Pandora, formerly Anna, is a rare wooden replica of a 19th-century postal vessel. Built in Russia in 1994 by the Grumant shipyard, she is rigged as a topsail schooner (goletta a gabbiole). In 1996 she reached the Mediterranean.
After being seized and sunk, Pandora was purchased at auction in Genoa, restored, and subsequently used for sail training cruises with students of the Italian Sail Training Association.
In 2007, 2010 and 2013 she won, respectively, the Mediterranean Tall Ships Race, the Garibaldi Tall Ships Regatta and the Lycamobile Mediterranean Tall Ships Regatta—international tall ship races organised by Sail Training International (STI).
Today, Pandora continues to sail under the pennant of the Traditional Sailing Association, of which she is the flagship. Each year, hundreds of children, teenagers and young graduates step aboard her deck, taking part in educational projects dedicated to sail training and life at sea.
Pandora, goletta a gabbiole lunga circa 30 metri, sembra uscita da un lungometraggio di avventure sui mari. Proprio per le sue caratteristiche è stato scelto come set galleggiante per alcuni film, da ‘Elisa di Rivombrosa’ a ‘Hornblower’, basato sui romanzi di C.S. Forrester, al film ‘N io e Napoleone’ di Paolo Virzì. Nel 2022, in Sicilia, diventa set per la serie “I leoni di Sicilia’ di Genovese. Pur essendo stata costruita da solo 30 anni ha già subìto quello che di solito accade a imbarcazioni con 70-80 anni di vita: lunghe navigazioni d’altura, abbandono della barca da parte dell’equipaggio, sequestro, affondamento, recupero, nuovo restauro e nuove avventure.
