Tre Golfi Sailing Week: Sixty-eight years young

Tre Golfi Sailing Week 2022 © ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi

Next year will see the 68th edition of a spectacular Mediterranean regatta with even more challenging race courses...

The quest for the perfect race week experience is not easy. Where can you find in only one week the challenge of navigation and seamanship that comes with distance racing and the thrill of boat-on-boat action in competitive inshore racing? Tre Golfi Sailing Week held over 12-21 May 2023 may be the answer to this quest and at Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia we are working hard to make next edition even more attractive to owners, crews and their guests.

Nearly 140 entries from more than a dozen nations participated to the 2022 edition of the race, a growth trend that validates the attractive qualities of this increasingly international event. This is a regatta that provides participants with competent and professional event and race management, easy logistics, pleasant weather and agreeable ambience, together with first class social events. The locations of the Tre Golfi Sailing Week are known for its scenery, and its position in the yachting calendar fits well in the season of Mediterranean sailing events.

The race will include classic and maxi yachts, ORC and IRC racing yachts, and multihulls in what becomes an international festival of sail, assembled in the bay of Naples.

The racing format of the week starts Friday 12 May with the overnight Tre Golfi Race, named for the three bodies of water on the racecourse: the bays of Naples, Salerno, and Gaeta. The course length varies by class, with multihulls racing 205 miles, maxis and ORC-IRC entries 155 miles and classic yachts racing 80 miles. The start is being planned for the early afternoon while there is still wind from the day's thermal breezes, and teams are then challenged with using this headstart to transition into the night breezes found along this scenic coast.

Of course, there are exceptions to this pattern when strong synoptic winds can propel the teams around the course, which is yet another facet in the challenges of offshore sailing. Regardless of conditions, participants will have the satisfaction of completing a course that is both a challenge and fun at the same time.

And while not racing, participants can enjoy a wide variety of social events on the program. In Naples, the host facilities are at the Circolo Remo e Vela Italia, one of the oldest sailing clubs in Italy. The CRV Italia has a historic clubhouse close to an ancient Castel dell'Ovo, where opening ceremonies and pasta parties are held for skippers and crews.

For those who want to wander further afield, Naples itself offers a rich history and cultural heritage appropriate for one of Europe's great cities, located in the shadow of Mount Vesuvio. Not far from CRV Italia there are innumerable tourism options available for sailors, their families and friends.

Following the arrival of the long-distance race, the fleet will move to the southern side of the bay to the amazing town of Sorrento. Here the peninsula generates its own perfect sea breeze for the continuation of inshore racing for the remainder of the Tre Golfi Sailing Week.

For more information visit www.tregolfisailingweek.com.