A total of 138 boats took to the starting line in Sanremo at 12:00 noon on 16 June, in perfect conditions, with 15 knots from the easterly that favoured a beautiful start and with the start procedures that saw first the 18 large maxis (boats over 18 metres long) in group 0, then in the second round the 64 boats in group 1 and, to close the fleet, the smaller boats in group 2. It was a spectacular start, with the line set a few hundred metres from the breakwater of Sanremo's old harbour and a disengagement buoy set about 1.5 miles to the east; from there the boats were able to hoist the large asymmetrical boats and then quickly disappear towards the first mandatory passage, the Cala del Forte buoy. Which is also the last reference point of the Italian part of the race, since the second buoy of this unprecedented Rolex Giraglia is positioned at Chretienne, in front of the Rade d'Agay, which is about 15 miles from the Gulf of Saint-Tropez and where a committee boat of the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez took the passages of all the boats. If the regatta record can be considered safe (set in 2012 by Esimit Europa 2 of Igor Simcic, with a time of 14 hours, 56 minutes and 16 seconds in exceptional conditions), the most heated battle is over the conquest of the 'line honours', with the big 30-metre boats. In addition, live TV coverage continues, with the Rolex Giraglia, for the first time, on the television scene with daily links from sea and land visible on Primocanale - Channel 10 digital terrestrial - and on the Yacht Club Italiano YouTube channel. The Rolex Giraglia 2021 is live every day until 19 June with daily appointments set at 08:00, 13:00 and 18:00. The regatta is organised by the Yacht Club Italiano under the aegis of the Italian Sailing Federation and the Fédération Francaise de Voile and under the patronage of Genoa City Council and the Liguria Region. There is also the continued support of the IMA, the International Maxi Association, which has included the Rolex Giraglia in the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge 2020-2021 and which has envisaged a special prize for the best placed IMA member among the maxis.
