“If you would like to come to the Italian nationals on the 12th & 13th June, I have a boat for you.” That was the basis of our decision to trip out to Laveno Mombello on Lake Magiore for the weekend - as you do!

So, the Italian nationals first race planned for 08:00 Saturday morning. Bit early we thought - especially as Annie and myself got to our hotel at 01:15 that same morning! 06:59 and a phone call from Marco saying he was waiting with croisants downstairs in the lobby. Playing "follow my Italian leader" in our left hand drive Fiat Punto hire car was  great fun. Opening the door when changing gear and adjusting he height of the seat to apply the hand brake - all made the game more interesting!

Rain, haze, more rain and no wind was our welcome to the club house. The boat Marco presented us with was 915, anyone recognise that number? It was in a "nice" condition. Fortunately the racing was postponed for an Italian length of time and this allowed us to try and make the boat a more user friendly boat with systems that actually work. I must point out that the new Hyde main and jib were a very welcoming sight (thanks Marco again), with the addition of our own RWO Hyde kite, we knew the sails would be fine (so no excuses there). Working in the rain drew the attention of many an Italian who thought either:

a) I knew what I was doing;
b) I was applying some secret go faster bits of rope (and therefore applying an "unfair advantage" tacktick);
c) I was a nutty Englishman playing in the rain with bits of rope that, although mouldy and worn through, were absolutely fine and therefore the Englishman was nothing to worry about!

I like to think the answer was (a) but I'm sure you all think otherwise.

12:00 and the call to arms was sounded - lunchtime! Rissotto, wine, water, bread. Lovely.

Back being busy tinkering (making myself look knowledgable) then realised the boat park was a bit of a frenzy. People were off sailing. This was the Italian tactic, "let's wait till his boat is in bits, then well start the race" he he he he. LOL FLIPPIN LOL!

Needless to say team GBR did miss race 1 and dually used the 1 and only discard on the DNS. BUM!

The benefit of missing race 1 did allow us to test out our hard work and refine the tweaks (put right what we had rigged incorrectly). I’m unable to report on how the race went, but I can say that 722 – Marco Locati and Pietro Volta won it with Marco Abis & Fabrizio Rosa in second.

Race 2, wow, the Italian standard of sailing has increased since we last came over to play. Wind force 2 - 3 provided very close racing throughout the fleet of 16 ISO's. No stragglers were to be found anywhere. This was just brilliant to see. 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd places were won by Marco.

Race 3, same wind strength. Team RWO buried on the start, tacked off, weaved through the pack to the starboard side of the course. Somehow stumbled upon a lift. Eventually found themselves at the top mark in first place and held onto this for the duration of the race. Marco Bellorini & Lorenzo Crociani managed to successfully hold back the chasing pack to take 2^nd place.

Race 4, whilst the wind was still here and to allow an earlier finish tomorrow, the race officials ran this additional race. Team RWO fought up the first beat with most of the fleet, rounding in 3rd ish. Battles ensued down the first run with RWO popping out into the lead. Thankfully for us, the wind now backed 20 degrees and made the next lap a bit of a one way only decision.

Saturday end of racing and one discard now in place. Results after discard so far:

1st - 722 Marco Locati & Pietro Volta (9 points)
2nd – 80 Pete & Annie Lindley (10 points)
3rd – 1162 Marco Abis & Fabrizio Rosa (10 points)
4th – 1184 Marco Bellorini & Lorenzo Crociani (10 points)

The top 4 places all separated by 1 point after four races, one discard and a Pete – now that is close racing!

The rest of the fleet had a similar battle with points ranging from 25 – 40 points. Well this is what racing is all about! Saturday evening and the club laid on a hog roast dinner with wine and then fresh fruit to follow. Very nice it was too. Some people had an early night (including us 2 Brits), others had a very late night or early morning - 02:00 - 03:00. Bedrooms ranging from our hotel with flippin’ barking dogs from 05:00, to changing room benches for the younger Italian teams.

Race 5, wind force 1 - 3, hangover rating 0 - 4 and a prompt 09:00 start. The first lap saw a break away from the pack by four boats. Unfortunately in these conditions, on the second lap the usual happened – the front four boats went left, the long way behind pack went righ – got more wind, plus a lift, and overtook the leaders. D’oh! Mr Monciardini sailing with Matteo Moscatelli took advantage of the shortened course and crossed the windward mark finish line first.

A dying wind and the race officer sent us all in for a wait and a pasta lunch. After 3 hours ashore the call was made to get back out onto the aqua naturalè for the 6^th and final race. The wind was now in the opposite direction but still a maximum force 3. A bit of an anxious fleet caused a general recall. Second attempt and the fleet were off. 10 seconds later another honk on the hooter to indicate a recall for a few people. Some of us went left, some went right, others were still playing heads or tails. We all reached the top mark reasonably together. 1162 – Marco & Fabrizio won this race, in their borrowed boat from the Italian ISO Man – Monciardini. With this race win was the overall event win. Second overall was Marco & Lorenzo. Third was Marco & Pietro. Now, do you remember I mentioned that there was another hooter, eventually, to draw our attention to the face there was one or more boats over the start line? Well guess who was over the line and had to count an OCS! J If only we weren’t over the line........

Well a great event, friendly ISO folk – as usual, good weather (ish), and a very hectic weekend. Congratulations to all who took part. It was good to see the standard of the Italian ISO fleet increasing. Annie & myself managed to get back home at 01:15 (EasyJet delays AGAIN...). Poor Annie had to get up at 07:30 for work. L

Lake Garda Eurocup anybody?

Italian ISO Nationals Photos Here....

Overall Results Here....