The Giraglia Rolex Cup is truly a classic event. As legend has it, the race was created on an evening in December 1952 when Beppe Croce, President of Yacht Club Italiano, René Levainville, President of Yacht Club de France, and Franco Gavagnin were enjoying a long dinner in a Parisian bistro. They envisioned the race from Saint-Tropez to Genoa as a challenge between yachts that could also be seen as a challenge between Italy and France that would favour relations after the Second World War.
For the first edition of the Giraglia Cup in 1953 there were twenty-two boats at the start. The number of participants grew steadily and in 1997 the event changed its name with the arrival of an important sponsor to become the Giraglia Rolex Cup. In 1998 lo Yacht Club de France began organizing three days of races in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez before passing this part of the event on to the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez in 2002.
Today, the Giraglia Rolex Cup has exceeded its founder’s expectations to become a must-do event that attracts hundreds of crews, both amateur and professional, and all kinds of yachts from all around the world. Serious competition on the water is followed by serious fun in the evening, thanks to the event’s title sponsor. It’sa sporting event that is truly a blend of passion, competition, fair play, glamour and “joie de vivre”.
