From 5 to 28 May 2026, the waters of the Gulf of Naples, Gaeta and Sorrento became the stage for the Tre Golfi Sailing Week: three weeks that brought together the ORC World Championship, the historic Regata dei Tre Golfi - now in its 71st edition - and the IMA Maxi European Championship. A single, sweeping event that this year set a participation record, with 211 boats entered from around twenty countries, confirming it as one of the most crowded and competitive fixtures on the international offshore calendar.
Behind all this technical rigor lies a bond that has lasted over a decade: the one between Loro Piana and the world of sailing, rooted in the personal passion of the Loro Piana family, with Pier Luigi still racing today aboard his own My Song. Already a partner of the Regata dei Tre Golfi between 2005 and 2009, the maison has returned to the water as a sponsor of the Tre Golfi Sailing Week 2026, renewing a partnership that goes well beyond simple sponsorship. At the Tre Golfi Sailing Week, then, sailing is not just a sport: it is a form of identity, the natural bridge between race-day technique and the sartorial heritage of a maison that continues to look to the sea as its primary source of inspiration.
It was the long offshore race that delivered one of the finest chapters of the event. Forecast to be light, the weather conditions turned out to be anything but, forcing crews into constant tactical decisions along the course. Taking both Line Honours and the win on corrected time was the TP52 Summer Storm, owned by American sailor Andrew Berdon, whose flawless performance underscored just how far the ORC class has risen on the international stage.
Yet beyond the pure sporting contest, it is the quality of the fleet that makes the Tre Golfi Sailing Week an event apart. Latest-generation Maxi Yachts, TP52s, Wallys, Swans and other high-performance designs turn every edition into a genuine showcase of contemporary yacht design trends, and the Maxi European Championship brought some of the most iconic and sophisticated yachts on the international scene to the Gulf of Naples, cementing the event's status as one of the absolute benchmarks for grand-prix sailing. Among the boats on the water were yachts of the caliber of V, Leopard 3, Galateia, Jolt, Bella Mente, Proteus, North Star and Django 7X - true expressions of the Maxi class's design evolution - crewed by some of the biggest names in world sailing, chief among them Ken Read, Volvo Ocean Race winner and veteran of numerous America's Cup campaigns. At the end of a week fought out between the historic offshore race and the inshore regattas held off Sorrento, the Maxi 1 European title went to V, owned by Czech businessman Karel Komárek, while the Maxi Grand Prix division was won by Jolt, Peter Harrison's Maxi 72.
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