The “brensonal” Matteo Pilati with the Extreme 40 catamaran Triad Sail Academy rigged by Michele Simonelli overcame master Roberto Benamati and triumphed in the 73rd Centomiglia. Pilati won the Riccardo Gorla Trophy with authority, making an encore with his success in the Trofeo Conte Alessandro Bettoni, the first leg of the “Cento” where he pulled away from everyone by a wide margin. The Gorla Trophy was raced all in the upper Garda characterized by fresh Peler, the wind from the north, which reached as its maximum peak the remarkable intensity of 20 knots. Pilati, class of 1997, assisted on board by youngsters Filippo Amonti, Andrea Spagnolli, Federico Benini Floriani, Tobia Torroni and Francesco Simonetti, immediately took the lead of the fleet decisively chased by the most dangerous rival, the other M32 catamaran La Bestia Blu, captained by Malcesine champion Roberto Benamati crewed by Francesco Zorzan, Loris Paternolli and brothers Lorenzo and Riccardo Tonini. Pilati aimed decisively, with a breathtaking textbook upwind, for the northernmost buoy located at Cape Reamol, close to the Brescian shore, almost bordering Trentino waters. However, the regatta rules made it mandatory to round the buoy located a little further south, in front of the town of Limone, as well. Triad Sail Academy thus had to turn back, nullifying the advantage gained over La Bestia Blu. The two catamarans passed the Limone passage in pairs, but Benamati’s hooking of Pilati was short-lived. At Cape Reamol, Triad Sail Academy’s lead over La Bestia Blu was already a whopping two minutes, and at the last mandatory passage of Porto di Brenzone it rose to three minutes and two seconds. The descent to the finish line in Bogliaco was a triumphant march for Pilati and his teammates, which roaringly a few hundred meters from the finish could have turned into a mockery. The Peler began to drop inexorably until it turned becalmed. The never tame Benamati thus managed to almost completely reduce the disadvantage to a few dozen meters. The last decisive act of the regatta took place near the finish line. From the south suddenly came a very light breeze that providentially pushed Triad Sail Academy over the finish line, four minutes and 11 seconds ahead of La Bestia Blu, which struggled not a little to get out of the doldrums. The Centomiglia thus went into the archives with Pilati’s victory. The helmsman from Brenzone already at the “Bettoni” had put a lot of hay in the pot, detaching his master Benamati, who already has thirteen Centomiglias to his credit, three won in tandem with Pilati, by almost ten minutes. “I take responsibility for the mistake at the Limone buoy,” Pilati admitted, “the guys on the crew were fantastic, we are a group of young people who showed that we have the numbers to win on our own strength alone. Having Roberto Benamati as an opponent is a great motivator. I dedicate the victory to the memory of Claudio Brighenti who was my coach.” “Congratulations to our opponents,” Benamati said sportingly, “because of a breakdown, we had to race with reduced sail and we paid dearly for it. In the final we managed to catch up with them but it was not enough. The Centomiglia, however, we had already lost it at the “Bettoni” the day before.”

Luca Belligoli