How Trieste’s Barcolana has evolved from club regatta to global sailing icon

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Sailing, the great excellences of the sailing world tell their stories and reveal their projects. In this column, discover all the companies and people who have made important contributions to the multifaceted world of sailing, which enables us all to go to sea in all forms and contexts.

In this episode, we take you on a tour of the Barcolana, the legendary Autumn Cup that has made history in Trieste and beyond, becoming the most crowded regatta in the world.

Barcolana, the myth

It was December 1975, when, newly born, we dedicated our pages to an event that even then promised to make history: the “Autumn Cup,” now universally known as the Barcolana. “One hundred and twenty-eight boats in the bora of the Gulf of Trieste,” we titled, calling it “the most open regatta in the world” and “one of the toughest: with strong sea bora, boats disalberating, constant changes of jibs, twenty-four retired ‘behind the protective wings of Miramare Castle.'” Half a century after that first tale, the Barcolana has become a global icon, and to retrace its incredible adventure we met its helmsman, Mitja Gialuz, president of the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, the club that organizes the Trieste superclassic.

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Mitja, with his lucid vision,takes usto the roots of the Barcolana, which was born and developed in the late 1960s, at the height of Italy’s economic boom. “These were the boom years in yachting, the development of mass-produced fiberglass boats,” Gialuz explains. A context that allowed the Barcolana to intercept the transition “from yachting, a more elite sport, to sailing, a sport that spreads,” transforming a pastime for a few into a passion for many. A process that saw sailing become popular in 1983 with Azzurra’s entry into the America’s Cup, catalyzing national attention.

But what would astonish the founders of that first edition in 1969, which saw 51 boats at the start with the motto, “You have a sailboat? Then you can participate!” with no fees or tonnage, with victory going to the first in real time. “Definitely the transformation from a regatta to a sea festival,” says Gialuz. Also, “the fact that when you enter Trieste there is a sign that says Trieste city of the Barcolana. This identification of the city with its most important event, I don’t think they ever expected it.” Carlo Sciarelli argued that when “a dream is bathed in salt water, it never dries out”: for Mitja this is perfectly true of the Barcolana. What would not surprise them, however, and which has remained the DNA of the Barcolana, is “the start, the fact that we are all together on the same line without compensation. That was the initial spirit and it has remained the same.”

The big leap

The Barcolana has gone from being a regatta among enthusiasts to an event that unites the entire city. What was the real turning point? Mitja identifies three milestones of unstoppable growth. “Definitely the mid-1980s with the arrival of foreign boats,” which marked the beginning of internationalization. Then, “in the mid-1990s the lottery, then Barcolana associated with a RAI lottery that brought very wide notoriety to the regatta.” Finally, “the work that has been done in the last ten years to get to enter the Guinness Book of Records with the 50th edition in 2018, which saw a record 2,689 entries.”

This growth was possible thanks to “a great synergy with institutions, sailing clubs, and sponsors who made us grow and stimulated us.” The 2018 edition, the 50th, has remained in Gialuz’s heart: “starting with the message we wanted to launch with Marina Abramovich’s poster ‘We are all in the same boat,’ and then the moment of departure with the overflight of the Tricolored Arrows, the presence of Nave Vespucci… that one I will always carry in my heart.”

Love Trieste-Barcolana

The bond between Trieste and the Barcolana is deep, almost symbiotic. “It has evolved in the sense of bringing the regatta then to the city,” Gialuz explains. A key moment was the creation of the Village in the late 1990s and the involvement of an ever-widening public through concerts, cultural events such as Un Mare di Racconti and the Barcolana Sea Summit, dedicated to the blue economy and sustainability.

The Barcolana has become a “must” for any sailor, an event that unites everyone and embodies all the energy of Trieste.

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Its uniqueness is also in its ability to involve so many stakeholders in a shared construction of the event, extending the event beyond Trieste, throughout Friuli Venezia Giulia, with events in Grado, Lignano and even on the Lake of the Three Municipalities, bringing the Barcolana to the mountains for the first time this year.

Innovation, inclusiveness and sustainability

Looking to the future, Mitja Gialuz stresses the need to continue to think of sailing as an increasingly multifaceted sport with many different specialties.

“The Barcolana must remain inclusive, keeping the whole sport of sailing together, including parasailing,” an area in which much is being invested. The goal is ambitious: to bring para sailing to the Paralympics, because “sailing is an inclusive sport by definition and it is scandalous that it is not within the Paralympics.”

This year’s theme, “where passion meets the sea,” reflects this vision of meeting and generating positive energy. The challenge is to constantly innovate, integrating new technologies and sustainable practices, keeping new and more traditional forms of participation close together, always respecting the cornerstones that have made the Barcolana unique: ” single start, all together in this great celebration of the sea, with professionals and amateurs, fast, competitive boats and cruising boats. It is important to be present.” .

• At this link, all the mythical stories from the 50 years of the Sailing Newspaper

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