ACI brought together the world’s best sailors with the Swan Croatia Challenge regatta in Croatia and presented the best of the Croatian Adriatic to the nautical community.

For the second year in a row, the nautical dream week was held in Croatia. Organized by ACI and ACI Saila, Split hosted the Swan Croatia Challenge regatta, which opened this year’s ClubSwan regatta season. The Split regatta was also the premiere regatta for The Nations Leagues 2023. On this occasion, the world’s best sailors gathered again in Split, who replaced destinations such as Monte Carlo, St. Tropez or Porto Cervo, a town under Marjan. With this successfully held sports event, Split and Croatia confirmed that they belong to the very top of world nautical, but also that they stand alongside the world’s most exclusive sailing destinations. The overall victory at the Swan Croatia Challenge regatta after four days was won by the Monaco crew G Spot, who dominated all five races.

Pictures of Split’s waters once again traveled the world, and the town under Marjan became a nautical center for a week

Another great sailing show was successfully completed in Split. This year, the town under Marjan had the honor of opening this year’s ClubSwan season with the Swan Croatia Challenge regatta organized by the Labud Sailing Club, which gathered a total of ten crews in the one-design ClubSwan 36. Among the 12 countries, Croatia was represented by the “Go Racing University of Split” crew composed of from the students of the Maritime Faculty in Split, on whose boat the celebrated Croatian Olympian and ACI ambassador Ivica Kostelić sailed on the first day. After four days of the regatta, the victory was won by the crew of the ship “G Spot” from Monaco, who dominated in all five races held. The second and third places were taken by the Italian crews of Cuordileone and Fra Martin, respectively. “With five victories in five sailings in Split, we had a sailing dream week. ACI once again proved to be a great host of the ClubSwan regatta. The city and the people are wonderful, and that is another big reason for coming to the Croatian coast again. Apart from the regatta, we enjoyed great hospitality and beautiful Split”, said the helmsman of the winning sailboat Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio.

For the second year in a row, Croatia stood alongside the most prestigious destinations with a superb organization

“The sea is one of the best “influencers” of Croatian tourism. I am proud that ACI and Croatia showed the best of the Adriatic to sailing crews through the Swan Croatia Challenge. In addition to the great conditions for the regatta, many participants were able to get to know the top Croatian gastronomy and cultural heritage. Once again, it has been shown that such sports events help a lot in the promotion of our tourist assets, and I would especially like to point out that sailing is an extremely ecologically oriented sport, which will further focus on the Adriatic as a sustainable tourism destination”, concluded Kristijan Pavić, President of the Management Board of ACI d.d. After having readily hosted the first European ClubSwan 36 Championship last year, this year Split confirmed its status as an excellent host with another successful regatta. Thus, Croatia once again proudly came into the focus of the world’s most elite sailing scene and announced that it fully expects to host such a competition in the coming seasons as well.

Videos: ClubSwan Racing 

Photos: ClubSwan Racing / Studio Borlenghi