For Sebago sport and style share the same language Inside the second edition of the Sebago Rowing Cup

There is something strangely out of place, and precisely for that reason perfectly fitting, about the sight of straw hats, striped shirts and loafers moving along the banks of the Po. For a moment, Turin seems to give way to a New England landscape, somewhere between nautical tradition and relaxed elegance. That is the feeling surrounding the second edition of the Sebago Rowing Cup, held on September 19: a meeting between two seemingly distant worlds, that of a brand founded 80 years ago in Maine and that of its new Italian identity. Since 2017, in fact, Sebago has been part of the BasicNet group, creating a dialogue between the brand’s American heritage and the Italian culture that now shapes its journey.

There is racing on the Po, but the feeling is that of witnessing something that goes beyond a competition. The Sebago Rowing Cup takes the discipline and tradition of international university rowing and places them in a setting where sport, style and socialising naturally coexist. Nine boats competed along the river throughout the afternoon, while from the banks the race became almost part of the scenery of a day built around a distinct idea of relaxed elegance. In the end, victory went to BSP RZ/HH, the German crew that finished ahead of Oxford and Young Stars Torino.

Completing this almost timeless landscape was the Sebago Boat Tour, the iconic deck shoe-shaped boat that, after travelling across Italy and Europe to celebrate the brand’s 80th anniversary, arrived in Turin. Impossible to miss, it immediately became the most recognisable symbol of the day. Alongside it, the River Center, the new multifunctional hub inaugurated by the City of Turin, hosted Sebago’s new collection, bringing into dialogue what the brand has been with what it wants to become. On one side, the heritage, tradition and pursuit of elegance that have shaped its identity; on the other, a more contemporary vision built without losing sight of its origins.

Now in its second edition, the Sebago Rowing Cup already seems to have found its own identity. Not only in the way it is conceived, but above all in how it brings together elements that would normally follow separate paths: the tension of competition, the tradition of rowing and an idea of elegance far removed from ostentation. Here, style is not a code to be displayed, but something recognised in the details, the gestures and the people who inhabit this world. Perhaps that is the event’s real strength: turning a rowing race into a shared sense of belonging, where sport and style ultimately speak the same language.