Danish Boat Debuts at Centomiglia: BB10 Skippered by Hans Rainer Komp

It is a Danish boat that holds the first registration of the 50th Centomiglia Velica on Lake Garda. It is the BB10 monotype skippered by Hans Rainer Komp.

History and Protagonists of the Centomiglia

Thirty years after the first Danish participant in the Centomiglia: Paul Bert Elvstrom, an athlete who made sailing history at the Olympics by winning four gold medals across four different classes. Elvstrom arrived at Garda in 1970.

He competed with the Soling «Ciccio», the new Olympic class with which he had just won his latest World Championship. Although he did not win, this silent gentleman, considered the «Pelé» of sailing, once again demonstrated great class in that occasion.

Elvstrom’s participation is one of the chapters narrated in the volume «Centomiglia, 50 Years of Sailing», a 226-page collection of old black-and-white images dedicated to this fascinating and unique regatta.

Fifty years of challenges, a record for a sailing race that few can boast both in Italy and in Europe. At the «Cento», the protagonists will be maxi-libera boats that arrive after navigating the major lakes of Europe, from Chiemsee to Bodensee.

Boats and Ongoing Races

Among them stand out «Raffica», captained by Desenzanese Luca Valerio, and «Principessa», entrusted to the champion from Malcesine Roberto Benamati. The long match race between these two «leading ladies» continued in Malcesine, where «Principessa» won, and will resume next weekend at Salò (August 12-13) during the fourth stage of «Velaevento».

Then, on August 27th, the 34th Riccardo Gorla Trophy will take place, the unofficial prelude to the «Cento». An exhilarating challenge that will unfold entirely in the upper Garda; from Bogliaco in Gargnano to Capo Reamol in Limone, beneath the peaks of Tremalzo, before crossing into Veronese waters with passages of Malcesine, Acquafresca, and Brenzone.

Start and Finish of the Centomiglia

The Centomiglia itself will set sail at 8:30 a.m. on September 2nd. A chapter of the great book of international sailing yet to be written. First, the fleet will face the lower lake, then sail close to the rocks, threading through the funnel that narrows the Benaco between the Baldo and the Riviera dei Limoni, before descending back to Bogliaco.

An achievement equivalent to a long-held dream… Centomiglia.

Luca Belligoli