On July 11, 1953, along the Cannes-La Giraglia-Sanremo triangle, 22 boats started and 17 crossed the finish line, competing over the 196-mile course of the first edition of the Giraglia. For the record, the first Giraglia was won by a French boat with a real-time of 31 hours. The following year, the start and finish ports were reversed, the number of entrants reached 31, and the Giraglia rock remained unchanged. ’For lack of alternatives,’ it became one of the landmarks of world yachting.
Over the years, this offshore race increasingly took on mythical dimensions. The navigation combines technique and poetry, and over the years, it has become a sort of sailing maturity for many young enthusiasts. ’I did it too’ becomes an important medal on every sailor’s chest.
Over the years, the number of participants has increased inversely proportional to the times taken to complete the course. The current record for boats on the starting line is from 2016, with as many as 302. Meanwhile, the lowest time belongs to Igor Simcic’s yacht Esimit Europa 2, which in 2012 broke the previous record with a time of 14 hours, 56 minutes, and 16 seconds.
The format has remained more or less the same; in the 1970s, the participating boats were always more than 100, even 150. These are extraordinary numbers considering the niche of yachting; until the 1990s, the starting and finishing locations alternated between Italy and France. Participating remained a semi-adventure in an era when the entire crew slept on board and took part in the boat transfers. The Giraglia witnessed the transition from wood to fiberglass, with boats becoming increasingly lighter and more sophisticated, and with faster passages. Since 1998, the format has remained unchanged: meeting in Saint Tropez around mid-June, three days of coastal races in the splendid gulf, a beach party for all participants on the eve of the offshore – always memorable – and departure in the morning for the ’long’ 241 nautical miles that, today as then, ends in Genoa with the obligatory passage of the Giraglia islet, just as imagined back in 1952.
But with the 70th anniversary milestone, reached last June, the Giraglia is changing its attire once again, and with the arrival of a new and prestigious title sponsor like Loro Piana, it adds another piece to a regatta that increasingly resembles an event. The days of inshore races are extended to 4, and the regatta village is expanded to create even more camaraderie during the days in Saint-Tropez.
