TEA FAORO, OWNER-HELMSWOMAN, THE FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE CENTOMIGLIA INTERNAZIONALE DEL GARDA
Two completely different days on Lake Garda: on Saturday light wind on the Bogliaco, Desenzano and back course, on Sunday the Peler at around 20 knots, waves and great spectacle all the way to the Trentino shore of the lake. Second overall the German 45er 6Q of Peter Koenig, third Pirillina of Stefano Fasoli. Thomas Jundt’s QFX takes both Line Honours. An edition that rewards the smaller and less extreme boats and that leaves above all the image of many young crews, some very young indeed, as protagonists of the great Garda classic
Gargnano, 6 September 2026 – The 76th CentoMiglia Internazionale del Garda, organised by Circolo Vela Gargnano with the Italian Sailing Federation and made possible by the collaboration of local bodies, institutions, clubs and private partners, closes with a victory that captures the spirit of this edition very well. The Trofeo Bettoni and the final ORC Overall standings go to Lulù, the Ufo 22 of Tea Faoro of Acquafresca Sport Center, sailing Double Handed with Mauro Grandone, her partner in life as well as on board.
A victory built on consistency across the two days, which were very different from one another. Lulù finished third in Saturday’s Trofeo Gargnano and eighth in Sunday’s Trofeo Gorla, totalling 11 points and finishing two lengths ahead of Peter Koenig’s 6Q, the elegant 45er from the Bayerischer Yacht Club, twelfth on Saturday and winner on Sunday. Third place goes to Pirillina, Stefano Fasoli’s Platu 25 (Lega Navale Italiana di Mandello), fifth and eleventh in the two races. Next come Blue Marlin, Massimo Apostoli’s First 8 (Yacht Club Verona), fifteenth on Saturday and second on Sunday, and Fremito d’Arja, Dario Levi’s Melges 32 (Circolo Vela Torbole), second and sixteenth in the two races sailed. The result perfectly captures one of the most interesting features of the 2026 CentoMiglia, under the ORC rule and therefore on corrected time. Taking the satisfaction of finishing ahead of the big hulls and the more sophisticated designs were above all boats of modest size, less extreme and decidedly less performing on real time. The Ufo 22, Platu 25 and First 8 demonstrated how much the handicap system is able to open up the contest between profoundly different craft, according to a logic that also belongs to the great international offshore classics, where Line Honours and overall victory can tell the story of two very different races.
But one of the finest aspects of this 76th edition was also seeing many young crews, and in several cases very young ones, take on a race that remains demanding, long and complex. Boys and girls were present on the smaller boats, on the one-designs and also on the fastest hulls, giving the CentoMiglia an image strongly projected towards the future. An even more significant sign in a weekend in which, with the Cento Junior, the youngest sailors too were able to experience the waters of Gargnano as protagonists while not far away the boats of the great race were sailing.
LULÙ, A WOMAN’S VICTORY AND A STORY OF TWO-HANDED SAILING
Lulù’s success adds a special chapter to the history of the CentoMiglia. Tea Faoro, born in 2001 and coming from the 29er, is the only female helm on the Ufo 22 circuit and in recent years has built steady progress, reaching in 2025 the victory in the Helm-Owner ranking of the Turbocup. At Gargnano she took on the CentoMiglia together with Mauro Grandone, her partner in life as well as on the boat. Just two people on board an Ufo 22 for two days that demanded almost opposite qualities: patience and sensitivity in reading Saturday’s light breezes, strength, concentration and boat handling in the Peler and the waves of Sunday morning. The overall victory thus takes on an even more particular value because Lulù also wins the Double Handed standings ahead of Stefano Fasoli’s Pirillina and Elena Formoso’s Dulcis Banana (Circolo Vela Toscolano Maderno), third. Tea Faoro and Mauro Grandone therefore also receive the Trofeo Beppe Croce, reserved for the best Double Handed crew. A sailing story, but also a story of a couple, concluded in the finest way possible: sharing almost one hundred miles of racing on board and returning to Bogliaco as winners of the 76th CentoMiglia del Garda.
TWO DAYS, TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LAKE GARDAS
The 76th CentoMiglia showed two opposite faces of Lake Garda. On Saturday the Trofeo Gargnano was sailed in light and shifty wind on the Bogliaco, Desenzano and back course, with the ORC Overall victory going to Bandalarga, Piero Refraschini’s Ultimate 30 of AV Nord Est. On Sunday, instead, Lake Garda delivered a classic and spectacular day, with the Peler at around 20 knots, a formed wave and wind well spread out all the way to the upper lake, on the Trentino shore. After rounding the Limone mark off the Hotel Eala and the Torbole marks, Thomas Jundt’s QFX managed to reach Malcesine still with a northerly wind. Immediately afterwards the air shifted rapidly to the south, found first by the Hungarian Raffica.
THE SPECTACLE OF THE LINE HONOURS
If the ORC handicaps rewarded Lulù and the smaller boats, on real time the great protagonist was the Swiss QFX of Thomas Jundt, first across the line in both the Trofeo Gargnano and the Trofeo Gorla. Spectacle among the multihulls too: in the Multicento the Trofeo Gargnano Line Honours went to Poison of Andrea Ferrari of Fraglia Vela Desenzano, while in the Trofeo Gorla the first multihull to finish was the Extreme 40 Sail Academy of Michele Simonetti, with Matteo Pilati at the helm for Fraglia Vela Malcesine.
THE ONE-DESIGN CLASSES, FROM THE DOLPHINS TO THE ASSO 99
Alongside the main ORC standings, the CentoMiglia confirmed the importance of the Garda one-design fleets. Among the Dolphin 81, the largest fleet of the event, the combined standings reward Back in Black of Francesco Anselmi of Fraglia Vela Desenzano, with Alessandro Archetti, ahead of Whisper of Andrea Taddei of Società Canottieri Garda Salò and Joker of Umberto Grumelli of Fraglia Vela Desenzano.
In the Asso 99 the win goes to Assterisco of Giorgio Zamboni of Circolo Vela Gargnano, with Pierluigi Omboni, ahead of Leonasso of Wolfgang Palm and Confusione of Elena Reboldi of Circolo Vela Gargnano.
Among the Protagonist the victory goes to Gattone of Massimiliano Docali of Circolo Nautico Brenzone, who finishes level on points with Aquilotto of Paolo Di Lecce of Fraglia Vela Desenzano, second on the tie-break, while third place goes to Avec Plaisir of Giovanni Pola of Fraglia Vela Riva. The new ORC Classic standings instead reward Airone Blu, the Rigoletto of Giorgio Castellani of LNI Garda, ahead of the Meteor Alisea 2.0 of Daniele Balzanelli of Yacht Club Torri, both on 3 points, and OMOO of Beniamino Zermini of LNI Garda.
A RACE THAT INVOLVED THE WHOLE OF LAKE GARDA
Behind the CentoMiglia there was once again an organisation that involved the entire lake. Alongside Circolo Vela Gargnano, organiser of the event on behalf of the Italian Sailing Federation, collaborating along the course were Fraglia Vela Desenzano, Gruppo Nautico Dielleffe, Lega Navale Italiana Brescia Desenzano section, Nauticlub Moniga, Consorzio Garda Trentino Vela and Fraglia Vela Malcesine.
Their work was particularly important on Saturday on the lower Garda. The Desenzano mark had been moved slightly further north because of the concurrent Air Show and the passage of the Frecce Tricolori. The collaboration of the clubs and organisations present in the area allowed the CentoMiglia fleet to cross safely an area crowded with the very many boats that had come out to watch the show, creating a corridor that enabled the competitors to continue without interference. On Sunday the organisational baton passed to the upper lake, with Consorzio Garda Trentino Vela engaged in managing the two Torbole marks, rounded after the mark positioned at Limone off the Hotel Eala, and Fraglia Vela Malcesine involved in the new Navene passage. A collaboration that allowed the CentoMiglia to return to being, physically too, a race capable of uniting Lombardy, Trentino and Veneto.
THE ITALIAN SAILING FEDERATION AND THE INSTITUTIONS
The Italian Sailing Federation had a strong presence during the event. FIV vice-president Giuseppe D’Amico took part in the opening, together with national councillor Domenico Foschini, responsible for Youth Activity and also the federal point of reference for Match Race and Team Race. A national commitment that Foschini combines with an always very close relationship with FIV Zone XIV, an area of which he was president and in which he continues to be present at numerous activities and events. Also present with him were the representatives of the Zone XIV territorial Committee Antonio Barbieri, Raffaele Valsecchi, engaged during the CentoMiglia also as president of the Race Committee, and Bruno Bottacini. Particular thanks also go to the Race Committee and the Protest Committee, engaged over the two days in the technical and sporting management of a complex event, with very different conditions between Saturday and Sunday and a course that involved a large part of the lake. The 76th CentoMiglia was also made possible thanks to the contribution of the Municipality of Gargnano, the Department of Commerce, Sport and Tourism and the Department of Culture, the Pro Loco Gargnano and This is Gargnano, in a relationship between sport, territory and tourism promotion that has accompanied the great race for years.
FINECO AND THE PARTNERS OF THE 76th CENTOMIGLIA
The event’s main sponsor is Fineco, joined by Cantieri del Pardo and Consorzio Lago di Garda Lombardia, partners that underline the link between the race, the marine industry and the promotion of the Garda area. The 76th edition was also accompanied by Acqua Tavina, Consorzio Valtènesi, Heineken and Wyler Vetta, official timekeeper of the event. Among the organisations that supported the event are also Hotel Eala My Lakeside Dream, with the mark positioned in front of the property in Sunday’s race, Turboden, A2A Life Company and Euroimmobiliare.
THE CENTOMIGLIA FROM LAND AND LIVE TOO
The race did not end on the water. Throughout the weekend Bogliaco hosted a programme aimed at the crews but also at enthusiasts, families and those who chose to follow the CentoMiglia from the shore. The square became the meeting point of the event, while along Lake Garda the public was able to watch the fleet go by. The live coverage also played an important role. Links and live windows accompanied the main phases on the official channels of Circolo Vela Gargnano and the CentoMiglia, with commentary by journalist Andrea Falcon. The images, interviews and live broadcasts will remain available above all on the Circolo Vela Gargnano YouTube channel, making it possible to relive a race that in two days showed almost every possible face of Lake Garda.
“The 76th CentoMiglia thus closes with the extreme speed of QFX and the big hulls as the protagonists on real time, but above all with a small Ufo 22 ahead of everyone in the standings that award the Trofeo Bettoni, under the ORC rule. And with a fleet in which, alongside the names and the boats that built the history of the race, more and more boys and girls were to be seen. And for the first time the CentoMiglia is won by a woman owner-helm! This is perhaps the most significant result of the 2026 edition: the smaller boats took the satisfaction of beating the big ones and many young sailors showed that they want to be part of today’s CentoMiglia and, above all, of tomorrow’s” commented the President of Circolo Vela Gargnano Francesco Capuccini.
STANDINGS: https://www.
Photo gallery day 2/Trofeo Gorla and prize-giving: https://photos.
Video: https://youtu.be/
Tracking: https://kwindoo.com/
pre-edited for TV broadcasters:
DAY 1 Saturday 4 September: https://www.
DAY 2 Sunday 5 September: https://www.swisstransfer.com/
