THE LARGEST SAILING RACE IN THE WORLD
Trieste, 1 - 12 October 2025
Trieste, 1 - 12 October 2025
Barcolana - News01.09.21
#WomenInSailing - Chiara Calligaris
Olympic Sailor and University Professor of Geology. Mother and sports enthusiast.
“Sport has formed me: if you think you don’t have enough physical strength it is simply because you aren’t sufficiently trained”.
“Sport has formed me: if you think you don’t have enough physical strength it is simply because you aren’t sufficiently trained”.
At nine years of age Chiara Calligaris decided that sailing would become part of her life, even though she never imagined that one day she’d be at the Beijing Olympics and the winner of many Italian, European and World titles. Her passion for sport developed at sea hand in hand and almost “the reverse” of her professional one, where the protagonist is her love for the earth, which brought her to be a great geologist.
“I’ve sailed in boats since I was a child: I discovered my own passion, in the sense that my parents had just finished building their house in the mountains when I said to my mother: ‘I would love to sail in the middle of the sea’. I never felt out of place at sea, I never had the feeling of being inadequate. Sure, at times one lacks physical strength, but this is simply because one is not sufficiently trained, as has been proven by the great solitary yachtswomen who sail the same routes as their male counterparts”.
From passion for the sea to a profession linked to the earth: “I deal with applied geology: landslides, mudslides, but also water. A sector which is still very male-dominated in Italy, and I must say that having practised sports, sailing in particular, helped shape me and prepare me to have the proper determination and attitude, also in my profession”.
A yachtswoman passionate about science, whose aim is to inspire the new generations: “What would I say to today’s girls? That it should never even cross their minds that gender could be a limitation. If someone has a goal, that’s enough: one must work hard to reach it. Perhaps we women need to prove ourselves more than men do, but competency is the key. Break the ice, prove you are competent, and everything will work. Competency is, according to me and my experience, the key to overcoming gender prejudice, and the second ingredient is motivation”.
“I’ve sailed in boats since I was a child: I discovered my own passion, in the sense that my parents had just finished building their house in the mountains when I said to my mother: ‘I would love to sail in the middle of the sea’. I never felt out of place at sea, I never had the feeling of being inadequate. Sure, at times one lacks physical strength, but this is simply because one is not sufficiently trained, as has been proven by the great solitary yachtswomen who sail the same routes as their male counterparts”.
From passion for the sea to a profession linked to the earth: “I deal with applied geology: landslides, mudslides, but also water. A sector which is still very male-dominated in Italy, and I must say that having practised sports, sailing in particular, helped shape me and prepare me to have the proper determination and attitude, also in my profession”.
A yachtswoman passionate about science, whose aim is to inspire the new generations: “What would I say to today’s girls? That it should never even cross their minds that gender could be a limitation. If someone has a goal, that’s enough: one must work hard to reach it. Perhaps we women need to prove ourselves more than men do, but competency is the key. Break the ice, prove you are competent, and everything will work. Competency is, according to me and my experience, the key to overcoming gender prejudice, and the second ingredient is motivation”.
