the oldest Italian event dedicated to classic boats. Founded in 1986, the event became biennial in 1992, before returning to an annual schedule from 2019. In the preceding days, as part of Imperia Sailing Week, the World Championship of the International 12 Metre Class will also be held from 28 August to 1 September.
Among the most eagerly awaited participants in the Vele d’Epoca di Imperia will be Aria, the 1935 8 Metre International Rule yacht (14.30 metres long) owned by Bolognese owner Serena Galvani. The historic boat, launched by the Costaguta Shipyards of Genoa Voltri, is preparing to cast off from the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa, the club that, during celebrations marking 90 years since her launch, awarded her the prestigious Guidone Heritage, presented by president Carlo Cameli. Not only that. This year, Aria has found a second home close to her heart. The Yacht Club Imperia, chaired by Biagio Parlatore and the technical organiser of the racing at sea, wished to pay tribute to the boat’s history and successes by welcoming her, on its own initiative, among its ordinary members. Aria will attempt to repeat the successes achieved in 2025, when she won both the Coppa Imperia in the 8 Metre S.I. Class and the corrected-time victory under the CIM Rules, the body founded exactly 100 years ago that oversees and issues the regulations governing vintage-boat racing. At Imperia, Aria will be helmed by Olympic sailor Pietro D’Alì, formerly mainsail trimmer of Luna Rossa. There is a special piece of numerology linking Serena Galvani, Aria and their participation in this year’s Imperia event. Adding the 40th year since the first gathering to the 27th edition of the Vele d’Epoca di Imperia produces the owner’s current age. Numerology, after all, has always guided her life. The boat’s sail number, 8.I-17, contains the key dates associated with her father: his birth on 8 December and his tragic suicide on 17 July. When Galvani found Aria abandoned in a field on the island of Favignana in 1998, those figures were already printed on the sails, almost as if they were an unmistakable sign. Today, the circle closes: the sum of these four key numbers (40+27+8+17) is 92, which could be read as the year, 1992, in which her parent died. An “implicit” invitation not to miss this year’s event, because sometimes destiny reveals itself through surprising coincidences.
The special guest of honour at the 2026 Vele d’Epoca di Imperia will be champion Mauro Pelaschier, a symbol of Italian sailing and the unforgettable helmsman of Azzurra in 1983, the first Italian America’s Cup Challenger, which made the nation dream and helped make sailing popular in Italy. Born in 1949 and from Monfalcone (Marina Hannibal, now Marina Monfalcone, took its inspiration from the name of his uncle Annibale), he competed at three Olympic Games in the Finn Class, where he won no fewer than nine national titles and countless victories in regattas of every kind. Pelaschier has always had a close relationship with the world of classic sailing. The grandson of a shipwright, in 2018, as ambassador for the One Ocean Foundation, he circumnavigated Italy aboard Crivizza, a 1966 Buchanan, receiving the following year from President Sergio Mattarella the honour of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Having helmed vintage boats ranging from the 1925 Q-Class Leonore to Patrizio Bertelli’s 1938 12 Metre S.I. Nyala, in 2001 he achieved, together with Serena Galvani aboard Aria, first place on elapsed time and third place on corrected time in the Third Division at the America’s Cup Jubilee in Cowes (Isle of Wight), the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the America’s Cup, which enabled Aria to enter the annals of the oldest sporting trophy in the world. “Mauro Pelaschier was one of Aria’s historic helmsmen,” Galvani recounts, “and thanks to his skill we achieved important victories in regattas, especially when the boat was based in northern France. With him in Imperia, we will ideally celebrate the 25 years since the successes in Cowes”.