Established in Venice in 1911, as Yacht Club Veneziano.

Nel 1919, a seguito di un messaggio, il cui originale è conservato nella Sede della Compagnia, diretto da Gabriele D’Annunzio all’On. Giovanni Giuriati, allora Vicepresidente del Circolo, lo Yacht Club Veneziano assunse l’attuale denominazione di Compagnia della Vela, le cui iniziali corrispondono al motto, anch’esso indicato dal Poeta, Custodi, Domine, Vigilantes.

Nel dicembre 1933, con brevetto del Re Vittorio Emanuele III, venne confermato alla Compagnia della Vela il privilegio di caricare il Guidone Sociale dello Stemma Reale con Corona e l’onore di battere la Bandiera Nazionale da Guerra, con relative concessioni ed esenzioni, privilegio di cui già godeva lo Yacht Club Veneziano sin dalla sua costituzione.

The club yacht called Dux, 12 meters SI formula 1906, cutter-rigged with gaff sails and a crew of only members, won some of the most prestigious offshore races in the decade 1929-1939, among which we should particularly remember the definitive conquest in 1929 of the well known Copa del Rey, still preserved in the Club Office, following an heroic regatta that saw the Dux victorious even in real time over many stronger competitors on the Pollena-Barcelona route. The news tell that the opponents themselves were stunned and admired by the audacity of some maneuvers. Other cruises with the Dux are also remarkable, such as the 1930 Venice-Constantinople-Venice on the Venetian galleys route and the Venice-Tripoli and return in 1933.

In the immediate post-war time, some of our Members aboard the yacht Vento Perso, designed by Artu’ Chiggiato, a club member who was internationally renowned as technician and founding member of the USVI, crossed the South Atlantic, getting Rio de Janeiro by sail.

In 1965 another yacht, called Leone d’Oro, built personally by Member Alex Carozzo aboard the ship on which he served, sailed crossing from Japan to San Francisco by himself, covering almost three thousand miles in 55 days. The story was described by Carozzo in a successful book.

Dodo, a prominent member of the Compagnia della Vela, attended the Seoul Olympic Games in Star class with Alfio Peraboni as bowman, taking the fifth place.

Carozzo in 1990 again, with a six-meter sailing dinghy called Zentime, traveled alone on the route of Christopher Columbus from the Canary Islands to Central America.

In 1990 the first Moro di Venezia was launched, with which the Member Raul Gardini launched the challenge for the America’s Cup in 1992. During that time all of Italy passionately followed our Moro di Venezia, until the fantastic victory of the Louis Vuitton Cup that opened the door to the challenge with the defender of San Diego America3, which ended 4-1 in favor of the Americans. It was the first time in the history of the America’s Cup that an Italian sailing team has accomplished this prestigious result, and it is also the first time that a challenger has won a regatta in the America’s Cup final.

The 2 Club members Lauretta Gavagnin (current President of the Board of Commanders) and Vincenzo Scarpa sail around the world with their boat “Messer Polo”. With the burgee of the Compagnia della Vela on board, they left the island of San Giorgio, first taking part in the “America 500” regatta on the five hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America and then continuing around the world. It lasted three years, three months and 11 days, visiting 26 countries through a navigation of 26,536 nautical miles.

2011 is the year of the first century from the foundation of the Compagnia della Vela. On March 21, 2011, an official celebration was held at the Hotel Bauer, where the Venetian Yacht Club was founded. In June, the new nautical operations on the Island of San Giorgio was launched, where the main office was set up and moved from the San Marco site, which remained the clubhouse for members with restaurant service. A guesthouse was opened on San Giorgio for athletes, members of the Club and twinned clubs. The 100 anniversary was celebrated throughout 2011 with a series of events and the publication of a special book, edited by the member Corrado Scrascia.

Today the Compagnia della Vela has more than 600 members, and is a reference for Italian sailing and beyond. It has a competitive team of over 35 boys of the Optimist and ILCA classes, organizes national and international regattas including the Veleziana, which reached its XVII edition in 2024, in which approximately 300 boats participate, challenging each other starting from the sea and arriving in front of the Piazzetta San Marco.