International Genoa Winter Contest – Optimist

The first seasonal event of the International Genoa Winter Contest, organized by the Yacht Club Italiano and dedicated to the Optimist class, concluded in Genoa with the participation of over 150 young sailors divided into Divisions A and B. Three days of racing, characterized by highly variable weather conditions, officially opened the Club’s competitive season.

The event kicked off with a first day marked by a sirocco wind of around 6 knots, which allowed only one race to be completed. The second day instead put both sailors and the race committee to the test, with a strong northerly wind (tramontana) exceeding 20 knots: while Division A managed to complete three races, Division B remained ashore due to conditions deemed excessive on the racecourse. On the third and final day, the Race Committee scheduled the first start at 9:00 a.m., aiming to take advantage of the remaining northerly wind, which was forecast to gradually weaken over the course of the morning. The program was completed with three races for Division B and two races for both Division A fleets.

Great satisfaction for the Yacht Club Italiano thanks to the excellent final second place achieved by Gabriele Burlando, who delivered an extremely solid performance. Burlando finished the series with the results (6, 1, 4, 4, 3, 3), confirming himself as one of the top sailors in the class in medium-to-strong wind conditions. Also worth highlighting is the excellent performance of our athlete Leonardo Orlandini, who concluded the event in fourth place, enhancing his series with two race wins.

The overall victory in Division A went to Roman Vyevyenko (Fraglia Vela Riva), first with (3, 2, 2, 1, 5, 2), while the third step of the podium was taken by Alessandro Antonio Menghini (CV Trasimeno) with (2, 2, 2, 1, 9, 14).

In Division B, the win was claimed by Giulio Calligaris (SN Pietas Julia) with (1, 1, 3, 2), ahead of Switzerland’s Carlo Milan (2, 5, 1, 5) and Alberto Fiorella (Circolo della Vela Muggia) with (3, 9, 5, 1).

The International Genoa Winter Contest will continue on February 21–22 with the second event on the calendar, featuring the ILCA fleets.