Kiwi Magic will be among the fleet lining up in the Gulf of Imperia this August, giving New Zealand sailing fans good reason to take note of a regatta built around one of the America's Cup's most storied classes.
From 29 August to 1 September 2026, the 12mR GP World Championship runs as part of Imperia Sailing Week, marking the fortieth anniversary of the historic Vele d'Epoca di Imperia regatta. The event offers sailors and spectators a rare close-up look at the 12 Metre International Rule class, boats born from a measurement formula that became, almost by accident, some of the most admired yachts in the sport.
The rule itself dates to 1907, balancing length, sail area and displacement under the International Rule. The number twelve refers to that formula, not the boat's overall length. Within that regulatory box, designers and yards spent decades chasing the best compromise between speed, seaworthiness and elegance.
The class is kept alive today by the International Twelve Metre Association, which organises a global fleet across three regions: Americas, Northern Europe and Southern Europe.
From 1958 to 1987, the 12 Metre was the class chosen for the America's Cup itself. After the monumental J-Class era, the Cup shifted to smaller, more tightly optimised boats, where design nuance mattered more than sheer size. Newport carried the American era of the Cup; Fremantle, in 1987, hosted the class's last Cup defence before it moved on to newer designs.
For Italian fans, there's a personal thread too. Azzurra, campaigned by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in 1983 as Italy's first America's Cup challenger, was helmed by Mauro Pelaschier, who is patron of the 2026 Vele d'Epoca di Imperia.
Among the boats confirmed for racing are Kookaburra II, Kookaburra III, Kiwi Magic, France, French Kiss and South Australia. Thea, Emilia and Vanity will be on the dock rather than the racecourse.
Kookaburra II, owned by Prada and Luna Rossa patron Patrizio Bertelli, was built for Australia's 1987 Cup defence and remains sharp, having won the 2024 12 Metre World Championship at Porquerolles and the Puig Vela Clàssica in Barcelona. Kookaburra III, the boat that defended the Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club against Stars & Stripes '87, is now owned by Italian businessman Maurizio Vecchiola and will carry Italian sailor Tommaso Chieffi aboard at Imperia.
Kiwi Magic, KZ-7, is the boat New Zealand sailors will want to see. She represented the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup with Chris Dickson on the helm, one of the defining boats of New Zealand's first serious Cup campaign.
French Kiss, designed by Philippe Briand for Fremantle 1987 and owned by Christophe Babule, reached the Challenger semi-finals before her run ended against Kiwi Magic. South Australia, designed by Ben Lexcen and built in 1985, adds another piece of that same 1987 design era.
On the dock, Thea, built in Norway by Johan Anker in 1918, traces the class back to its European origins. Emilia, commissioned in 1929 by Senator Giovanni Agnelli, adds an Italian chapter of her own. Together they round out a fleet spanning nearly a century of design, a fitting tribute for a regatta marking forty years of Vele d'Epoca di Imperia.
