Garda Sailing Events, Research, and Awards Highlighted in New Report
Garda ambassador. The first event will be linked to the «Nauticshow» in Montichiari, scheduled to take place from February 19. The beautiful one-design boat, designed by Ettore Santarelli, will showcase its calendar full of events with Garda still at the center of attention thanks to the European Championship included in the 100 Week of the Circolo Vela Gargnano (and the 50th Centomiglia sailing race on September 2-3), set between late August and early September, as well as the Italian Championship in Desenzano from July 6 to 9. The last season closed with a grand celebration (with «guest star» Giovanni Soldini) hosted in the halls of Agricar in San Zeno, which supported the international circuit of this beautiful keelboat alongside Mercedes and Fina.
In 1999, the Asso traveled across Europe. It showcased its fleet. It involved the most titled skippers. It carried the «lake of Garda» logo on its sails. The Agricar evening aimed to recognize the important milestones achieved by skippers and owners. The secretary of the Italian class, Brescia-born Cesare Pasotti, also previewed the themes of this year.
Besides the two Benacense championships, the international «tour», alongside Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, will feature the Romagna Riviera with the Trofeo Santarelli scheduled in Rimini in mid-April. In May, it will once again accompany the organizers of the Maderno conference: «Sailing in the Great Sea of Solidarity».
Awards and Recognitions
Regarding the 1999 awards, the pleasant surprise was the team of «Old Simo», the Desenzano-based Asso led by Bruno Fezzardi, which, along with his friends, all strictly «Under 50», took home the title of Garda Zone Champion. They beat the two Gargnano teams of the Giovannini brothers and Silvioli-Soardi-Rezzola. The «Asso of the Year» title was cloaked in royal blue thanks to the «Koning Ludwig», the boat owned by Prince Luitpold of Bavaria.
The European Championship was won by Lino Bonomi (helmsman Gio Cassinari), the Italian by Gaburri-Dusi-Ferrari (helmswoman Niki Celon). Among the international fleets, winners included Luitpold von Bayer (Germany), Silvio Mueller (Switzerland), the former Olympic Tornado star Bob Jessenig (Austria), Karl Fonyo (Hungary), Cico Valenti (Italy), Ciceri (Lakes Lario-Verbano). The awards for the Agricar Mercedes Challenger went to the «Simo» of Francesco Valenti and Luca Valerio, other champions of the Fraglia Desenzano, and to the «Mater-Asso» of Beppe Rossi representing the Associazione Nautica Sebina of Sulzano in the «Gentlemen» category.
Rossi’s success, a respected Brescia-based doctor, confirmed that the Asso can be a boat for professionals but also for passionate amateurs. This was further confirmed on Lake Como, where the lake champion title went to Marco Ghezzi, a judge in the Milanese «Mani Pulite» pool.
