In spite of the atrocious weather forecast for the 1 of May weekend 19 teams showed up to the shores of Lake Garda representing 5 nations (6GER, 5FIN, 4ITA, 3GBR, 1DEN). Vela club Campione del Garda was our host for this event shared with the Contender Class.

The Club is well renowned internationally for their organization of dinghy regatta. Their no-frills facilities are more than compensated by the gorgeous settings, great sailing conditions and warm hospitality.

Saturday, the mood in the boat park was of concern and resignation as the overcastted sky and foggy conditions let very little hope for racing during the day, many people either relaxed with good coffee or worked on their boats. So when the sun broke through the clouds and the winds picked up few people could believe their eyes and the first race started at the scheduled time right in front of the launching facilities. 3 races were run ,one after the other with no unnecessary delays, in F4 conditions and only few boats finished all 3 races without testing the cold water of the Lake. The GBR Schuster/Diebitsch showed amazing speed and dominated the event, immediately pursued by the young GER team Bohnenberger/Fritz and old fox Holzapfel/Worm, the local hero Ciferri/Natali ,thanks to a poor start in the 1st race, placed 4^th followed by FIN Hamstrom/Laurilla. As usual on lake Garda, the best place to be were by the cliffs and going too far into the lake did not normally pay off.

Sunday the rain killed the wind and we were not able to do any racing, just before the start time limit the regatta was closed and prize giving ceremony started, the traditional pasta and free beer was offered to the participants.

The Club also organized a tow to Riva Club for all those people that did not want to load up the trailers for the road trip to Riva. This seemingly small courtesy was in fact not a small undertaking, as navigation by motor boats is prohibited on the top of Lake Garda and special authorization from the authorities was required and obtained with very short notice. Thank you Vela Club Campione and see you next year.

I want to thank all the participants and in particular the Finns for driving so far for this regatta, making all my efforts worthwhile.

Pictures and film of the regatta will be published shortly on the Club website. The TransAlp standing has been updatede to reflect te results of the 2 regattas see www.int505italia.org