Barcolana Parasailing: the first races and the panel on best practices in inclusiveness start today

On the first weekend of the Barcolana, more than 1,000 athletes were involved in many sports disciplines in anticipation of the big celebrations leading up to the regatta on Sunday. The new week has kicked off in the name of inclusivity, with the start of the Barcolana Parasailing, which was organised with the Società Triestina della Vela (Sailing Society of Trieste), the Italian Sailing Federation (FIV), World Sailing and Unicredit. The event will include two days of regattas for people with disabilities – athletes from all over Italy who will race aboard 2.4 and Hansa 303 boats – and two days of demos, on Wednesday and Thursday, in which people with disabilities will have the opportunity to try sailing. “We announced it,” explained President Mitja Gialuz, “this will be the most inclusive Barcolana ever, both in terms of regattas and of the possibility to take part in events on land and in the Barcolana itself, thanks to a space for easy boarding.” Representatives from the FIV and from World Sailing, namely Hannah Stodel, Para World Sailing Manager, attended the event. The light wind only allowed the races to start in the afternoon. Find the tracking system and rewatch the races here: https://www.metasail.it/live/627/.

BEST PRACTICES IN PARASAILING - Alongside the regattas, the focus will be on best practices: the programme features a conference that will be held at 6 p.m., which was organised with the Vigili del Fuoco (the National Firefighters Corp), FIV, World Sailing, Unicredit, and many local organisations, and is aimed at analysing and spreading the best practices in the fields of inclusion, safety and sports for people with disabilities. “We witnessed this at the Olympics – not including sailing among the Paralympic disciplines has been really painful; it is then up to the Federations and Clubs to promote sailing as a way to integration,” Gialuz said.