The 5.50 Meters S.I. (International Tonnage) Rabicano is a racing boat built in wood and launched in 1967 at Dario Salata's Velscaf shipyard based on a design by the Swede Einar Ohlson. Don't be fooled by the acronym "5.50 Meters", which does not indicate the length of the hull, around 9 meters, but rather the result of a tonnage formula that allows the hulls of this Class to compete in real time without applying corrective compensation. Rabicano is armed by the Barca Lariana Museum Foundation of Pianello del Lario (www.museobarcalariana.it), in the province of Como, chaired by the Milanese Ferdinando Zanoletti. “This year”, he declared, “precisely on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of this sailing class born in England in 1949, we have decided to plan Rabicano's participation in a series of important competitions in Italy and abroad. Any sponsors and supporters can share this objective and accompany the Museum's initiative until October". On board there will always be a young, entirely female crew, under the age of 30, composed of Gaia Pizzini and Maddalena Rossi from Milan with Arancia Malaspina from Dongo (CO). The name of the boat comes from Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, where Rabicano is Astolfo's horse "... so light that it leaves no footprint on the sand or snow and when it gallops across a meadow it doesn't break even a blade of grass ... ”.

Rabicano's 2024 sailing tour began in May in the Gulf of La Spezia with participation in the Italian Open 5.50 and the "Vele d'Epoca dell'Alto Tirreno - Trofeo Valdettaro", where Gaia (rudder), Maddalena (tailer) and Arancia (mainsail and tactics) came close to the podium. The next participations include the transfer to Venice from 28 to 30 June to race at the Enoshima Trophy during the "Trofeo Principato di Monaco a Venezia - Le Vele d'Epoca in Laguna" regattas. Enoshima is the name of the Japanese island where the sailing competitions of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics were held. The trophy, created on Lake Como in 2012 on the initiative of a German Olympian who had regattated in Enoshima, is held every two years and we run with the old Olympic regulations. From 28 August to 6 September Rabicano will race in the waters of the Atlantic at the 5.50 World Championship, organized by the Yacht Club de l'Odet in Benodet, Brittany. On this occasion he will also compete in the Royal Kaag Classic Cup, a trophy reserved for classic boats launched before 1970. After returning to Italy, on 28 and 29 September it will be the turn of the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni Trophy in Bellagio, the pearl of Lake Como, organized by the Pescallo Sailing Club. Finally, from 17 to 20 October, Rabicano will close the season on the occasion of the 19th Viareggio Historical Sails Meeting, where he will race in front of the beaches of Versilia with the Apuan Alps in the background. A sailing tour that promises to give emotions and which will take place in collaboration with Phi!Number, a sports services and consultancy company in the world of sailing and regattas.

In 2024 the 5.50 Meter S.I. sailing class (International Measurement) turns 75. Born in London on 28 October 1949, over the decades it has seen over 800 hulls launched all over the world, divided into the categories Classic (launched before 1970), Evolution (launched between 1 January 1970 and 31 December 1993) , Modern (built since 1994), designed by great architects such as Arvid Laurin, Raymond Hunt, Alfred Edward "Bill" Luders Jr., the Swedish Ohlson brothers, Henri Copponex, Britton Chance Jr. and Olin Stephens. Among the Italian builders, the Ligurian shipyards Velscaf of Dario Salata in Rapallo and Baglietto of Varazze. The sailing rig is a Bermudan sloop and it is raced with a crew of three. The 5.50 Meters S.I. they were an Olympic boat on the occasion of five editions of the Games, from Helsinki (Finland) 1952 to Mexico City 1968. The victory at the 1965 World Class Championship achieved in Naples by Grifone (1963) of the Navy, helmed by admiral and hero of Italian sailing Agostino “Tino” Straulino (1914-2004) during his period in command of the training ship Amerigo Vespucci. To the Milanese engineer Andrea Rossi, former Councilor and member of AIVE (Italian Association of Vintage Sails), the merit of having recently created the volume "The 5.5 Meters of International Tonnage" (Guido Tommasi Editore), which has become a precious text of reference. The current president of the Italian 5.50 Class is the Roman count Fabrizio Cavazza, owner of Volpina (ITA-33), a 1960 Baglietto designed by Giulio Cesare Carcano.