MainSail

Episode #41

Sardinia

This year sees the 40th anniversary of one of the world’s most famous yacht clubs, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda on the beautiful Italian island of Sardinia. It was founded in 1967 by the Aga Khan and a consortium of businessmen, as a non-profit-making sporting association for fellow sailing enthusiasts. MainSail presenter and double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson pays a visit to this millionaire’s playground.

YACHT CLUB HISTORY

Robertson takes a tour of the Yacht Club with the Commodore, who describes its rich history, including its America’s Cup challenge in 1983. The club, which has an impressive array of facilities, is now at the heart of the Costa Smeralda, or ‘Emerald Coast’, which was once wild and isolated but has now become synonymous with the wealthy elite of Europe.

AMERICA’S CUP

From its inception, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda has regularly run regattas in collaboration with the most important Italian yacht clubs, attracting the world’s top sailors. MainSail catches up with some of the big America’s Cup names in Porto Cervo for their views on the limbo that the world’s most prestigious sailing event now finds itself in.

SAILING NEWS

Shirley Robertson lost out on selection for the Beijing Olympics, after taking time out to have twins. It means she won’t be in China to defend her Yngling title and aim for a third gold Olympic medal. Instead, she has turned her hand to sailing on the exciting new catamaran circuit, the Extreme 40s.

TP52 GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda hosts the TP52 Global Championship. After a successful first event in Miami in 2006, this is the second edition, featuring these fast, exciting racing machines. The highly competitive fleet features level racing with strict amateur driver rules for the championship. The class has become popular with European royalty and among the owners competing in Porto Cervo is King Harald of Norway, who talks to Robertson about his love of sailing.