Italian “Classic A Union”: 2015 Season report

Last year a branch of  former Italian A-Class sailors formed a new association based on the floating/skimming mode the official A-Class boats had before Mischa & Team New Zealand started seeking for new heights.

Below report of the Italian “Classic A Union” sent by Riccardo Mellina  Gottardo & Teo di Battista.
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UNIONE A-CLASSICA CATAMARANI: A GREAT FIRST SEASON
“It is for sure a countercurrent situation the one that characterized the first season of regattas of the Italian catamaran class “Unione A-Classica Catamarani”, because in a time when all sailing fans do nothing but talk of foil, flight, liberalization of the same and so on, it was hard to imagine that a class that closes on purpose in its rules to all sorts of opportunities to fly on ‘water could be so successful.

The UACC has drawn from a reservoir of purists of sailing and catamaran in particular that still love to feel the flow of the waves beneath their hulls and to choose the correct side of the course, without much caring of the update of their own boats, thing that in the flying boats of today is taking over in the knowledge of tactics, strategy and navigation which the old fashion of sailing ever taught us, instead focusing attention on what every racer can spend in terms of time and money in maintaining always its own catamaran pace with the sweeping changes that marine engineering, driven also by the enormous expenses of teams in America’s Cup, will lead to our catamarans, main philosophy of UACC is in fact to return to give importance to the sailors and their skills at sea rather that their boats, as well as each sport worthy of the name should do.

In addition to the boats the great innovation of the UACC it was in the format of their races, which recorded unanimous praise, in fact the races, thanks to a modern regulation, were very competitive until the last mark, funny and attractive, also the part on the ground was not underestimated making the races attractive to fans and media.

The racing season of the UACC began in May with the first national race in San Benedetto del Tronto, at the local Navy League, which has recorded more than twenty participants, which shall remain constant throughout the events, with the victory of Stefano Casadei, was then held in June, the first Italian championship at Nimbus Surfing Club of Marina di Pietrasanta, which saw the Tuscan ruler Alberto Farnesi, who then repeated his success in the next race in July at the Compagnia della Vela in Rome of Bracciano Lake, the last race of the circuit took place in Bellaria-Igea Marina at the sailing Club Rio Pircio which was won by Teo Di Battista who on this occasion was also honored as overall winner of the whole circuit.

The 2016 season will see many updates of the format both on land and in water, and will have their stops in the same location of the previous year, with the only difference that the headquarters of the Italian Championship will be San Benedetto del Tronto, also, thanks to the numerous contacts with sponsors by the class itself and the individual clubs, will be a goal of the UACC, in line with their philosophies, diminish, if not eliminate, the registration fees for individual races, thus rendering them more inclusive and accessible to everyone.

Already next year the class will put the challenge to attract more and more foreign competitors and help many other countries interested in setting up their own local class, exporting its philosophies and its format.

One can therefore define a success that the class led by President Teo Di Battista has in a single year attracted a total of sixty members and an average of twenty members to race numbers will surely increase since 2016″. —