YC Costa Smeralda unveils a 2026 season packed with world-class regattas and historic returns
by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda 18 Mar 10:34 PDT
The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda presented its sporting calendar for the 2026 season today in Milan to around 200 guests, including members, partners, sailors and journalists gathered at Casa Gessi.
The intense programme confirms the YCCS and the waters of the Costa Smeralda as a premier arena in world sailing, encompassing international events and projects focusing on the next generation of sailors.
Proceedings were opened by the President of the YCCS Board, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, whose welcome address recalled the vision of her father, the Aga Khan IV, who founded the YCCS in 1967. Princess Zahra underlined how the YCCS continues to represent an international benchmark in the sport of sailing, thanks to a path built on shared values of excellence, innovation, respect for the sea and a commitment to nurturing future talents.
Commodore Andrea Recordati followed, reaffirming the Club's desire to honour the course set by His Highness the Aga Khan, combining respect for tradition and a forward-looking approach to the future of competitive sailing and yachting. Commodore Recordati highlighted the headline news for the 2026 season: the return of one of the most iconic events in the YCCS story, the Range Rover Sardinia Cup, a regatta that, together with the Settimana delle Bocche, played a defining role in building the Club's international reputation.
The presentation of the calendar was entrusted to the Club's new General Secretary and Sports Director, Giorgio Benussi, joined by moderator and Sky Sports journalist Eleonora Cottarelli, who together illustrated the key appointments of the regatta season, running from spring through autumn on the waters of the Costa Smeralda.
The season opens, from 24 to 26 April, with the Porto Cervo debut of the one-design Cape 31 class, competing in the first leg of their Mediterranean circuit. Designed by Mark Mills together with YCCS member Lord Irwine Laidlaw and built in Cape Town, South Africa, the Cape 31 is a high-performance one-design boat destined for rapid growth across the Mediterranean.
Spring highlights will include the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta, taking place from 26 to 30 May. The event will open the Mediterranean superyacht racing season and is set to welcome a large fleet of both competing yachts and participants in the Southern Wind RendezVous and Trophy, with a total of 17 superyachts already entered or having expressed interest in taking part in Porto Cervo. SØRVIND by Giorgio Armani will be chartered to represent the title sponsor for the second year running. Alongside the action on the water, the social programme will offer exclusive events ashore for owners and crews, including an evening hosted by Giorgio Armani, title sponsor of the regatta since 2022.
The eagerly awaited return of the Sardinia Cup, after a hiatus of 14 years, will be supported by Range Rover, institutional partner of the YCCS and title sponsor of the event, and runs from 31 May to 7 June. A biennial event held in even-numbered years, the regatta was renowned as the Mediterranean counterpart to the UK's Admiral's Cup. With the return of that celebrated competition in 2025 to mark the centenary of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the alternation between the two events has been restored. The new format sees two boats per team, each representing a yacht club, in a competition that emphasises both team spirit and the sense of belonging to a club. Ten international teams fielding a total of 20 boats have already entered. May will also see the return of the Grand Soleil Cup as the sporting element of Cantiere del Pardo Week, a broader format bringing together all of the Group's brands from 21 to 23 May. The sailing competition will be combined with an extended programme involving Pardo Yachts and VanDutch Yachts.
In June, Porto Cervo plays host to one of the most technically demanding and prestigious sporting events of the season, the Rolex TP52 World Championship, also valid as a leg of the 52 Super Series, the world's most competitive professional monohull racing circuit. This world championship joins two other major events organised by the YCCS with the support of longstanding institutional partner Rolex: the 36th edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, from 6 to 12 September, followed by the Rolex Swan Cup. The 23rd edition of the biennial regatta organised in collaboration with the Nautor Swan shipyard will also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the shipyard's foundation. As usual, impressive fleets are expected at both events.
In mid-August, Porto Cervo will again be involved in the Palermo-Porto Cervo-Montecarlo offshore race, providing support to the Circolo della Vela Sicilia and the Yacht Club de Monaco.
The more traditional YCCS regattas remain firmly in place, with the Vela & Golf event bringing Italian and international sailing and golf clubs to Porto Cervo from 15 to 17 May. Regattas dedicated to the Smeralda 888 fleet, a boat designed by German Frers specifically for the YCCS, return between late June and early July in the form of the Invitational Smeralda 888 and the Coppa Europa Smeralda 888, appointments now firmly established on the Club's sporting calendar. The traditional YCCS Members' Championship, raced aboard the Club's J/70 fleet, will be held in mid-summer. This popular one-design class will then close the season in October, with the J/70 Cup and the Italian Championship further strengthening the Club's bond with the fleet, ahead of organising the J/70 World Championship in 2028.
Alongside the regatta calendar, the Young Azzurra sporting project, dedicated to supporting talented young sailors, continues in 2026 with its current cohort of athletes: Maddalena Spanu in WingFoil, Federico Pilloni in iQFOiL and Cesare Barabino in ILCA 7. A new YCCS initiative was announced for 2027: the "Call for Young Sailors" will select the next athletes to become part of the Young Azzurra project, which will have Pietro Zucchetti, a two-time Olympic competitor and former Italian Sailing Federation coach, as its technical lead. The initiative, in addition to selecting future Young Azzurra athletes, aims to introduce candidates from dinghies, sailboards and Olympic classes to offshore sailing, enabling young people to find crew spots at regattas organised by the YCCS. The objective is to promote greater inclusion of future generations in professional offshore racing, acting as a bridge between the varied segments within the sailing world.
"Together with all those who support and are part of the daily life of the YCCS, we are forging and navigating a route that honours my father's vision, with a spirit of innovation that is in step with the times, and sometimes ahead of them, enabling us to look to the future with coherence and determination" commented Princess Zahra Aga Khan, President of the Board of Directors.
The morning concluded with further news, as Commodore Andrea Recordati, on stage alongside Princess Zahra, announced the creation of a new perpetual trophy dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan IV, made by Buccellati. Awarded annually during the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the trophy will celebrate his legacy and pay tribute to the man who, decades ago, envisioned the YCCS. A vision that lives on through the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and this unique regatta.
With its 2026 sporting calendar and the broader activities it promotes, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda once again affirms its international vocation, consolidating a sporting tradition that for almost six decades has combined passion for the sea, organisational excellence and commitment to future generations of sailors.
For further information please visit www.yccs.com and www.youngazzurra.it.