2024 Youth Sailing World Championship, talking about the opening ceremony

Riva del Garda – A colorful and smiling opening ceremony officially kicked off the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championship, which the international sailing federation has awarded to Italy this year, scheduled from 13 to 19 July between Riva del Garda, Arco, Torbole and Malcesine.

The World Youth Sailing Championship has taken place continuously since 1971 and every year is the highlight event for youth teams from around the world, bringing together the best of the future of sailing. 313 crews will participate in the Garda edition in 11 different specialties from kite to windsurfing, from doubles to singles and catamarans, for a total of 418 athletes from 70 nations on all continents, accompanied by 160 coaches.

With these premises, the opening ceremony proved to be a moment of celebration, emotion and colour. The representatives of all the participating nations met at the Porta Orientale Gardens in Riva del Garda, from where the parade started and took them through the streets of the historic center of the northernmost town on the lake. Preceded by stilt walkers and the street percussion band Psycodrummers, with young people from the lake’s sailing schools holding the flags and insignia of each town, the procession was applauded and encouraged along the way until it returned to the stage of the FVillage, the village set up by the Italian Federvela at the heart of the event.

Here two presenters – the Englishman Jon Emmett, former sailor, coach and commentator, and Fabio Colivicchi, Italian journalist for the FIV – called the teams onto the stage one by one, as they passed the teams poured an ampoule with the water of their country, according to the Youth ceremonial, as a sign of sharing and union, and carried their own official flag.

Then it was the turn of some speeches: the president of the Organizing Committee of the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championship, Walter Cavallucci, Italian Council member of the international federation welcomed the competitors; the President of the Italian Sailing Federation Francesco Ettorre underlined the pride for Italy in hosting the most important youth event of the year and wished all the male and female athletes a week of great sport, nature, fun and friendship.

CONI Vice President Silvia Salis said she was enthusiastic about the atmosphere of the event, the organization and the quality and quantity of the participants. Also speaking were Elisa De Berti, Vice President of the Veneto Region, and Roberto Failoni, Councilor for Tourism of the Autonomous Province of Trento.

The culminating moment of the ceremony was the speech by David Graham, CEO of World Sailing, who greeted the young world sailors and after underlining the beauty of the lake and its territory and thanking Italy for the organization and warmth of hospitality to all competitors, officially declared the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championship open, with the flag-raising of the international federation.

Immediately afterwards, thousands of eyes moved to the nearby Spiaggia degli Olivi where a show of acrobats playing music among the trees and sails took place from aboard a historic sailing ship, before the mega welcome buffet offered to the teams.

Tomorrow will be a general test day for the organization on land and at sea, the coaches and the athletes with the Practice Races, the test regattas in all classes, with the weather forecast indicating an improvement, which gives us hope that the Upper Garda offers its typical constant wind conditions, with the morning Peler and the afternoon Ora. The regattas will begin on Monday 15th, each day there will be two or three races for all competing classes.

Parallel to the regattas, the FIV organized a training session for the Youth team of the Para Sailing Academy, present on Garda with the support of IBSA. And with a view to a plastic free and totally sustainable event, collaboration with One Ocean Foundation is envisaged.

Meanwhile, the first appreciation is arriving for the organization of the Italian Sailing Federation, commissioned by World Sailing. Location, transport, logistics on land and in water, assistance, safety, accommodation and hospitality which includes dinner every evening for all competitors at the Palavela of Fiera Congressi in Riva del Garda. An organization that involves six Garda sailing clubs: the Fraglia Vela Riva, the Lega Navale Italiana Riva del Garda, the Circolo Vela Arco, the Circolo Surf Torbole, the Circolo Vela Torbole and the Fraglia Vela Malcesine.

CASA ITALIA – FIV
One of the great innovations is Casa Italia – FIV, the famous CONI reception and hospitality base, which the National Olympic Committee itself has made available to the Italian Sailing Federation, for the first time at an international sailing event. Set up inside the historic Art Nouveau building overlooking the Spiaggia degli Olivi in ​​Riva del Garda, Casa Italia – FIV was inaugurated on Friday and will be the reference center for the Italian sailing team led by the youth DT Alessandra Senini for the entire event , a platform for institutional meetings at a local, national and international level, with screens to follow the regattas, a corner for media activities, a bar and a buffet.

SPONSORS AND PARTNER INSTITUTIONS
The main sponsor of the event is Garda Trentino: it has always been committed to promoting an area with a very strong sporting and sailing vocation. Four Ministries have given their patronage to the Youth Sailing World Championship: the Ministry for Sport and Youth, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies, and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security. Added to these are the patronage of the Veneto Region, CONI and Sport and Health.

COMPETING CLASSES AND ITALIANS
420 Double Male/Mixed – Lisa Vucetti and Vittorio Bonifacio (Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano)
420 Double Female –  Margherita Pillan and Giulia Massari (Società Nautica Pietas Julia)
Men’s 29er acrobatic double – Giuseppe Montesano (Sirena Club Nautico Triestino) and Enrico Coslovich (Circolo della Vela Muggia)
Women’s 29er double acrobatic – Victoria Demurtas and Caroline Karlsen (Fraglia Vela Riva del Garda)
NACRA 15 mixed double catamaran – Lorenzo Sirena and Alice Dessy (Yacht Club Cagliari)   
ILCA 6 Men’s single –  Antonio Pascali (Fraglia Vela Riva del Garda)       
ILCA 6 Women’s single – Maria Vittoria Arseni (Tognazzi Marine Village)              
Male KITEFOIL –  Giuseppe Polillo (Club Nautico Rimini)    
iQFOiL Men’s windsurfing – Federico Pilloni (Yacht Club Costa Smeralda)    
iQFOiL Women’s windsurfing –  Carola Colasanto (Tognazzi Marine Village

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