company, Illycaffè, is one of the two main sponsors of the boat race, together with the insurance group Generali.
The event was held to present the 50th edition of the boat race, one of the biggest in the world, along with the Cowes regatta on the Isle of Wight. It was first held in 1969, organised by the Barcolana and Grignano Sailing Club, and last year recorded 2,101 competitors and around 250,0000 spectators.
The Barcolana’s success is in large part thanks to the simplicity of the rules – “Do you have a boat? Then you can take part”, as Prof. Gialuz puts it – and to its strong connection both to the Gulf of Trieste and to the city itself, which has historically been a crossroads between the Mediterranean, Mitteleuropa and the Balkans, and to the surrounding area.
The embassy was delighted to welcome back Andrea Illy, who was featured in the Triple I event in February. He said that the Barcolana – “the most popular regatta in the world” – is a symbol of a city that brings together three elements: the beauty of the city and surrounding area; the sea, with its associations of trade and cultural exchange; and an awareness of sustainability and the importance of protecting the environment.
Lorenzo De Salvo, the head of sports at Musement, a multi-platform service for booking travel experiences, highlighted the company’s partnership with the Barcolana as an official tour operator. He explained that Musement focuses on experiences that showcase the region’s greatest assets, such as culture, food and wine, and a tradition of sailing.
The discussion was moderated by David Brunskill, a British member of the international jury of the Barcolana, and concluded with a Q&A session.
