Some regattas go beyond sport, and enter the realm of imagination. The Loro Piana Giraglia is one of them: a Mediterranean rite that has brought yacht owners and sailors together on the Côte d’Azur and the Ligurian Riviera for more than seventy years.
First held in 1953 on the route Cannes-Giraglia Island-Sanremo, the regatta is Italy’s oldest uninterrupted sailing competition, with races for maxi yachts, modern racers and classic yachts.
Since 1998 all events have started at Saint-Tropez, with inshore races in the Gulf, followed by the big one, an offshore race of approximately 243 nautical miles which departs from Saint-Tropez and rounds the famous Giraglia Rock off the coast of Corsica, before finishing in Genoa.
This thrilling regatta has attracted countless sailing giants, including Jochen Schümann, who set the current unbeaten Giraglia record on board the Esimit Europa 2 (14 hours, 56 minutes and 16 seconds), Vincenzo Onorato and well-known crew members of Azzurra (the first Italian yacht in the America’s Cup), like skipper Cino Ricci and helmsman Mauro Pelaschier.
The 2026 edition will see the participation of over 140 yachts from more than 20 countries.
The first four days (13 to 16 June) are devoted to inshore races. But the event itself kicks off the previous day with the opening of the Villaggio, on the iconic quayside in the Port of Saint-Tropez, also the venue for prize-giving ceremonies and post-race parties. It’s the perfect place – along with the pier and the lighthouse, to watch the boats setting sail, before taking a table in a bar overlooking the Gulf – come Les Toits, on the rooftop of Hotel de Paris or Pearl Beach Saint-Tropez, or at a beach club on glamorous Pampelonne beach – to admire the yachting action while enjoying a cocktail.
The offshore race is scheduled for 17 July, with the prize-giving ceremony in the historic headquarters of the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa Port (20 June, 18:30).
Performance, heritage and style in a regatta that turns the Mediterranean into a spectacle of pure excitement.
(ph. Studio Borlenghi)
