Barcolana -1: almost 2.000 boats and 15.000 sailors at the start line tomorrow at 10.30

More than 2,000 boats will race the 51st edition of Barcolana presented by Generali, the regatta that brings the whole sailing world at sea. Sailors from Australia, the UK, the USA, Korea, Ukraine and China have joined us; environmental and social topics have been discussed; passion for the sea and the desire to compete has been high, and great sailing champions have come to race in Barcolana. This year, for the first time, many champion women are here, such as the British ocean sailor Dee Caffari, the American Sally Barkow and the Chinese Vicky Song. Barcolana is ready to start! Almost non-existent wind is predicted for tomorrow morning at 10,30 am, when almost 2,000 boats (15,000 sailors overall) will line up along Barcolana’s record 2-mile start line stretching from the Vittoria Lighthouse and MiramareCastle(thetwocitylandmarks)tocompeteinthe world’slargestregattaintheGulfofTrieste. “We are proud of Trieste and Barcolana – stated the chairman of the sailing club Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, Mitja Gialuz – our job is to organize an inclusive event, in order to share our passion for the sea and to promote Trieste and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region: sailors, crews, our public, and the whole city of Trieste are joining us in this great sea celebration, where we will also talk about environmental protection, respect for the sea and tradition. A renewed and great celebration that has introduced many innovations too, this year.

RACING FOR VICTORY...AND FOR THE LAST PLACE – Three teams are tipped to win. The first one is the team defender, the Fast and Furio Sailing Team, made up of Furio and Gabriele Benussi, Lorenzo Bressani, Alberto Bolzan, Stefano Spangaro, worldwide famous sailors “made in Trieste”. This “dream team”, winners of the 2018 edition, will race aboard the 100-feet Arca Fondi SGR Wild Thing, the boat that nominally won Barcolana in 2005. This boat, which has been completely modified, is 100 feet long and at the start of a four-year program. Its direct competitor is Tempus Fugit Portopiccolo, owned by Australian Ludde Ingvall, which raced in Barcolana for the first time at last year: the boat is ready to win, despite having trained for four days only and with few sails. The Tempus Fugit Sailing will include the Slovene Mitja Kosmina at the helm, Andrea Visintini, Andrea Casale, Enrico Zennaro, Antonio Masoli, Marco Furlan, and they are all ready to overturn results this year. The third team includes Barcolana51’s outsiders, the women’s crew captained by Francesca Clapcich , with the American Sally Barkow (helmswoman), Giulia Conti (tactician) and another18sailorsfrom7differentcountriesand3continents: theywon8world,8Europeanand9national competitions, participated in the Volvo Ocean Race 7 times and won 6 world Match Races. They will compete on the 90-feet hull that won in 2003 and 2004: despite being smaller compared to the other boats racing, this boat could highly benefit from the non-existent wind conditions forecast for tomorrow.