Registrations open for Loro Piana Giraglia 2025

2024 Loro Piana Giraglia day 5 © Loro Piana / Studio Borlenghi

Registrations are now officially open for the 72nd edition of the Loro Piana Giraglia. Four days of racing in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez will be followed by the 241-mile offshore race, starting on Wednesday, June 11, at noon.

Notice of Race and online registration are available on the event's website: www.loropianagiraglia.com

The Loro Piana Giraglia marks its 72nd edition in the new year, further strengthening the partnership between YCI and title partner Loro Piana, which began in 2024. The event will occur in Saint-Tropez and Genoa from June 7 to 14: four days of inshore racing in the stunning French gulf, concluding in Genoa after the 241-mile offshore challenge.

Schedule

• June 5: Opening of the race village and registrations
• June 6: Arrivals and registrations
• June 7-10: Racing in Saint-Tropez
• June 11: Start of the offshore race
• June 14: Prize-giving ceremony at the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa

Eligible yachts

The Loro Piana Giraglia is open to all monohull yachts starting from 9.14 meters, competing in the ORC and IRC divisions. As always, a diverse fleet of racing yachts worldwide is expected, with a significant presence of maxi yachts aiming for the offshore race line honours and the highly challenging record of 14 hours, 56 minutes, which has stood since 2012.

What's new for 2025

The Loro Piana Giraglia continues to evolve. After introducing an extra day of coastal racing, the organising committee has designed new courses to make racing in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez even more captivating. The 241-mile offshore race remains unchanged, forming a natural triangle from Saint-Tropez - Giraglia - Genoa, which large yachts typically complete in around 24 hours.

Significant attention has been given to organising and optimising the regatta village, the heart of activities in France, which has been renovated since last year. For 2025, the race office lounge will be expanded to better accommodate competitors. Additionally, a new layout will extend along the breakwater up to the Tour de Portalet, creating a crew village that will be the social hub of the Loro Piana Giraglia. Daily prizes and social events with drinks for all sailors will bring this new edition of the Giraglia to life here.

The organization

The Giraglia was conceived in 1953 as a 241-nautical-mile offshore race. In 2023, this classic regatta celebrated its 70th anniversary. The Loro Piana Giraglia is organised by the Yacht Club Italiano in collaboration with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, under the patronage of the Yacht Club de France, Yacht Club Sanremo, Yacht Club de Monaco, the Union Nationale pour la Course au Large (UNCL), the International Maxi Association (IMA), and the cities of Saint-Tropez, Genoa, and the Liguria Region.

The Giraglia Race is a valid race for the IRC-UNCL Mediterranean Championship and is part of the 2025 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge, which IMA organises.

The Loro Piana Giraglia

On July 11, 1953, 22 boats set off on the first-ever Giraglia, covering a 196-mile course from Cannes - La Giraglia - Sanremo, with 17 yachts reaching the finish line. The first edition was won by a French yacht in 31 hours. The following year, the start and finish ports were swapped, the number of participants increased to 31, and the Giraglia Rock remained the iconic mark of the Course, securing its place as one of the world's premier yachting events.

Over the years, this offshore race has become legendary. It blends sailing technique with poetry, becoming a rite of passage for many young sailors. Saying "I've done it too" is a prestigious badge of honour for any sailor.

Participation numbers have steadily grown while race times have drastically decreased. The record for the most boats on the start line was set in 2016, with 302 entries, while the fastest time belongs to Igor Simcic's Esimit Europa 2, which shattered the previous record in 2012 with an astonishing time of 14 hours, 56 minutes, and 16 seconds.

The format has remained essentially unchanged. In the 1970s, over 100 boats consistently participated, sometimes exceeding 150, remarkable figures for the niche yachting world. Until the 1990s, starting and finishing locations alternated between Italy and France. Back then, participating in the race was an adventure, with all crew members sleeping on board and assisting with yacht transfers.

The Giraglia has witnessed the transition from wooden boats to fibreglass, from heavier designs to lighter, more sophisticated yachts and increasingly faster passages. Since 1998, the format has remained stable: gathering in Saint-Tropez in mid-June, coastal races in the breathtaking gulf, a grand party before the offshore start, and then the 241-nautical-mile challenge, which, just as in 1952, still finishes in Genoa after rounding the Giraglia Rock.

Loro Piana has been the title partner of the Loro Piana Giraglia since 2024.