Lido di Camaiore A Cat regatta won by Alberto Farnesi in tough conditions.

Alberto Farnesi wins the A-Class regatta in Lido di Camaiore in big winds and big seas.  Pier Faccin reports.

The second stage of the National A Cat season was organized by Club Nautico Versilia and by Assonautica Lucca-Versilia. It took place in Viareggio and was characterized by some very changeable weather conditions. Eventually Alberto Farnesi was the winner. 

The start of the race was quite problematic: the 25 crews realized soon, just on the starting line, that they would face quite a hard day. Indeed the southern wind which, in the beginning of the day was about 14-16 knots, suddenly increased up to 20. Some crews then decided to go back ashore; others to start, despite the very bad conditions. Among them, a lot capsized, while a few had a material failures. At the end only six survivors actually managed to finish the race in this order: Alberto Farnesi, Stefano Sirri, Marco Gaeti, Giovanni Calabria, Fernando Zara e Andrea Ferrari. Then the Race Committee postponed all the racing for the day. The epic part had been the last upwind leg of the race with gusts up to 25 knots and waves of 1.8m. 

On the next day, the weather conditions were definitely better. At 11 o’clock all the crews were already in the race area, ready to start. After one hour the first race had begun, with a slight southern wind that went up to 8-10 knots. Alberto Farnesi won, after him Stefano Casadei and Daniele Menegatti, 

The second race was held with the same wind, only stronger, up to 17-18 knots. Stefano Farnesi won again, since these conditions suit him better. After him was Daniele Menegatti, Giovanni Calabria and Stefano Casadei. At 15:10 started the third race. The wind was going down, in fact the race finished very late in the afternoon. Only eight crews actually carried out to the end. It was a pity not to have some of the leading crews as Casadei, Menegatti and Sirri who easily could have reached the podium. 

Stefano Farnesi was the winner, and followed by Luca Micolitti from Unione Velica Maccagno and third Fernando Zara from Centro Velico Sunset. After them Pasquale Delogu, Beppe Colombo, Andrea Ferrari, Daniel Pascucci, Stefano Sirri, Vittorio Santerini and Daniele Menegatti for the first ten positions. 

Amongst the crews two women raced too: Paola Longhi, from Unione Velica Maccagno, she finished 14th, and the beginner Margherita Di Grazia from Società Velica Viareggina, finishing 20th. 

Finally, noticeable is the fact that five crews were from Unione Velica Maccagno, resulting in the club with the most participants in this National Regatta. This comes from the great work of Giuseppe Colombo, who is also on the board of Cat A Italia. 

Next appointment will take place in Calambrone, Centro Vela Sunset, 30th April.