Three anniversaries are converging on the same stretch of water in 2026.
Vele d'Epoca, the classic yacht regatta held during Sailing Week, turns 40 that year. It coincides with the 130th anniversary of Italy's Cantieri Sangermani yard, and the 70th birthday of Artica II, a historic yawl built by the yard for the Italian Navy.
Sangermani boats have raced at the Vele d'Epoca since the very first edition back in 1986. For this milestone year, the yard is going all in: four boats entered, a dedicated exhibition space telling the company's history, and, from 2 to 6 September, a personal appearance from Giacomo Sangermani, the fourth generation now running the yard alongside his brother Filippo.
The story starts in Liguria, with timber and tide. The yard's founding traces back to 1896, when Ettore Sangermano, known as "Dorin", built a small pleasure boat as a gift for his newborn son. That single gesture grew into one of Italian yacht building's most recognisable names.
Through the 1950s and 60s the yard built its international reputation, working alongside some of the most respected naval architects of the twentieth century and producing boats for the Italian Navy's competitive sailing programme.
Racing has always been Sangermani's proving ground, a place to test hull behaviour and sharpen design and construction. That culture of craftsmanship and seamanship ties the yard to the Vele d'Epoca.
The exhibition space at Sailing Week 2026 will let visitors get close to that history. Images, documents and other material will walk people through more than a century of boatbuilding tradition, a body of knowledge that keeps evolving without losing its roots.
Giacomo Sangermani will be on hand from 2 to 6 September to talk through it in person, along with the yard's evolution and the challenges he and Filippo are tackling today.
"We are particularly pleased with the invitation we received," said Giacomo Sangermani. "Being present within an event that for forty years has promoted and celebrated the beauty of classic seamanship means having the opportunity to share our experience with owners, enthusiasts and visitors who recognise in the culture of the sea, in shipbuilding tradition and in craftsmanship a heritage of knowledge, skills and values that deserves to be preserved and passed on to future generations."
Four boats carry the Sangermani name into 2026: Artica II, Lilli II, Sandra and Masa Yume.
Artica II carries particular weight. Launched in 1956, the historic Italian Navy yawl turns 70 in 2026, a boat tied directly to the navy's sailing programme and to the era when the yard built its name in international racing.
Lilli II, an elegant 1953 sloop, joins Sandra (1972) and Masa Yume (1985) alongside her. Four boats, four different eras, one shared building tradition.
