April Sails: 51st Trofeo del Ponte

A regatta that welcomes spring on Lake Maggiore

When April arrives, Lake Maggiore fills with sails once again. The official start of the racing season is marked by the Trofeo del Ponte, a regatta held in the waters of Belgirate, a small village in the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola province of Piedmont. Gathered under the evocative name April Sails, the event is the first appointment (ACT 1) of the Verbano Championship reserved for the ORC class, a circuit that pits cabin cruisers from the lake's sailing clubs against each other throughout the season.

The Verbano Championship and the ORC class

The Trofeo del Ponte is not an isolated race: it is the inaugural stage of a long championship that spans the entire sailing calendar, from April to October, with events hosted in turn by various clubs overlooking the Verbano — from Belgirate to Verbania, from Ispra to Luino, passing through Arona, Lesa, and Meina. The competing vessels are ORC-rated cabin cruisers (Offshore Racing Congress), a rating system that allows boats of different sizes and performance levels to compete by making them comparable in corrected time. The organizing authority is the Italian Sailing Federation, which delegates the execution of individual races to local clubs.

Belgirate, cradle of lake sailing

Hosting the Trofeo del Ponte in Belgirate holds a significance that goes beyond the scenic setting. Here, in 1858, the Società delle Regate was founded, one of Italy's oldest sailing associations: its historical members included the Cairoli brothers, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Ruggero Bonghi, and Massimo d'Azeglio, son-in-law of Alessandro Manzoni. Since then, the sailing tradition has never been interrupted, fueled by the lake's characteristic winds — the Inverna, which blows from the south in the afternoon, and the morning Mergozzo — which make this stretch of the Verbano a technical and fascinating racecourse.

What to expect

The Trofeo del Ponte is run as an inshore regatta, with courses plotted in the stretch of water facing Belgirate. For crews, it is an opportunity to get back on the sheets after the winter break and test settings and teamwork in view of the rest of the season; for those watching from the shore, it is a spectacle of colorful spinnakers against the backdrop of the Piedmontese shores of the Verbano. The race day is completed by social moments on land and the awards ceremonies hosted by the organizing clubs.