Prosecco Sailing at the NED/GER Nationals at Garda

Great report from the International German and Dutch Championships in Malcesine/Lake Garda. from Chris Stock.

Lake Garda is recognised by the international sailing community as one of the best sailing spots in the world, if not the best. Fantastic scenery, Italian dolce vita, clear fresh water and, above all, fairly reliable thermal winds leave little to be desired. It was therefore due to the attractiveness of the area that almost 80 top international sailors from the A-Cats in the Foiler and Classic divisions came to Malcesine for the joint Dutch and German championships.

The club, located in the Navene district, is a highly sought-after training location for sailing professionals from all over the world. During the championship, for example, you could meet the America's Cup skipper Dylan Fletcher. Or Phil Robertson, Paul Goodison, Richard Schultheis and other top sailors, who were all preparing for the Moth World Championship in July at the same venue.

But back to the A-Cats: the original entry quota of 60 boats was reached within twelve hours after the opening of the online registration portal. A further 20 boats were then able to register. In both disciplines, a significant number of the sailors who had finished at the top of the rankings at the last two World Championships were represented, including the reigning World Champions and Vice World Champions. Only the top sailors from Australia and the USA were actually missing, otherwise almost everyone had come. It was therefore justified that the championship in Malcesine was not just seen as a warm-up for the European Championships taking place a week later in Riccione on the Adriatic coast, but as ‘Part 1 of the Euro’ - with probably more wind than on the Adriatic.

The fact that it would be ‘cosy’ with so many participants on the topographically confined club grounds had given rise to fears. But despite the initial chaos, things went largely smoothly. If there's one thing the people in Italy know how to do, it's improvise and find unbureaucratic solutions. Only the two slipways would have benefited from a few helpers. Launching there with so many boats is a real challenge, especially in strong winds.

In the run-up to the championship, two topics caused a lot of discussion: the introduction of a windward gate (instead of a windward mark and spreader mark) and the Grand Prix finish. Most sailors were in favour of the windward gate after their experience in Malcesine: there are fewer hairy situations than at a normal windward mark and it opens up more tactical options.

The Grand Prix finish is intended to shorten the waiting times that occur, especially for the foiling boats, due to the enormous differences in speed between the front and back half of the fleet. After the first boat crosses the finish line, a Grand Prix flag is set and the lapped sailors can then skip the last lap and return directly to the start area after passing the leeward gate and finishing there. The enervatingly long breaks between races can thus be shortened by 20 minutes or more. This has been successfully practised in the Moth class for years.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of confusion with the Grand Prix finish on the first race day in Malcesine. This was mainly due to the fact that the A-Cats were sailing in two divisions in two starting groups and with two class flags. The foilers started 7 minutes before the classics, both had three laps to sail. The sailing instructions said nothing about the Grand Prix flag being set with a class flag and the Grand Prix finish then only applying to this class. Numerous Classics saw the Grand Prix flag shortly before completing the second lap and finished at the leeward gate. This would have made sense in order to minimise the waiting time for the first foilers.

However, the race committee interpreted this differently and assumed that the Classics would have to sail a third round as long as their first sailor had not yet finished. As a result, there were numerous DNFs in the results list - annoying for those who were far ahead in some cases and still picked up a discard in the very first race. A request for redress was rejected by the jury for purely formal reasons. It can be seen as an admission by the Race Committee that the sailing instructions were not well thought out on this point, as they were then clarified the next day. Above all, however, it was decided that the Classics would only sail two laps from the outset. This worked perfectly, the finish was compact and so all problems would have been solved from the outset.

Conclusion of many sailors on the Grand Prix finish: a) The issue mainly concerns the foilers because of their large gaps. b) If it is done well, it can successfully shorten waiting times and prevent annoying DNFs due to time limit. c) It requires precise sailing instructions and well-organised race committees, as negligence and misunderstandings lead to major problems.

Nine races were sailed on the three fantastic racing days in Malcesine. The first race was a little lighter with 6 to 11 knots, then the Ora bristled up to 12 to 15 knots of basic wind in the course of the afternoon.In some gusts under land it was significantly more. All this in bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures. Lake Garda delivered what the sailors had been promised.

In the first race of the 29 Classics that took part, Jacek Noetzel (POL), who came third in the last world championship, made it clear that there was no way round him this time. Reigning world champion Gustavo Doreste (ESP) and runner-up Scotty Anderson (AUS) stood up to him as best they could. But especially in stronger winds, Jacek had a clear speed advantage with his dynamic sailing style and his Classic AD 3 of the latest design.

At the German Classics, Lars Bunkenberg showed excellent sailing performance on all courses and in all wind forces, even winning one race against the two world champions. He now quite rightly bears the title ‘German Champion A-Cat Classic 2025’. Christian Stock and Georg Reutter fought it out until the end for the runner-up title, strongly pushed by Jörg Horn and Florian Hennig, who also cut a fine figure in this high-quality field. The Dutch Classic Championship was won by Caroline van Beelen, who controlled her Nikita very confidently as usual.

Unfortunately, Lars' victory has a bitter downer. In the penultimate race, there was a violent collision with a foiler in which the bow of Lars' Nikita broke off. Fortunately, there were no injuries.In general, very tight situations repeatedly arose on the course in Malcesine, which had to be shared by the foilers and classics. The approach speeds between the boats are extremely high, sometimes up to 70 kilometres per hour. The positions change so quickly, especially in gusty winds, that even when sailing with foresight, there is suddenly hardly any way to get out of the way.

In addition, on the downwind course there is a blind spot behind the sail on the leeward side (at around 45 degrees next to the course line). Oncoming leeward boats with right of way are quickly overlooked. And if, as is the case off Malcesine, all the sailors push onto the usually favoured left-hand side of the course under land, it becomes doubly tight. This could be remedied by moving the course to the centre of the lake. But then there would no longer be a show for the public in the club bar.

Speaking of show: as usual, the 45 foilers who took part delivered the most spectacular performance. The best of them shot across the course at speeds of up to 30 knots, an impressive sight. World champion Jakub Surowic (POL) led the way, chasing his foiler around the course as stably as if he were travelling on rails. He pierced through wind holes as if they didn't exist, and in the sometimes strong gusts he simply accelerated. Victory was his for the taking, although local hero Lamberto Cesari (ITA) did everything he could to beat him. Thanks to intensive training in recent years, Lamberto is now one of the world's absolute best. In Malcesine, he was so shattered in the sixth race that a forestay broke and he was unable to continue. Former world champion Mischa Heemskerk (NED) lost out to the younger competitors, but clearly enjoyed the regatta and can take comfort in having become Dutch Open champion, followed by the increasingly strong Rutger Krijger and by Thijs Visser.

Rainer Bohrer won the German Open championship title, interestingly in the same 6th place overall as his Classic colleague Lars. Rainer has been training intensively on Lake Garda for many years, which is now paying off, as is the reliability of his equipment, which had let him down badly a few times in previous years. Veteran Bob Baier won the runner-up title, Roeland Wentholt took bronze.

The only female participant among the Open, Katrin Brunner, placed in the midfield thanks to good starts, but as a lightweight she was unable to keep up with the heavier guys in terms of speed. Below 70 kilos, the foilers are even more critical than the classics, where weight is also required on the trapeze in stronger winds in order to keep up on upwind course.

The combination of the German and Dutch championships was very much welcomed by all sailors. There will therefore be a new edition in 2026, but in the north of Holland at the Hellecat Club directly behind the dyke to the North Sea - with correspondingly stable wind conditions. Hopefully there will then be a repeat in Malcesine in 2027, provided the organising Fraglia Vela Malcesine plays along and finds a date in its busy calendar.

In any case, the sailors who found their way to Malcesine this time were unanimous: ‘This was my best sailing in a long time’.

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