Italian Nationals 2008

Teo Di Battista gains the Italian Championship in Cesenatico 

A great  69 ! boat fleet gathered together in sunny Cesenatico , the 'A -cat Capital'  of Europe .

The class is very alive in Italy proving this great championship . 

Teo Di Battista  on his V1  ( what else to sail in Italy ?)  just beated  Well known Paolo Penco. Paolo was also sailing a V1 , this time  not sailing with his Ullman sail ,like the last decade , but the US Glaser sail. Vincenzo Sorrentino managed 3rd .

 Cesenatico is more then ready to host the 2010 A class worlds .....

3 magnificent summer days with bright sky and a nice temperature far over seasonal standards. These conditions have welcomed the 69 competitors that took part in  this outstanding Italian A class catamaran championship that from August 1st until August 3rd has been organized by Circolo Vela Cesenatico. There have been many foreign competitors (6 Swiss crews, 4 German crews, 2 French crews and 1 Spanish crew) together with the best of Italian A class. Unfortunately during the 3-day race there was not the typical consistent  sea breeze of the area. The regatas were mainly sailed  with  average light conditions with winds blowing from E and NE. “Scirocco” wind blew on the last day only and was never stronger than 3m/s. Everybody’s expectations  were not met  since all crews know well the characteristics of  this sailing area. One of the main issues was the major motor boats traffic  by Cesenatico sea port that during this time of the year creates  a bothering waves system which made it harder for A class crews to overcome the already difficult steep wave of Adriatic sea. The Bimare team (Gegè Casadei, Teo Di Battista, Michele and Valerio Petrucci) were at their ease in these conditions, and gained the first 5 positions in the ranking list after the first day. Michele Petrucci performance  was very good on the first day (he ranked first in one of the races and was twice second ). Teo Di Battista performance was also very good, he started the championship ranking first  and then he scored the same of Gegé  Casadei. Paolo Penco ranked 4th and Valerio Petrucci ranked 5th. On the second day of the championship 3 more races were held. Wind blew first from N then gradually from E at 4m/s. After 6 races Teo di Battista was at the top of the general ranking list. Paolo Penco ranked second  being able to discard an 11th position in the 3rd race. Michele Petrucci lowered his ranking 3rd having been unlucky.  Manuel Vaccari ranked fourth  thanks to the fact he discarded a 34th position in the 3rd race. Then Vincenzo Sorrentino and Valerio Petrucci followed. Gegé Casadei, after ranking 4th in the 4th race,  were forced to quit the championship due to a major muscular problem. Too bad the previous Italian A-class champion could not defend his title this time. In the last day of the championship most part of  the ranking list was still to be finalised. Teo Di Battista (Circolo Vela Cesenatico) become the championship ruler. He never ranked lower than 8th: out of 9 races he was first 3 times; in the final score he discarded a 7th and 8th position. Paolo Penco (Associazione Nautica Sabina) soundly ranked second. He was at his ease with light  wind, but despite that 13 point behind Teo Di Battista.   Vincenzo Sorrentino (Circolo Canottieri Napoli) ranked third. He was penalized  by OCS in the 7th race and that prevented him from achieving the second place overall. Right after the first 3  positions the Petrucci brothers (Circolo Vela Cesenatico), then Manuel Vaccari who was also penalized by OCS, then Jean Louis Le Coq, followed by Luigi Blancato, Alessandro Beretta and the Swiss Michael Tobler. Last but not least the only lady running the championship , the German Sigrid Becker, who ranked 59th. Technicalwise Cantiere Nautico Bimare with his new “Xtreme Javelin V1” ruled the championship. Bimare boats gained the first 6 positions, Titan first boat was only 7th. Even for masts and sails the first position was Bimare’s. Paolo Penco sailed  whit a FiberFoam mast and a Glaser sail. Vincenzo Sorrentino sailed with a Bimare mast and an Ullman sail. The new Scheurer boats were greatly admired for their excellent finishing and design despite the final results.

 See the ita website for results and report