Elegance, exclusivity, attention to detail and prestige materials are values that have characterised Lancia cars and the world of yachting for over a century. Over the last five days the elegant ladies of the sea have been spreading their sails while others have been giving voice to their engines in the waters around Monte Carlo as part of the Monaco Classic Week, the biennial event that is being partnered by Lancia for the first time this year.

The links between Turin-based Lancia and the Monaco Yacht Club are stronger than ever, as demonstrated by the partnership begun last year to renew the historic ties between Lancia and the world of prestige yachting. The historic and suggestive Monaco Classic Week brings together some of the world’s most beautiful and elegant sailing ships and motor yachts for an impressive spectacle indeed. Visible from the Monaco coastline, the week’s events are helping Lancia to confirm its dedication to the values of style, tradition and refinement that it shares with the Monaco Yacht Club and its guests.

At Monte Carlo, Lancia and its guests are benefiting from use of the sailing ship ‘Signora del Vento’ as an exclusive tribune from which to watch the various events. Lancia has accompanied the summer tour of this luxurious sailing ship to prestigious locations around the Tyrrhenian sea, organising events and activities inspired by an “eco-chic” lifestyle. The ship’s visit to Monte Carlo closes a highly successful summer collaboration that has attracted public approval in every port of call.

With over 3000 square metres of canvas under full sail, a bridge capable of accommodating up to 200 persons, a 200 square metre restaurant, a large solarium and 27 luxurious cabins, the ‘Signora del Vento’ continues to represent the “eco-chic” lifestyle that Lancia supports and promotes. In Monaco, Lancia has been offering its guests the chance to experience a lifestyle in which luxury is combined with respect for the sea and the rest of our environment.

Olivier Francois, CEO of Lancia Automobiles and Brand Marketing Communication Manager explains: “Taking part in the Monaco Classic Week is a great opportunity for Lancia. The week is an event that emphasises the traditional links between our company and the yachting world with which we are so enthusiastically associated. It is a great honour to assist in an event like this, especially as it is being staged by the Monaco Yacht Club, with whom we have been in partnership for over a year. The Monaco Classic Week is a concentration of exclusivity, taste and refinement, not to mention all the style of tradition. Lancia shares this same style, and over the years has embodied it in all its cars, to the satisfaction of a public that is increasingly aware of quality and desirous of luxury. This year our partnership with the Monaco Yacht Club has enabled us to celebrate together the centenary of the Tuiga and the 25th anniversary of the presidency of HRH Prince Alberto II, an occasion that is of great importance for Monaco and relevant to the entire international scene. Over the last few days we have been able to admire the world’s most beautiful sailing ships and motor yachts from the bridge of the ‘Signora del Vento’, the historic sailing ship that we have accompanied to all the main ports of call on its summer tour, ending here in Monte Carlo. Our journey with the ‘Signora del Vento’ is further confirmation of Lancia’s association with the sea, and part of our project to link Lancia with the values of an “eco-chic” lifestyle. The presence of the ‘Signora del Vento’ in the port of Monaco has meant that our guests have been able to enjoy the luxury of a stay on board and to enjoy the unmissable experience of watching traditional sailing trials from a unique context. At the end of the regattas, Lancia will be presenting the “Coup de Coeur Elégance et Temperament” award to the crew who have shown a true spirit of seamanship as well as the elegance that should denote a true sailor”.

The programme for the Monaco Classic Week is packed with events associated with sailing traditions and also includes a display, open to the public, of classic automobiles, motorcycles and speed boats, as well as a faithful reproduction of the Blériot XI (the plane that made the first ever crossing of the Channel in 1909). There are also free visits to the Italian training ship ‘Palinuro’ and to the 'Signora del Vento’. The week sees classic yacht racing, manoeuvres and regularity trials for Riva yachts and steam launches, the award of the Belle Classe prize for the best restoration, cookery and elegance competitions, cocktail parties and celebrity evenings.

The Monaco Classic Week also marks another event of fundamental importance for Monaco, to be celebrated during the course of the traditional closing Gala Dinner. This is the centenary of the Tuiga, one of the most famous and fascinating yachts in the world and the flagship of the Monaco Yacht Club in the major international yachting competitions. The event will be celebrated in the presence of Prince Alberto II, who has been president of the Yacht Club for the last 25 years.