Crotone and Riva Del Garda join forces for youth sailing
by Club Velico Crotone 26 Oct 22:55 PDT
5-9 February 2027
Two regattas, two regions, one shared passion. A new partnership is being established between the BPER International Carnival Race, organised by Club Velico Crotone, and the Garda Optimist Meeting, organised by Fraglia della Vela Riva.
These two leading youth sailing events are joining forces to promote sport, cooperation between sailing clubs and the enhancement of their respective regions.
The first event on the calendar will be the BPER International Carnival Race, scheduled to take place in Crotone from 5 to 9 February 2027. The dates for the 2027 edition of the Garda Optimist Meeting in Riva del Garda will be announced as soon as they have been officially confirmed.
The initiative connects the waters of Lake Garda with those of the Ionian Sea, creating an ideal bridge between northern and southern Italy, between different landscapes, cultures and traditions, all united by a passion for sailing and by the ability of sport to create opportunities for connection and growth.
The Garda Optimist Meeting: an international sporting event
Organised by Fraglia della Vela Riva, the Garda Optimist Meeting is one of the world's leading events in youth sailing. The event in Riva del Garda is renowned for its outstanding international participation and is recognised as the Optimist-class regatta with the largest number of participants in the world.
This international standing reflects not only the strength of the sailing tradition on Lake Garda, but also the region's ability to welcome athletes, coaches, support teams and families from numerous countries.
Lake Garda has successfully made sports tourism a genuine driver of development, capitalising on its natural conditions, infrastructure, hospitality and long-standing tradition of international events. Sailing has thus become part of a wider system that generates economic benefits for the region and promotes the destination beyond the traditional tourist season.
In this context, the partnership takes on an even broader significance: it is not simply an agreement between two sporting events, but an opportunity to share experience, best practices and approaches to promoting youth sailing.
From Riva del Garda to Crotone: sport as a bridge between regions
The BPER International Carnival Race and the Garda Optimist Meeting share a commitment to offering young sailors opportunities for competitive development and personal growth. The partnership aims to turn these shared values into a tangible project, involving young helmsmen, coaches and sailing clubs that choose to participate in both regattas.
On one side is Lake Garda, with its established international profile and strong links between sport and tourism; on the other is Crotone, a city overlooking the Ionian Sea, with its millennia-old history and a sporting project that helps promote the region through sailing.
These are two different settings, united by the belief that sporting events can build lasting relationships, attract participants and accompanying visitors, and strengthen the identity of the places that host them.
Three awards recognising sailors, coaches and sailing clubs
The project offers three special awards designed to recognise individual talent, the work of coaches and the participation of sailing teams.
The first award will go to the best helmsperson among the sailors who have competed in both regattas, based on their results in the official rankings and in accordance with shared criteria.
The second award will recognise the best coach, taking into account the results achieved by their three best sailors across the two events. The sailors considered may differ from one regatta to the other, allowing the award to recognise the coach's overall contribution to the sporting development of their athletes.
The third award will go to the most active sailing team, selected from among the clubs that bring the largest number of sailors who actually compete in both events. Each sailor will be counted only once for their club, based on registration records and official results.
The calculation methods and final award criteria will be set out in specific regulations to ensure transparency, consistency and verifiability.
A shared vision for the future of youth sailing
The partnership aims to encourage participation in both events, strengthen relationships between sailing clubs and coaches, and give young athletes further opportunities to experience different sporting environments and build friendships that transcend geographical distances.
At the same time, the project highlights the broader value of sport as a tool for regional promotion. The Lake Garda experience demonstrates how an international sporting event can enhance a destination's appeal. The partnership with Crotone creates opportunities for dialogue and collaboration, fostering a sailing culture that can generate benefits for local communities.
Chiara Carloni, President of Fraglia della Vela Riva, expresses her enthusiasm and pride in this new partnership:
"I am truly happy and proud to share this new adventure with our friends at Club Velico Crotone! Two regattas, two special places and the same great passion for sailing. An opportunity to bring our young sailors together, create new friendships and grow together."
Her words capture the spirit of the initiative: a partnership that goes beyond competition, placing young people, human relationships and shared experiences at its heart, while strengthening the bond between two sailing communities united by the same values.
Gianluca Ruperto, architect and President of Club Velico Crotone, highlights the importance of this agreement and the value of working alongside an organisation with a distinguished place in Italian sailing history:
"For us, it is a great honour to establish a partnership with an organisation that has written important chapters in the history of Italian sailing. We are convinced that this collaboration will represent an outstanding opportunity for growth for our members and our sailors, offering them new opportunities for competition, sporting development and shared experiences. We also believe that this alliance can generate positive benefits for the entire region, strengthening the role of sailing as a means of promotion, connection and development."
The statements by both presidents express a shared vision: bringing experience and expertise together, celebrating their respective sailing traditions and creating new opportunities for young people and for the communities surrounding these important sporting events.
Ultimately, the most important achievement will not simply be the result recorded in the rankings, but the ability to build an increasingly united sailing community in which competition, friendship, tourism and development can all move forward on the same course.
From Lake Garda to the Ionian Sea: two regattas, two regions, one shared course — growing together through sailing.