Wendy Schmidt Returns to Barcolana as 52m ELFJE Shows Her Cruising Side

Barcolana return joins racing with ocean outreach

Superyacht owner and sailing campaigner Wendy Schmidt returned to Trieste for Barcolana58, reconnecting one of the world’s largest participation regattas with her broader work on ocean research and public education. The October 2026 programme included meetings with young people taking part in the Ocean Research Challenge and a visit to the Deep Blue Exploration Zone in the city’s waterfront village, according to the event organisers.

Schmidt competed at this year’s event on a Melges 24, not aboard her much larger 52-metre sailing superyacht Elfje. The distinction is important because photographs of Elfje and Deep Blue illustrate different parts of her sailing career; neither should be used to suggest that the Royal Huisman ketch lined up in the 2026 mass-start race.

Her involvement follows a historic result in 2022, when the 26-metre racing yacht Deep Blue won Barcolana54 under Schmidt’s helm, becoming the first yacht with a woman skipper to take the overall title. That victory also secured the Generali Women in Sailing prize and connected the high-profile sporting achievement with the wider participation of women in offshore and inshore sailing.

How the 52m Elfje fits the wider story

Alongside her racing activities, Schmidt owns the Royal Huisman-built Elfje, delivered by the Dutch yard in 2014. The 52-metre ketch is a different type of sailing machine: a long-distance cruising superyacht with an emphasis on energy management, comfort and the ability to operate in remote regions rather than a stripped-out regatta platform.

Royal Huisman describes Elfje as a NextGEN ketch and credits the naval design to Hoek Design Naval Architects, with interior architecture by Redman Whiteley Dixon. The builder lists a nine-metre beam and a lifting keel that changes the draft from approximately 4.5 metres to seven metres, a substantial range which influences the anchorages and ports the yacht can enter.

The yacht’s systems include variable-speed generators and lithium battery storage as part of a design philosophy aimed at reducing wasted energy and noise during cruising. None of these features makes the 2014 vessel a newly launched hybrid project, but they illustrate how a sailing owner can link careful passage planning with machinery operating strategy and greater autonomy.

Elfje’s rig and sail-handling equipment were also developed with performance in mind. The owner wanted a yacht that could cover long distances efficiently and take part in sailing events without sacrificing the accommodation and equipment needed for international exploration, according to the builder’s account of the original design brief.

Ocean research becomes part of the waterfront village

At Barcolana58, the Deep Blue Exploration Zone brought images, technology and scientific storytelling into the public setting of Trieste. Schmidt met a group of United World College students who discussed projects developed through the Ocean Research Challenge, which encourages young people to propose practical responses to marine and ecological problems.

The experience extends beyond the spectacle of fast yachts crossing a finish line. A major public regatta can reach families and school groups who may otherwise have little direct contact with ocean science, introducing subjects such as seafloor exploration, biodiversity, marine pollution and the technologies researchers use when working far from shore.

Schmidt’s work through the Schmidt Ocean Institute and Schmidt Marine Technology Partners forms a separate part of her relationship with the sea from ownership or yacht racing. Both initiatives support the scientific understanding of oceans, and the conversations in Trieste emphasised the value of bringing younger generations into that work rather than confining the subject to research vessels and specialist conferences.

A broader lesson for superyacht owners

For an owner of an ocean-going superyacht, the relationship between sailing and the marine environment is immediate. Crew and guests see coastal ecosystems at close range, while fuel consumption, waste management and the choice of destinations all have operational consequences that cannot be solved simply by fitting a new item of equipment.

An event such as Barcolana provides an opportunity to discuss those issues in front of a wide public audience. Schmidt’s example also shows how a sizeable private sailing programme can remain connected with one-design regattas, education and a philanthropic research agenda, even when the vessels involved differ dramatically in scale.

The official 2026 organisers’ account confirms her visit, student discussions and the ocean exhibition, while Royal Huisman’s technical information establishes Elfje’s separate construction and design history. No claim is being made that the ketch was newly delivered, raced in Trieste this year or received a new technology certification during the regatta.

Barcolana58 concluded on 11 October, leaving a week of sporting activity and science engagement that speaks to both experienced sailors and people discovering the sea for the first time. The most lasting connection may be between the excitement of the race and the willingness of visitors to explore what lies beneath the water around the boats.