The Barcolana became the Guinness World Record holder in February 2019 when it was named "the greatest sailing race" with its 2,689 boats and over 16,000 sailors on the starting line.

The Barcolana was founded in 1969 thanks to the initiative of the yacht club Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano in Trieste.

It has always taken place on the second Sunday of October to end the season of the yacht club, and therefore its full name is Barcolana Autumn Cup Regatta.

Every year about 25,000 sailors take part in the race and more than 250,000 spectators watch the Barcolana from the Trieste seafront, known as the Rive, and from the Karst highland.

Thanks to the particular conformation of the territory around the Gulf of Trieste, spectators can enjoy the race from numerous observation points as if sitting in a natural “sailing stadium”.