Swiss Open Championship 2024 in Dongo, Lake Como
A great fun event, with some interesting moments for all. Christian Stock reports.
In the end it was a real mud wrestling fight, the Swiss Championship in the beautiful town of Dongo on the north-western shore of Lake Como. For 18 hours, it rained as heavily as you only know it from the tropics, except that the downpours there are over after one or two hours. The meadow on which the almost 45 participating A-Cats were parked, was quickly transformed into a mud pit where professional mud-catchers would have big fun with. Up to their lower legs the sailors sank into mud. The trailers could only be pulled out with an off-road vehicle. Brrr!
But this rather special experience didn't dampen the good mood at the award ceremony since it was preceded by three wonderful days of sailing, which were characterised by the Breva thermal wind. During training on Thursday, the finest champagne sailing conditions prevailed under a deep blue sky, as the British like to say when everything is just perfect. At the beginning the wind was around 12 knots, later in the afternoon it picked up to a good 20 knots. So there was something for every sailor.
On the first day of the race, a light veil of clouds already let know that the Breva would not come through quite so strongly. But it was enough for an initial 16 to 18 knots in the first two races, then around 14 knots in the third race. The experienced strong-wind sailors knew how to use the day to their advantage. In the Classics, youngster Moritz Weis once again showed how to sail an A-Cat not only as fast as an arrow upwind, but also pushing it downwind over the course from trapeze. In the foiling category, the well-trained Ticino sailing coach Riccardi Guiliano led the highly talented pack.
After a barbecue in the evening and a fantastic raffle of sailing equipment by the Swiss class association, the second day of racing began with waiting for wind. It was not until the early afternoon that the Breva allowed two races, first at just under 10 knots, later decreasing to 5 knots. As expected, in Classic discipline the light wind experts excelled, especially Jörg Horn from Hamburg, who won the day with a 1st and 2nd place. In the foiling category, Robin Maeder, boat builder at the Scheurer shipyard and Swiss class president, and Italy's best foiling sailor Lamberto Cesari put their vast experience to good use when it comes to getting the boat to fly even in light winds.
In the evening, the heavy rain set in. As expected, there was no usable wind on the third day of the regatta. Furthermore driftwood would have severely damaged the boats. This meant that the results of the previous day remained.
The level of sailing was high in both disciplines, numerous international top guns took the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming World Championship in Punta Ala. In the foiling discipline the well-trained athletes Lamberto Cesari, Robin Maeder and Riccardi Riccardi Guiliano showed how much they will be counted on there. In the Classics, with Moritz Weis and Francesco Mainero were also the young guard on the podium. Only Jörg Horn was able to hold his own with his many years of experience in the A-Cat.
The organising Marvelia Club was in a pleasant way typically Italian: very relaxed, but on the ball when it came to the important things. If it hadn't been for the mud fight, it would have been a dream event. But the sailors were unanimous: we would love to come back here again next year. And then we'll pack up in the dry.
Christian Stock GER 100
