Matteo Fiorini wins the 43rd Vele di Pasqua

With the European 'A' Cat season getting underway, Pier Faccin sends us this report. 

Cesenatico - Italy: Matteo Fiorini wins the 43rd edition of A-Class Vele di Pasqua 

The 43rd edition of the Vele di Pasqua has just ended in Cesenatico , a kind of festival of sailing, which brought together 42 crews, some of them coming from Austria, Germany and Czech Republic. Four different classes of catamarans were admitted to the event: in addition to the A Class, at their first National Regatta,  also racing were the Tornado, the Hobie Cat 16 'and the new monotype S9, a small foiling catamaran designed by Michele Petrucci. 

Under the careful direction of the Race Committee President,  Angelo Insabato, all 6 planned races were completed and also thanks to favourable weather conditions throughout the period: bright sun, above-average temperatures and east wind with a strength from 6 to 10 knots, plus a quite smooth sea. The only exception was Saturday's third race, which was held under a light rain and an incipient storm, which developed into a downpour when all crews were already onshore. 

This edition of Vele di Pasqua ended up with Matteo Fiorini, from Circolo Vela Cesenatico, in first position, winner of three races, with his classic Bimare V1R. In second position, the winner of the last edition, Giuseppe Colombo, from Unione Velica Maccagno, which he sailed a flying A Cat Exploder platform, Fiberfoam mast and Ashby sail. 

Matteo, the youngest helmsman of the A Class fleet, was already leading the overall standings after five races with a 2 point margin over Giuseppe. In the last decisive race he had been able to administer his advantage with a very tactical race which saw him victorious. 

For sure, the prevalence of light winds have favoured the traditional non-flying platforms like the Bimare V,1 which allowed Andrea Ciclamini to finish in third place. After those sailors of the Circolo Vela Rio Pircio, Stefano Casadei from Adriatico Wind Club and Marco Gaeti from Associazione Velica Bracciano, both winning of one race each, for the top five standing. The complete rankings are available on the website of the Congrega Velisti (http://ww.congregavelisti.it). 

The next National Regatta event will be organized by the Centro Vela Sunset in Calambrone, near Livorno, on the 29th and 30th of April. Additional details are posted on the website of Cat A Italia (http://classeaitalia.it/calendario-regate).