2025 Swiss A-Cat Championship in Dongo / Lake Como

A challenging weekend on Como for the Swiss Nats.  Chris Stock reports.

Sailing is a sport that requires a wide range of skills: physical fitness, agility, endurance, technical understanding, knowledge of the rules, meteorological knowledge, strategic thinking and much more. However, there are two other key skills that were particularly important at this year's Swiss A-Cat Championship in Dongo on beautiful Lake Como: patience and frustration tolerance.

The reason for this was difficult weather conditions with lots of clouds, occasional rain and a steady north wind. The usual thermal wind from the south, known as the ‘Breva’ on Lake Como, did not form at all or only weakly. Only on the training day before the regatta did a strong Breva wind with speeds of up to 18 knots blow, which many sailors used to enjoy exhilarating rides on their hot racing machines.

Forty-two sailors and two female sailors from six countries gathered for the championship at the Marvelia Club in Dongo on the western shore of Lake Como. The club grounds are cramped, the slipway is located on a public promenade with car traffic, and chaos is inevitable at any time. But as is so often the case in Italy, somehow everything always works out. Especially since the staff at Marvelia are always in a good mood and – very important when there is no wind – the bar always serves delicious, well-chilled drinks. Socialising is very important at this club, and that's a good thing.

On the first day of the regatta, there was no wind all day, so we had plenty of time to chat with our European friends about this and that. For example, about the rodrigging on the shrouds and forestays of Lamberto Cesari's boat: according to him, it has a diameter of 1.8 mm. It looks extremely good and fast, but also dangerous... you wouldn't want to come into close contact with it during a nosedive.

Another topic was Vladislav Ptasnik's new mast: his carbon company CompoTech has developed a mast that Vladi is currently testing on his boat. The mast is made of high modulus carbon, is slightly wider and shorter than other masts and therefore has less surface area. It is said to have the following advantages: high lateral stiffness with similar aft bending behaviour to a conventional A-Cat mast, as well as a weight saving of two kilograms. The sail track is produced in a 3D printer and then glued on. The finish of the mast was not yet perfect, but anyone familiar with CompoTech products knows that they will get it right.

In the evening, a lottery organised by the Swiss class association created a good atmosphere. The first prize was two tickets for the SailGP event on Lake Geneva next weekend. Speaking of patience: the second day of racing at the SailGP event in Saint Tropez, which took place at the same time, also had to be cancelled, but in this case due to too much wind. There's always something...

On the second day of the Swiss Championship, the sailors were finally sent out onto the water at midday. At first, there was a northerly wind, but it was not strong enough to allow a regular race to take place. So all that remained was to wait for the Breva, which arrived very late and was also weak. What was that about patience and frustration tolerance? At least a shortened race could be finished at the last windward gate.

In the Open class, Lamberto Cesari (ITA 13) showed that championship-worthy sailors have to be able to do the full programme and also be fast in light winds. This is a skill that Lamberto shares with the two world champions Kuba Surowic and Ravi Parent – which is why he is now sailing on a par with these two champs. In the Classics, King George from Ammersee, alias Georg Reutter, gave the other competitors no chance thanks to his outstanding boat speed.

On the third day of racing, Sunday, everyone was under pressure. On the one hand, three races had to be sailed in order to achieve a valid championship. On the other hand, many participants had a long journey home ahead of them, as they had to return to work on Monday morning. No, not all A-Cat sailors are already retired.   So the sailors were sent out onto the water for a first start at 10 a.m. in a north wind. Unfortunately, this proved to be too late, as the initially pleasant north wind steadily decreased, allowing only one light wind race to be completed.

Given the now sunny and beautiful blue sky, everyone assumed that a magnificent Breva would develop. But after the north wind died down, nothing happened for almost two hours. The sailors drifted around in the calm, some took off their wetsuits and showed some skin, some took a little nap or enjoyed the beautiful scenery. But the clock ticked relentlessly, once again testing the sailors' patience.

At some point, the Breva relented and picked up speed. In the following race, it blew at around eight knots, and even more in some wind fields. The foilers were finally able to foil and the Classics could sail downwind in the trapeze. In the third and final race of this long day, the Breva slowed down again and turned unusually sharply to the left. Those who recognised this in time were able to make up many metres.

After a total of four races, the worthy winners were determined: in the Open class, Lamberto Cesari gave the other competitors no chance of catching him with four first places. He is one of the very few exclusive competitors in the Open top league worldwide who can take whole laps off the others. Swiss champion was Riccardo Guilani, sailing coach from Ticino, who is particularly fast in stronger winds. Benjamin Oudot from the large sailing gang in Bevaix on Lake Neuchâtel took third place.

In the Classics, regatta winner Georg Reutter made things more exciting than Lamberto: he skipped the fourth race so that he could make the long journey home in good time. This would have given second-placed Christian Stock the chance to take the lead with a first place in this race. But instead, he had to show frustration tolerance: shortly before the start, the eyelet on the traveller block broke, and the emergency repair with a Dyneema strap meant that the mainsail could no longer be operated properly. So he had to settle for second place. Mathieu Verrier from Lake Geneva became Swiss champion with third place. He is extremely fast in stronger winds thanks to his rig, which is only eight metres high, and has also significantly improved his light wind skills recently.

After the award ceremony, the mentally exhausted but happy sailors made their way home. Next year, dear Lake Como, you are welcome to show us your best side. Not that we are losing patience with you.