Fireball Worlds 2025, Arco, Lake Garda (ITA), August 22 – 30th

Results

Photo Galleries: by Elena Giolai @flickr | by Urs Haerdi | Videos

Report inspired by Cormac B.

Swiss combination takes the 2025 Fireball Worlds title!

The podium       photo by Elena Giolai 

For only the fourth time in the last three decades, a non-British combination has won the Fireball Worlds. With a nine-race programme concluded on Lake Garda, the Swiss mixed team of Yves Mermod and Maja Siegenthaler (SUI14961) have won the Fireball Worlds by a three-point margin in a 136-boat entry – the largest fleet outside UK ever. With three race wins, three second places, a fifth and a DNC they beat the early leaders of the regatta, DJ Edwards  and Vyv Townend (GBR15144) who counted a score of three race wins, a second, two thirds, two fourths and a seventh. In third place, and double defending World Champions (Lough Derg, Ireland in 2022 and Geelong, Australia in 2024) Tom Gillard and Andy Thompson (GBR15122) had a solitary race win, two seconds, a fifth, a sixth and a seventh, a thirteenth and two fifteenth places, to trail the runners up by 21 points. Other race wins went to David Wade and Iain Blake (GBR15175) and Peter Gray and Richard Pepperdine (GBR15118). Wade & Blake finished fifth overall, while Gray & Pepperdine finished sixth.

With the exception of the DNC in Race 4 when their mast collapsed, the Swiss counted results in the top five of every race, while Edwards & Townend kept their scores in the range first to seventh. In a fleet of this size that is some consistency.

Many people would have fancied Gillard & Thompson to add another title to their CVs, but a 7, 15, 15, 13 sequence of finishes in the first four races left them with an uphill struggle. In contrast, Edwards & Townend scored 1,1,3,1, across the same four races while the Swiss had 2,3,2,DNC.

Hulls used at the top: 1. SUI14961 Duvoisin, 2. GBR15144 Winder, 3. GBR14122 Weathermark, 5. GBR15175 best placed new design carbon Windermark

Daniel and Harry Thompson (IRL15114) finished 19th overall and winning the U25’s World Championship. 

Georgia Booth with crew Oliver Davenport (GBR14940) in 8th place was the first female helm with a second and two thirds in the windier races.

Dave Hall with long-term crew Paul Constable (GBR15172) finished 12th overall and winning the combined over 125 years category.

The early part of the week was hard work with classic Ora (from south) up to 25 knots and when the lay day came the suggestion was that everyone was ready for it. 

photo by Elena Giolai

The second half of the regatta may have been a bit easier on the bodies with mostly moderate to light wind from the north. The development of the Ora was disturbed bei the thundery weather. For the last race it was a long wait until a weak south-easterly could establish.

SUI 14961 winning last race       photo by Elena Giolai

It is a measure of the challenge in sailing in a fleet of this size, where an 800m start line was required, that well known crews that would be familiar to top places had a difficult week. 

photos by Elena Giolai

136 Entries from 14 nations :
GBR 37, ITA 21, AUS 17, CZE 15, FRA 15, IRL 10, SUI 9, CAN 3, BEL 2, KEN 2, RSA 2, GER 1, SLO 1, SVK 1 

In the early part of the week, the GBR boats were dominating the top ten, but as the final results show, they ultimately had to share it with a number of other nationalities: SUI, GBR, AUS, CZE, ITA.

The Arco Sailing Club with it’s many helpers and the RC did a great job - apart from a pretty weird measurement. The starts of all 136 boats on a 800m line split in two with the RC boat in the middle worked very well with only one general recal in 9 races.

from Facebook by Mike D.

Lake Garda is enormous but up here at the north end (Torbole, Arco Lido and Riva del Garda), it's all a bit bonkers. Firstly there's the mountains, which appear to have been spray painted onto the sky by an artist with no sense of proportion and a palette of only luminous creams, greys and greens. The scale is ridiculous, impossible and stunningly beautiful if you can bring yourself to believe it's real. 

The wind is thermal, so you never know exactly what you're going to get. But there's a very strong chance that it will blow from the north in the morning, turn off around mid-day, and then come in from the south (onshore) in the afternoon, gradually increasing as the day wears on. The water is warm, and the 30-ish mile run-up in a southerly breeze provides proper waves.

The Arco sailing club is practically a Mecca for sailors but there's only 2 slipways, one for each boatpark. The beachfront boatpark is pea-gravel, just in case you wanted a good workout moving your boat to/from the water. To launch via the south-facing beach is not permitted.

photo by Elena Giolai

The club boatpark is a long corridor leading to a slipway which goes for about 8ft above the water, a similar distance below, and after that it's a sheer drop into the depths. 

photo by Elena Giolai

Do not put your boat at the left hand end of the beach boatpark if you want to launch it inside an hour. The 90-ish Fireballs between you and the slipway put you at the wrong end of a big queue.

On your return from racing, do not think you can hold the boat while waiting for the first row of boats to go up the slipway. Crew jumps out into 50+ft of water and needs to be good at swimming if you try this.

photo by Elena Giolai

But these quibbles aside, the place deserves its status. Retire to the beach bar before and after sailing, take on some liquid refreshment in the shade of the big trees and soak up the scenery. It's a geological amusement park built for water sports on a grand scale. On top of the 136 Fireballs, there are a multitude of windsurfers, SUPs, wing-foilers, canoes and kite surfers all strutting their stuff in the fresh onshore breeze. The sun dazzles from a thousand wavefronts while the afternoon heat-haze gradually shrouds the mad cliff face. There's a proper walking/cycling path around/over the edge of the lake where impossibly beautiful locals walk, run and cycle against the impossibly beautiful backdrop of the lake and mountains. Some of them occasionally have to detour around the odd knackered English bloke lugging a sailbag full of wet sailing gear back to Riva del Garda. It's a whole different world.

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Invitation:

Dates 

The event will take place from Friday 22nd August to Saturday 30th August 2025.

Note that this event will not have a formal preworlds, however a practice race is planned for the day before official racing commences.

NOTICE OF RACE

Program

The Club

The host club is Circolo Vela Arco, located in the northern part of Lake Garda.

Arco is a narrow town with only a few 100 metres on the lake, stretching back 4km into the mountains.

To the west of Arco is Riva del Garda and to the east is Torbole.

Information about the club can be found at - circolovelaarco.it

Circolo Vela Arco a.s.d.
Via Lungo Sarca, 20 – 38062 Arco,
North Lake Garda – TRENTINO
Telephone: +39 0464 505086
E-mail: info@circolovelaarco.com

Circolo Vela Arco Logistics

The Sailing Club is placed near the river Sarca.
It is a perfect spot for sailors and has been operating since 1983.
• Boat Park – 250 boats
• Car Park Free – 50 places
• 20 meters Launching ramp
• Trailer Park
• 3 Race Committee Vessel
• 10 owned rubber boats
• 6 WC, 10 showers and 3 changing rooms
• Main office
• Race Office
• Jury Office & Race committee rooms
• School with video screen
• Restaurant & Coffee corner
• Wi-Fi network
• REMOTE CONTROL ELECTRIC MOTORIZED BUOYS

Lake Garda Conditions 

Lake Garda is famous for its great sailing and wind sports conditions.

In the morning from 6 am the wind travels down the lake from North to South, ranging from 10 to 20 knots. The wind dies around 11am and then fills in again around 2pm in the afternoon from the South at 14 to 18 knots.

The water in summer is normally warm at around 23 degrees celsius but if a storm stirs the lake up it can get cold, so a range of sailing gear is recommended.

The air temperature ranges from a minimum of 18 degrees at night with daytime temperatures up to 30 degrees.

Getting There 

Arco is located approximately 1 hour's drive from Verona, 2.5 hours from Venice and 3 hours from Milan. The event organisers will be arranging some shuttle bus options from Verona. From Venice or Milan, a hire car is recommended.

Note that to hire a car you must have an International Drivers Licence if you are not from the European Union.

Parking 

Free parking around Riva del Garda, Arco and Torbole is very scarce, so it is recommended that you book accommodation with a parking spot if you plan to hire a car.

There is free parking at both Arco sailing club and Torbole sailing club.

Getting around 

The best option is to take a bike, scooter or skateboard in the container.

There are more than 20 bike rental shops spread between the three towns that hire bikes by the day and are happy to negotiate bulk hires or weekly hires. Some examples to see pricing are:

https://www.degasperirent.it/en/home/

https://www.happy-bike.it/en

https://velolake.com/bike-shuttle-lake-garda/

https://www.torbolebikeshop.com/

Personally, I am looking at putting cheap bikes in the container and then hiring an electric bike there on the day I want to ride up a mountain.

Most accommodation has storage areas for bikes as that is the key form of transportation.

Walking is also easy. Everything is close by. We walked everywhere on our visit there last September.

Accommodation

It is recommended that you stay in either Torbole or Riva del Garda. If looking at Arco accommodation ensure that it is close to the venue, not up in the mountains. Note that the location is surrounded by large mountains so a bad accommodation choice could result in very sore legs.

There are two great campgrounds right next to the sailing club which are a cheap option for anyone wanting to throw a tent in the container.

https://www.campingarcolido.it/ is the camp ground directly in front of the sailing club and will be the closest accommodation possible.

https://www.campingmaroadi.it/ is the next camp ground towards Riva and only 100 metres from the launch area.

Between the club and the main road there are several apartments.

There are limited restaurants and food options in the Arco Lake section.

Torbole is 8 - 10 minutes’ walk from the club and has several restaurants and bars plus apartment and hotel accommodation. It is a small quaint town and very picturesque.

Riva del Garda is the larger town and is 15 – 20 minutes’ walk from the club or an easy 8 – 10-minute bike ride. Riva has plenty of accommodation, including apartments and hotels. There is a good shopping centre and many bars and restaurants. The eastern side of Riva is closest to the club and is where I recommend staying. It gives easy access to all of Riva, Arco and Torbole. The western end of Garda is the old historical part of town and is filled with restaurants, bars and accommodation. If you don’t mind a longer walk / ride or have a car this area might suit you.

Accommodation Options

https://www.booking.com/ has a range of hotels and apartments

https://www.airbnb.com.au/ has lots of apartment options

https://www.gardatrentino.it/en/towns-villages/riva-del-garda/accommodations is a local web site which has accommodation options plus a whole lot more information about the area.

The sailing club also has a system to help with booking accommodation. https://www.circolovelaarco.it/prenota-hotel

Accommodation is filling up quickly so I suggest you get onto this quickly if you plan on going.

Things to do while not Sailing

• Wing Ding hire and lessons
• Windsurfing hire and lessons
• Kitesurfing in limited areas
• Kayaking and Supping
• Wake boarding
• Mountain biking
• Rock Climbing
• Hiking
• Canyoning
• Explore each of the three towns which are very different
• Dining in many cafés and restaurants
• Catch a ferry to any of the towns along the lake and explore
• Explore the Dolomites
• Sight seeing around the lake including forts, castles, mountains, churches
• Visit the local markets in each town: Arco on Saturday, Torbole on Sunday and Tuesday, Riva on Wednesday

Boat Parts 

Semi decent marine stores can be found in both Torbole and Riva del Garda.

They carry plenty of rope, elastic, some fittings and good sailing kit.

https://www.negrinautica.com/ in Torbole is the closest marine store to the sailing club.

https://www.bestwind.it/en/ is located in Riva Del Garda.

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