Barcolana
One start line. Two thousand boats. The largest sailing race on earth.
There is no qualification, no seeding and no second start. Everything from a six-metre daysailer to a maxi crosses the same line at the same moment, in front of a city that stops to watch. If you sail one regatta in your life, this is a strong candidate.
What the race actually is
Barcolana is a single race over a fixed quadrilateral course in the Gulf of Trieste — 13 nautical miles, start at 10:30, monohulls only, split into thirteen length-based groups. The line runs between the Barcola clubhouse and Miramare Castle; the finish is off Piazza Unità d'Italia, the largest sea-facing square in Europe. It is over in a few hours.
Why it is unlike any other race
It holds the Guinness World Record for the largest sailing race: 2,689 boats on the start line on 14 October 2018. The 2025 edition drew around 2,000 boats from 29 nations, roughly 15% of them foreign, watched by some 483,000 people. It began in 1969 with 51 boats.
The week around it
The race is the last day of a ten-day festival that takes over Trieste — a fleet parked bow-to along the waterfront, talks, concerts, and a harbour full of crews who have sailed in from across the Adriatic. Half the point of coming is the week, not just the Sunday.
The race at a glance
- Route
- Gulf of Trieste — start between Barcola and Miramare Castle, finish off Piazza Unità d'Italia
- Distance
- 13 nautical miles
- Format
- One race, mass start, monohulls, 13 length-based groups
- Typically held
- The second Sunday of October, after a ten-day festival
- Fleet
- Around 2,000 boats from 29 nations (2025)
- Organiser
- Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, Trieste
- Our boat
- Elan E6 Performance
- Experience needed
- None — this one genuinely is open to first-timers
Dates move from year to year and are set by the organiser, barcolana.it. Ask us for the dates of the current season.
You sail the boat. You don't just ride on it.
A small crew, real jobs
We keep the crew small enough that everyone steers, trims and stands a watch. Nobody spends the race sitting on the rail wondering what is going on.
Coached, not just chartered
Michal has sailed 30,000 nautical miles and raced at world-championship level. You get a skipper who explains what he is doing and why, before and during the race.
The paperwork is ours
Entry, rating, berth, briefings and the logistics around the event are organised for you. You arrive, you sail, you go to the prizegiving.
Price and exactly what is included depend on the season and the boat. Tell us which race you are interested in and we will send the current details.
Ask about Barcolana
Places are limited and go early. Send us a line and we will come back with dates, price and what is on the boat.
Questions we get asked
Do I need racing experience?
No. Barcolana is a single short race with a mass start, and a large part of the fleet is there for the occasion rather than the result. We brief the crew before the start and give everyone a clear job on board.
How crowded is the start really?
Very. Several hundred boats converge on the same line within a few minutes. It is the most memorable part of the day, and it is also the reason we run a proper pre-start briefing and keep the crew small enough that everyone knows their role.
How long does the race take?
The fastest boats finish in around an hour; most of the fleet takes two to four hours depending on wind. The rest of the day belongs to Trieste.