The Optimist Team Racing European Championship comes to Campione del Garda from October 13 to 17, when the Univela sailing club hosts the continental youth title with sixteen national teams: Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. The event is dedicated to the memory of coach Claudio Brighenti, who died in 2022.
Format: 190 Matches in Two Fleets
Over four days of racing, the programme calls for a full round robin of about 190 matches, each lasting eight minutes. The top eight teams move into the Gold Fleet and the rest into the Silver Fleet, followed by semi-finals and a final. In total, around 120 people take part, including athletes, coaches, judges, race officials and organisers.
What Team Racing Is, and Italy’s Record
The Optimist is one of the main gateways to competitive sailing. In team racing, squads of four sailors face four opponents, and speed, tactics and communication all count. Italy arrives with four consecutive wins and a crew of four helmsmen, two boys and two girls.
Campione del Garda already hosted youth team racing in late September 2025 at the Trofeo Claudio, also organised by Univela for Italian teams: 14 squads, more than 160 matches, and a final won by Canottieri Garda Salò over Circolo Velico di Ostia. That edition was billed as the step towards this year’s European championship.
