Garda Sailing Event Highlights Innovation and Social Impact Initiatives

This evening, with the gala at Villa Alba in Gardone Riviera, the program of events for the fifth edition of «Navigando nel grande mare della solidarietà» begins, an initiative that for five years has focused on experiences carried out in Italy and abroad where sailing has been used as a means of aggregation or therapy.

The program will continue tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the gymnasium of Toscolano-Maderno with the international meeting, the central moment of the event.

The New Initiatives

Among the new initiatives that will be showcased are Vele senza frontiere, the Argo cooperative, Hyak, and Eos.

Vele senza frontiere is an organization founded in France; volunteers from this association use their sailing boats to deliver medicines and medical equipment worldwide, even in areas not traversed by commercial routes.

Argo is a Riva-based cooperative that aims to pass on the craft of the master shipbuilders of Garda, involving people suffering from social hardship and detainees under semi-liberty in the construction of traditional Benaco boats.

Hyak is the program for recovering psychiatric patients implemented by the Salò hospital, which includes sailing outings.

On the other hand, Eos is a real sailing school created specifically for tetraplegic individuals.

The Activities and Engagement

Participants in this experience include, among others, therapists from the Sacro Cuore Hospital in Negrar, the Department of Motor Sciences of the University of Verona, the Yacht Club Verona, the Brenzone Nautical Club, and the J 24 class that provides the boats.

The audience will consist of students from high schools in Salò.

The day will continue with a sailing race off the coast of Bogliaco in Gargnano, where in the evening the official presentation of the Garda National Lottery will take place, organized this summer by the Gargnano Sailing Club and the Garda Community.

The Closing and Final Events

The event closing the three-day Garda gathering will be, on Sunday, the regatta «Bring a friend aboard…»

Among other participants will be the Garda rock band Pincapallina, recent star of the Sanremo Festival.

Their opponents on the water will be the visually impaired sailors of Homerus, the Vele senza frontiere group, journalists from Panorama, Radio24-Il sole 24 ore, satellite TV channels Sailing Channel and Salute e benessere, the daily Tuttosport, and the Tg3 of Rai.