47__Azzurra_1985

In 1981 the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda(YCCS) promoted the first Italian challenge for the America’s Cup, two years later, in 1983 the International 12 Metre Class Azzurra arrived and, alongside football (soccer) and Formula 1, the sport of sailing became an Italian obsession.The project was the brainchild of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV and the automotive industrialist Gianni Agnelli of FIAT, and achieved results that would go down in the history books of Italian sailing. Image credit: YCCS

In 1981 the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda(YCCS) promoted the first Italian challenge for the America’s Cup, two years later, in 1983 the International 12 Metre Class Azzurra arrived and, alongside football (soccer) and Formula 1, the sport of sailing became an Italian obsession.The project was the brainchild of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV and the automotive industrialist Gianni Agnelli of FIAT, and achieved results that would go down in the history books of Italian sailing. Image credit: YCCS