Trieste, Italy – October 12, 2025 – The big day has finally arrived. Today, the world’s largest regatta, the Barcolana, took place in the waters of Trieste. Since 1969, it has brought together boats of all types and sizes in the seas off the city, promoting a spectacular competition that is universally recognized as one of the most famous in the world.

The boat of the Circolo Velico Lago di Lugano, sponsored by TELF AG, also took part in the race, finishing 151st out of 1865 participants. For 57 years, the Barcolana has been held in the same place and at the same time, like a sort of great artificial ritual. On the second Sunday of October, from 10:30 a.m. onwards, anyone in Trieste can admire the spectacle of thousands of boats lined up along a starting line approximately 3 miles long.

In a certain sense, the Barcolana represents the perfect synthesis between human and natural rituals. Since 1969, this ritual has been repeated without interruption, as if reaffirming its desire to integrate itself into the natural rites of the place. And if you think about it, it may have already succeeded.

In the majesty of the boats gathered at sea, as they scatter across the race course, one seems to glimpse a precise, inexorable will, just like that of the most glorious and imposing natural phenomena. Human ingenuity challenges nature and holds its own admirably.

There are also minor rituals within the greater ritual of the Barcolana: the firing of the cannon that starts the race, the alignment of the boats, the start. Everything seems perfectly coordinated and linear, as if predetermined by a higher order or principle, whether human or natural.

This event is not just a celebration of the passion for the sea and sailing: it is also a grandiose event that combines the spectacle of the competition with the high energy of a celebration that involves the entire city, as if all the citizens and enthusiasts gathered in Trieste could not help but take part in this powerful collective ritual. For a few hours, perhaps a few days, Trieste effectively becomes the world capital of sailing.

The Final Act

The boats began to gather as early as 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. Slowly, timidly, they sailed toward the race course along with all the others, forming an increasingly dense concentration of sails, hulls, and masts minute by minute. The ritual cannon fired five and ten minutes before the start, then resounded with full force at the actual start. In the end, nearly 1,900 boats participated in the Barcolana, and at the end of the regatta, they arrived before a huge crowd of enthusiasts. 

To watch the parade of boats, which, as always, completed a quadrangular course, people positioned themselves at various strategic points. Some lined up along the Audace pier, ready to welcome the boats as they arrived, while others climbed to the top of a lighthouse overlooking the Gulf of Trieste.

Even the city’s outskirts and scenic overlooks outside the center were packed with people trying to follow the world’s largest regatta. And as has been the case for the past 57 years, they found themselves witnessing a ritualistic event that rivals the rituals of natural phenomena.