Garda Flagship of the Alps

It was presented as the flagship race of the Alpine Region: the Longtze International Regatta hosted by the Fraglia Vela Riva. Riva del Garda lived up to its promises: 18 boats, three days of windy races, a good tussle at every buoy, suspense on every reach, lots of planing and great fun on land and at sea!

After the great events of the South (Monaco Primo Cup and Nauticales de la Ciotat) and the West (Spi Ouest and Grand Prix Ecole Navale), the Alps region came alive at the unique location Vela del Garda, north of Lake Garda. The famous afternoon thermals blew on Friday and Saturday, allowing 5 rounds in windy conditions. On Sunday, light rain in the morning foreshadowed a calmer day…but eventually a southerly settled in, giving the competitors two magnificent races, full of surprises.

Team Longtze (FRA 842), skippered by Laurent Berjon, with David Boudgourd at the helm, began the event in the best possible way with four first places in the first 4 races, and then a second placing. It was enough to cruise on Sunday to win the event by a good margin.

The fight was fierce between WETFEET (GER 824, skipper Theresa Zeiser, with Eckhard Kaller at the helm) and TENDRISSE (FRA 847, Laurent Abignoli) for second place. Shoulder to shoulder at the end of the second day, Laurent Abignoli and his crew took things in hand on Sunday with a race victory in the first event of the day,… just ahead of GER 824 ... Ideally placed in the last leg of the last race, an unfortunate jibe rounding the last mark under spinnaker saw the French team relegated to fourth place ... which was enough to see Eckhard Kaller win second place overall. FRA 847 completed the podium line-up.

But the battles raged throughout the entire regatta: 7 boats placed in the first three places in at least one race: the top three overall, of course, but also SHENSU (SUI 825, Jarmo Wieland), 4th overall, with two race wins; TCHIKK (FRA 818, Edouard Danel), extremely consistent throughout the event and surging ahead on the circuit, CARISSIMA (SUI 816, Markus Ziltener), recent winner of the Fluelen Uristier-Cup, and SRH ( FRA 834, Pierre Viard), the boat manned by the Société des Régates du Havre, which for a first outing in a Longtze, showed great potential.

Also note the return to the circuit of Ancre de China (NED 808, Koos Van den Hauvel) and the first appearance of SUI 849 (Eric Revaz) with a multi-generational crew who adapted well to the rigors of the competition.

As well as the merits of the regatta, we must mention the perfect organization of the land activities, particularly the Pasta Parties and the Longtze Dinner. Many thanks to the club and also to Walter and Beat, from the Swiss class association, for their preparation work.

Next steps:

• Bordeaux Match Race 2011 - September 23-24-25
• Sportboat Races Radolfzell, October 8-9
• Trophée SEMAC, Marseille, October 22-23
• et enfin, le Longtze World Event, Hyères, November 11-12-13.

Longtze International Regatta - Garda Lake - Official results (7 races)

1- FRA 842 - Laurent Berjon - 9 pts
2- GER 824 - Theresa Zeiser - 19 pts
3- FRA 847 - Laurent Abignoli - 22 pts
4- SUI 825 -  Jarmo Wieland - 24 pts
5- FRA 818 - Edourad Danel - 32 pts
6- SUI 816 - Markus Ziltener - 40 pts
7- GER 832 - Thomas Begher - 40 pts
8- FRA 830 - Mathieu Girolet - 42 pts
9- SUI 850 - Silvio Mueller - 48 pts
10- FRA 834 - Pierre Viard - 51 pts
11- GER 817 - Michael Berenbach - 55 pts
12- SUI 826 - Frank Beat - 56 pts
13-  FRA 844 - Hervé Aubry - 73 pts
14- SUI 848 - Caroline Billing - 75 pts
15- SUI 840 - Walter Schneider - 77 pts
16- SUI 839 - Markus Graf - 82 pts
17- NED 808 - Koos Van den Hauvel - 99 pts
18- SUI 849 - Eric Revaz - 112 pts