International Viper Regatta at Fraglia Vela Riva, Lake Garda, Italy

Viper International Regatta podium at Lake Garda © Duncan Adams

Falmouth four take the win

Twenty-three Vipers and K6s descended on the utterly charming town of Riva Del Garda for the Euro Cup hosted by the Italian yacht club, Fraglia Vela Riva between June 22 and 26.

This event without a shadow of doubt enters the bucket list of international Viper events that every Viper owner should try and do at least once in their lifetime. The sailing is "magnificent." It is sailing that simply does not exist anywhere else in the world. Typically the lake is calm in the morning but, by midday, the high plains to the north of Garda have heated up and convection starts to suck the cool air up the lake between the high mountains that plunge in vertical cliffs to the lake shore. This convection breeze is called the Ora by the locals. It is so reliable in June that you can almost set your watch to it. At 1230 the Ora starts blowing at 18 to 25 knots out of the South and at 1255 pm, the Race committee sounds the warning signal. We had 5 days of racing in incredible champagne conditions! The lake is over 600 feet deep providing a perfectly spaced mild wave pattern, so that surfing downwind in fresh water spray, hurtling through stunning scenery, provides some of the best sleigh rides that can be had any place anytime in a Viper. The sides of the lake are so vertical that the wind perfectly follows the contours of lake leaving no wind shadows. Upwind we were tacking within half a boat length of the cliffs in closely-fought tacking duels seeking the final veer off the headland.

The sailing on its own is simply awesome. But Garda is about so much more than the sailing. At 1630 pm sharp, after three races, the RC sent the fleet in to moor stern to in the beautiful harbour of Riva del Garda. We stepped off the transoms of our boats into an Italian medieval town with a moated castle, alley ways full of restaurants and revelers, and squares with musicians and gelato. Riva del Garda has a vibe like no other regatta site that you will visit. With no start until 1300 the next day, the night was always young, the food was brilliant, and the wine plentiful.

The Viper teams came from three continents the racing was extremely close with frequent lead changes among three generations of boats ranging from a 1998 Mark 1 Viper to a brand new Rondar boat that was literally delivered on the first day of the regatta. Both boats led the fleet at different stages of racing. Two teams gradually emerged from the pack. The "Falmouth Four" consisted of Duncan Adams, Craig Brown, Liam Green and Ryan Barnicoat from Falmouth in Cornwall. This was their first international Viper event and they showed that several years of sailing IRC handicap racing in the big winds of Cornwall had given them some very consistent big breeze boat handling and boat speed.

The other boat vying for the regatta win was the Australian team of Rod Beurteaux, Jon Subbs and Kim Leunig of "Don't Forget Alice" who are regular participants on the international Viper circuit. These two however didn't have it all their own way with one of the other Australian boats of Nick Lewins, Michael Navarro and Andy Kearnan getting a perfectly timed race win on Andy's birthday!

The U.S./GBR boat of Justin Scott, Paul Young and Mike Steele also showed great pace in the regatta but were unable to consistently beat the Falmouth Four or the flying Aussies, despite the the slightly controversial move to replace injured crew man Paul with two new bodies mid way through the regatta.

Australian "Team Monkhouse" started the regatta well with podium finishes but sadly they were unable to maintain these results. The down wind flying machines of Mike and Dan Reling and Richie Leonard were a real handful once the kites were up but there light crew weight meant they were always going to struggle up hill, but were often punching well above their weight.

The all-American team of Tony Chapman, Dan Tucker and Debs Steele and the final Aussie boat of John Park, Patrick Scaly and Robbie Stout had their own little battle to avoid the "Wooden Spoon" the U.S. boat avoiding this prize by just one point.

The regatta result was incredibly tight all the way through the regatta, the Cornish boat had the best of day 1 and got off to a flyer by winning the open two races. They were pegged back over the next couple of days with Rod and his team showing pace downwind that the Cornish couldn't match. After 11 races and going into the final day there was just one point in it. Although with one more discard to kick in once race 12 started the scored card was effectively tied.

Garda had saved the best till last for the fleet with slightly more breeze making for perfect 25knots and glorious sunshine. The Falmouth Four with Duncan and Craig alternating the helm after every race throughout the regatta, went out with a bang, well actually 3 of them. The big breeze suited them to a T clocking up their top speed of the week of just under 24knots. They were deserving winners of the first Viper International Regatta. With Rod and team taking second overall and the final place on the podium went to Justin and his crew.

All crews expressed their intention to return in two seasons time and the hope is that with such perfect conditions the numbers will significantly increase.

Overall Results: