Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta to Kick Off on Monday

Next week heralds the start of Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta. Now in its 12th year, the race is one of the leading events on the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda calendar. Beginning with registrations and briefings on Monday, activities and festivities will stretch on until Saturday.

Twenty yachts ranging from 24-52m will flock to Porto Cervo this weekend, an impressive docket of names among them. This includes eight yachts from the Southern Wind Shipyard, who will be competing for their dedicated trophy. Sadly not joining the ranks this year is My Song, the Baltic 130' owned by YCCS member Pier Luigi Loro Piana which was unfortunately lost at sea while returning from the Caribbean.

The longest yacht taking part in the regatta is 51m Q, a 2008 Alloy Yachts build and Ed Dubois design. The newest vessel on the scene will be the 2018 launch Southern Wind 105 feet Kiboko Tres, who is making her racing debut. Another record breaker will be the 19m gaff rigged schooner Mariette, launched in 1915.

Meteor is another classic yacht to be competing - this schooner was built in Holland in 2007 to a design by Dykstra Naval Architects, the same company behind the rebuild of the J Class Rainbow, which set out to recreate the original 1934 version. Next week will therefore see a fleet gathered in Porto Cervo that recounts the story of the yachting from the early 20th century to the present day.

The schedule for the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta will see daily coastal races, with the entire fleet divided into Superyachts-Cruising and Superyacht-Performance categories. Onshore there will be just as much activity, with a full social programme ranging from an exclusive dinner for owners to the traditional after-race drinks held daily for crews. The Sunset Party will be held on the 7th of June, while the next morning will see the "YCCS clean beach day" take place with the support of the One Ocean Foundation.

Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta is set to be a thrilling week of racing and revelling, and the perfect celebration of Italy’s proud seafaring legacy.