Toscolano Maderno Hosts Coppa dell’Oltranza Boat Race Featuring Guido Cappellini

In grand style, yesterday in Toscolano Maderno, the boat racing meeting was officially launched, set to take place on Saturday, October 7, and Sunday, October 8, centered around the “Coppa dell’Oltranza.” Guido Cappellini, of Laserline, five-time world champion of Formula 1 (and leading the standings in the 2000 edition, with only two races remaining), will be the star athlete.

To secure the winner’s cheque, competitors must exceed 160.583 in qualifying (measured over the kilometer) and achieve at least 177.994 in two laps of the circuit, even if not consecutive, during Sunday’s race. Cappellini, from Mariano in Como, will face rivals including his teammate Fabio Comparato from Padua, Massimo Roggiero from Busto Arsizio (of Petrobas Babà Racing), Franco Leidi from Bergamo (Mare Magnum Waircom), Francesco Cantando from Milan (Singha), Giorgio Lucchini, and Enrico Parmeggiani.

All are equipped with Dac hulls (carbon fiber, Kevlar, or epoxy resin catamarans) and Mercury 2500 engines, capable of reaching speeds around 240 kilometers per hour, with accelerations from 0 to 100 km/h in less than four seconds.

Entrobordo Category and Races

In the entrobordo category, requiring speeds beyond 157.268, the Swiss competitor Sandro Gianella will race, along with Tullio Abbate, both using a Lamborghini 12-cylinder, 8,000 cc engine, with a thousand horsepower. Other participants include Giorgio Siviere, Eugenio Molinari, Vanni Bertoni, Rinaldo Marcandalli, Stefano Battaglini, and other secondary racers.

After two years of races in Salò and one in Manerba, Toscolano Maderno now hosts the event. The first day will be dedicated to timed trials, with races scheduled for the second day. Numerous categories, all valid for the Italian championship, include 3000 (the strongest: Gianfranco Campolucci, Gianni Manici, Gionata and Simone Cesati), Racers 2000 (Paolo Ferrari, Maurizio Anselmi, Marco Battaglini, with a Gardesano, Antonio Cambieri, from Manerba), Formula 2 (Mattia Turati, Roberto Carezzo, Paolo Zantelli, Maurizio Ceschin), and T/400 (Mario Ladiè, Cristiano Gasparutti).

While the FI-powered speedboats will race on a baton-shaped circuit (two kilometers out and two back), others will compete on a 1,600-meter triangular course, featuring more turns and more spectacle.

There are no major novelties compared to the ’99 edition, except for the relocation of the start line closer to the church. The base (with moorings, jury, and competitors’ camp) will remain in the parking lot and the square at the town entrance for those arriving from Gardone. The Coppa dell’Oltranza was created by Gabriele D’Annunzio to honor Sir Henry Segrave, who died in June 1930 on Windermere Lake during an attempt at a world speed record. The racing wheel is preserved at Vittoriale, in the relics room.

The competition began in May 1931. Each event required surpassing certain speed limits. In 1949, Achille Castoldi reached 101.5, Ezio Selva achieved 125 in 1951, and 138 in 1955. The honor roll also includes Lino Spagnoli (1960), Flavio Guidotti (1961), and after a long hiatus, Guido Cappellini.

The Como native managed to reach 166.9 in 1996 and 176.2 in 1998. Last year, he failed to improve and left rather angry. This year, he or another competitor will need to break through the wall of 177.994.

The original trophy is kept at Vittoriale, which this time did not grant sponsorship or even a contribution. “I am truly surprised that President Annmarie Andreoli and the board of directors do not support the event. After all, it was D’Annunzio who established it,” commented Romano Dubbini, one of the organizers.

Thus, the pilots will be awarded a simple reproduction of the trophy. At the presentation, there were Deputy Mayor Vincenzo Chimini, Councillor Fabio Belloni, and the organizers Remigio Telasio and his wife Anna, president of Motonautica Associazione Salò.