Team Django ready to fly the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda burgee at the Admiral's Cup

Django Team ready for the Admiral's Cup 2025 © Yacht Club Costa Smeralda

The countdown is over. Tomorrow, Saturday 19 July, the 2025 Admiral's Cup officially sets sail with the Channel Race, a 150-nautical mile offshore challenge that marks the start of this iconic international regatta.

Representing Italy, Team Django and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda are ready to take on the best offshore teams in the world, in what promises to be a spectacular and demanding two weeks of racing.

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), the Admiral's Cup 2025 brings together two-boat national teams to compete across offshore and inshore formats. Team Django will field its AC1 and AC2 entries - a wallyrocket51 and a high-performance 44-foot JPK - with crews blending youthful talent, experienced offshore veterans, and the Italian passion for sailing.

"It's a real honour for us to be representing Italy at the return of such a prestigious event," said Django owner Giovanni Lombardi Stronati. "We've prepared intensively, and we're proud to be racing under the burgee of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda — a Club with a rich legacy in top-level sailing and in the Admiral's Cup itself."

The Channel Race will begin on Saturday morning at 10:20 from the Central Solent, with boats heading into the English Channel for the first offshore test. The race will be tracked live via satellite and can be followed by here.

Team Django JPK - photo © Yacht Club Costa Smeralda

"We're really looking forward to the Admiral's Cup, it's been a long journey since last October, plenty of work done on the boat and a lot of preparation so we're now eager to go racing and see how we do! We'll begin with a coastal race of about 24 hours and then three days of inshore races and then the big test for everyone, which is the Fastnet Race, so it's good to have the first offshore tomorrow to get used to the watches and to test the boat a little more before we go into the epic four-day ocean race. We're happy and ready to go!" commented Guillermo Parada, Team Django wallyrocket51 strategist.

Team Django JPK was the winner in IRC 1 in the Cowes to St Malo race last weekend, a good rehearsal for the event starting tomorrow. "It was a training event for us, but it's always a good time to try things out and optimise crew, sails and manoeuvres in a regatta. On top of a good training experience we got the good result, we won the class and finished second overall, so this is a very big boost of energy and confidence building up to the big event starting tomorrow, the Admiral's Cup, with the Channel Race" said Michele Ivaldi, Team Django JPK skipper.

After a rest day on Monday, inshore races will take place from 22-24 July in the Solent and Christchurch Bay before the climactic finale: the Rolex Fastnet Race starting on 26 July, a 695-nautical mile offshore epic that will close the Admiral's Cup 2025 and decide the overall winner.

Team Django, supported by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, joins 15 other international teams in a competition that celebrates 100 years of the RORC and a century of offshore excellence.