A-Class Cat European Championships 2025 at Riccione, Italy - Practice Race
by Gordon Upton 9 Jun 11:02 BST
9-13 June 2025
Under the baking Italian sun with the thermometer reading 30 deg, the A-Cat Europeans took to the water for their practice race on Sunday.
The race start time had already been set back an hour by the Race Committee on the previous day, so was now scheduled at 15:00 sharp. But there were no Delta flag rules in force, meaning that the sailors were free go to and fro afloat as they pleased, although most chose not to do and used the time to check their boats and redo that bad splice they found again.
Two races were planned, one for each fleet, with the Open fleet off first. As time approached, the sailors assembled on the beach after braving the murderously hot sand underfoot of their designated pit positions. The beach front is a lovely, relaxed launching area, big, wide, with a gentle water's edge slope. Their keen and willing minions hurried about fetching and recovering trolleys and stern supports. Off they all went in the general direction of Croatia.
They found the committee boat and started to assemble around it. How, usually at these sorts of events, the Committee boat is some big gleaming beast of a cat or similar large yacht, generously donated for the event by its owner. This boat, however, was somewhat unique in this respect. It was the La Saviolina. She was a historic 1928 built fishing lugger, and is an Italian historic monument, being the last of the traditional boat designs from the Rimini/Riccione region. Lovingly restored and painted bright yellow, this 11m long vessel anchored up and the show began.
The practice race day such events is not for the sailor's benefit, they should know how to race in a large fleet already. It is actually for the Race Officer and his team to shake down and get their systems in order. Many may not have worked together before, and the PRO, in this case our old A-Cat friend Franco Pagliarani, has about 2 hours to get lick them into shape.
All was set, marks laid, game on. The wind was light, but legal for the class at some 5-9 kts from the North East. They all started cleanly and set off up the course to the top. This is where the sailors get their first good look at the real superstars in this fleet. We have the reigning World Champ of each category in the fleets, so all eyes will be on them.
In the open, it's Kuba Surowiec POL 41 and he reached to top first, despite the best efforts of Lamberto Cesare ITA 13 chasing him. His ability to get the boat up on it's foils in the lightest of winds is some sort of superpower. From the bottom, he could be seen on the horizon stretching the lead of the line as they all entered the downwind leg. At the bottom, he was maybe a good 150m+ in the lead over Lamberto, and the 3rd placed sailor, Manolo Calavia ESP 11, with both sailors going well.
All three managed to stay on their foils as they rounded the right hand mark in these minimal conditions and gently nursed their boatspeed back onto the upwind leg. The rest of the back followed in due order. Some struggled to get foiling, and in that fleet in those winds, this is certain death.
After 3 laps they finished on their final downhill leg from the top spreader straight to the finishing line, but the leaders must all have made dreadful errors, as none passed through. They seemed to go all over the place when they got to within 100m of the finish. Kuba then just hung about in front of the committee boat, realising that his lead in those winds could consign much of the fleet to DNF as the timeout rule would kick in, Lamberto the same, and Manolo totally missed the pin mark he was aiming for!
Of course, the results of the practice race are immaterial, and some consider it an ill omen for their event should they actually get a finish position.
Next up, the Classic fleet. Their World Champ is Gustavo Doreste, ESP 72. However, he is up against things at this event, as he has a dangerous and deadly rival, in the shape of this fleet's resident Pole Jacek Noetzel, POL 1. Jacek has really hit his form, winning the Garda hosted GER/NED Nationals the other weekend. And it is also former WC Scott Anderson's fleet.
That Old Grey Wolf will always be close behind to snap up anyone ahead who makes the tiniest of errors. A little further down, but still very much in touch was the light airs specialist Marco Radman ITA55, who could be hoping for a good position in the real racing.
Again, they all got away cleanly but had watched the Open fleet and realised that maybe the right of the course offered better pickings, so many tacked off that way pretty soon, including Gustavo, who didn't look to have the best of starts, being packed down in the fleet, so the ex-Olympian went right and cleared his air.
But at the end, it was Jacek who actually crossed the finish line, with Gustovo and Scotty also refusing to make making the same schoolboy error as the Open fleet. They are not as superstitious as the first lot.
But next though is the real thing. Start at 13:00, two separate courses this time and may the best sailor win. Hopefully they can just push through at the end to find that finish line.