★ Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta

01Why it matters

This is the yacht club's first proper test of the season's new tonnage — hulls launched or refitted over the winter get their first competitive outing here, in front of the same designers, sailmakers and brokers who will judge them again at the Maxi Cup and in Monaco in the autumn. It carries less weight than either of those two fixtures, and Porto Cervo itself is quieter in late May than in the first half of September, but for the Wally and superyacht racing fraternity specifically, this is where the year's form is first read.

02The week around it

Late May on the Costa Smeralda is early season: the resort's hotels and restaurants are open but well short of their August capacity, and the regatta fleet and its shore teams are a noticeable but not overwhelming presence in Porto Cervo village. The Range Rover Sardinia Cup follows directly in the same waters, so crews, sailmakers and support boats commonly stay through both weeks. Beyond the marina, the beaches at Liscia Ruja and Capriccioli are open with none of the crowding of high summer, and boat trips to the La Maddalena archipelago are already running.

03When to arrive

Arrive Tuesday for registration if you are sailing; the racing runs Wednesday to Friday with the final race and prizegiving on Saturday. For a visitor, Thursday and Friday give the clearest views of the windward-leeward fleet from the headlands north of the marina, and Saturday afternoon's prizegiving is the natural point to leave from.

04Where to stay

Porto Cervo village puts visitors within walking distance of the club and the marina, at a premium that is nonetheless lower than during the September regattas. Cala di Volpe and Romazzino are a short drive and quieter; Baja Sardinia, Cannigione and Palau, all fifteen to thirty minutes away, are markedly cheaper and have a more ordinary Sardinian holiday atmosphere. Olbia, with the airport, is a practical rather than an appealing base. No hotel is named here as a recommendation.

05Access and hospitality

Entry to race is by registration with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda under its published Notice of Race, open to the classes and minimum lengths described above. The clubhouse, its briefings and its prizegiving are for members, competitors and their guests. There is no admission charge to the marina, the village or the coastline, and no spectator ticket is sold because none is required.

06Where the social activity happens

Public life during the regatta is the Molo Vecchio quay, where the fleet berths and where crews and photographers gather at the end of racing, and the Piazzetta above it, whose cafés and arcaded shopping street take the early-evening crowd. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda building itself is members' and competitors' territory, but the quay in front of it is open and is the best vantage point on the fleet at rest. The headlands toward Capo Ferro give the clearest free views of the offshore courses.

07Getting there

08Practicalities

09History

The regatta dates to 2008, run from its first edition by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, the club the Aga Khan founded in 1967 alongside the development of the Costa Smeralda resort itself. Loro Piana's title sponsorship has been continuous since the event's founding, distinguishing it from the Giraglia race along the coast in France, where Loro Piana took over the title only in 2024 after Rolex's long sponsorship ended. The regatta grew out of the same club culture that produces the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup, and shares its clubhouse, its marina and much of its organizing staff with both.

10Who is there

Superyacht and Wally-class owners, many racing their own boats; professional afterguard sailors and class technical committees; designers, sailmakers and refit yards showing early-season work; the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda's membership; and the resort's May population of early-season visitors who watch from the quay.