Barcolana 56 presented by Generali kicks off with the Bora blowing on the opening day – it already counts 1280 participants

After a year of work and much anticipation, the Barcolana56 Presented by Generali has finally kicked off. The first of ten days of great sailing, a true festival of sea sports, has kicked off today with the traditional flag-hoisting ceremony held at the headquarters of the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano (SVBG, Barcola and Grignano Sailing Club), which was already specially decorated for the occasion. Right on time for the start, like an impatient guest, was the Bora, which these days has been blowing with strong gusts over the Gulf, to the delight of those who are taking part in the Barcolana FUN, the event dedicated to sailing disciplines such as kitesurfing, wingsurfing and windsurfing, who have been working since 21 September between Savudrija and Lignano to deliver their best performance in terms of speed, jumping height and distance covered. Today, immediately after the hoisting of the flag, they were the first to take to the water, opening the event by darting in front of the Barcolana platform trying to reach maximum speed, distance over two hours or jumping height, depending on the different specialisation, and putting on a great show for those who attended the ceremony.

Ten days before the regatta, 1280 people have already registered for the event. So far 421 boats have applied for a free mooring space; the secretariat at SVBG is waiting for their crews in order to finalise their registration and give shipowners a bag containing more gifts than ever so as to celebrate together an edition held in the name of ‘Positive Energies.’

 “This is it,” said Mitja Gialuz, now in his eleventh year as SVBG president, “the hoisting of the flag is one of the most beautiful and intimate moments of the event, and it is dedicated to the club members who experience the regatta as volunteers and who are the main protagonists of this wonderful event. I would like to thank them for their work, and for the many challenges we will face together over the next few these days.”

THE FIRST GUEST BOATS FOR THE EVENT: THE NICE - Meanwhile, the first boats have already arrived: this edition’s flag-hoisting ceremony welcomed as a guest the crew of the Nice, the boat of the Guardia di Finanza, which will play a central role in the main Barcolana events. The ‘Fiamme Gialle’ (Yellow Flames, from their logo) team are in charge of promoting the Corps' image in sports on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of their foundation, and the Barcolana is the last sporting event in a calendar that has kept the Guardia di Finanza busy for a whole year. At the Barcolana, Fiamme Gialle-Nice, a 78-foot maxi boat built by an Australian shipyard and now owned by Mauro Malgara of Ice YachtsMAXI, will be helmed by Paolo Cian, a Barcolana expert who, together with the crew of yellow-green sailors, can boast a high-level palmares.

‘FOLLOW ME’: TESTS AT SEA - The first day of the Barcolana will see the students of the Nautical Technical Institute in charge of welcoming the guest boats. About 90 of them have voluntarily joined the ‘Follow Me’ project and met President Gialuz among the school desks over the past few days. Today they took part in a sea rescue simulation of a person falling into the water. “I believe that the ‘Follow Me’ project is exceptional,” Gialuz commented. “It is one of the great souls of the Barcolana. The project, which was organised by the school, together with some former students led by Samuele Girotto, aims to provide future captains with on-field skills. I thanked them because they are the Barcolana’s first touchpoint, the first people that those sailing up the Adriatic coast meet in Trieste.”

INCLUSIVITY: A VAST PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES KICKS OFF - One of the central themes of the first week of the Barcolana will be inclusion. “Inclusiveness is one of this edition’s objectives – in addition to the events dedicated to Parasailing and ‘Barcolana per il sociale’ (Barcolana for the community), which is about to reach a record number of participants, we have planned swimming and finswimming events, we are offering people with disabilities the possibility to experience sailing, and we arranged all the events on land to be open and accessible. It is a new commitment for the Barcolana, which has also created a mooring space for people who have difficulty getting on the boats and need to have easy access.” Starting Monday, the spotlight will be on the theme of Paralympic sports at sea, with the Italian Sailing Federation’s Parasailing Academy, World Sailing, and a conference organised in partnership with Unicredit on the best practices to make sea sports more and more inclusive and open to all (on 7 October at 6.00 pm at NH Hotel).