About Francesca
Italian by birth, and now residing in Utah, USA with her wife and daughter, Francesca Clapcich’s career has taken her from the Mediterranean shores of Trieste in Italy to the biggest stages of professional sport. She has twice represented her country at the Olympic Games, is a World Champion, European Champion, Italian Sailor of the Year, the first Italian to win The Ocean Race, a CrossFit Coach, triathlete, and ski instructor.
A trail-blazer
Francesca is the only Italian to win The Ocean Race - the world’s longest and toughest team sporting event - competing with 11th Hour Racing Team in 2023. She is also the first female Italian to compete in the notoriously challenging Solitaire du Figaro - a solo multi-stage sprint around the coastline of France - where she was presented with the Fighting Spirit award.
A trail-blazer from the first day she started sailing, aged 11, at her local yacht club in Trieste, within three years she was called up to be part of the Italian Sailing Federation’s Olympic program. After studying nautical construction in high school, Francesca went on to study for a degree in sports science at San Raffaele University in Rome, with a thesis on Olympic Performance.
After graduating, she joined the Italian Air Force in their elite athlete program, where she served for nine years, finishing as a Senior Airman. She regularly represented the armed forces at national and international institutional events, while having the opportunity to race full-time.
Pro sailing career
Francesca campaigned for the Olympic Games for 12 years, representing Italy initially in the single-handed Laser Radial Class, then moved to the double-handed 49erFX. At the London Olympic Games in 2012, she finished 19th in her Laser, and in Rio-de-Janeiro in 2016 she came 5th in the 49erFX Class as crew for Giulia Conti.
Her love of sport and sailing has taken her around the world twice with The Ocean Race, first in the 2017-18 edition with Turn the Tide on Plastic, and then in the 2022-23 edition she was part of the winning crew onboard 11th Hour Racing Team.
Life at home
Married to former Olympic and round-the-world sailor, Sally Barkow, Francesca and Sally are mothers to their daughter, Harriet.
When not sailing, sitting still is an anathema for Francesca! She is a qualified ski instructor at home in Park City, Utah, she’s a CrossFit and weight-lifting coach, and volunteers as an Emergency Medical Technician in her community for youth events.
Trilingual in Italian, English, and Spanish, she is also working hard on her French!
Her community
Alongside her passion for performance sport, Francesca thrives on creating change for underrepresented communities.
She sits on the board of the Park City Task Force, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights in the community, building programs and events to expand the outreach of the organization, creating a safe place and access to support resources, sport and the outdoors for everyone in the region.
Sailing has changed my life completely. It’s brought me travel, adventure, lifelong friends, and a deep knowledge of the power of my body and my mind. I want to share my lifelong passion for sailing and give other people the chance to experience what is so special about the sport, and ensure they too can be part of a community that is safe and welcoming to everyone.
— Francesca Clapcich
