2007 470 Masters' Cup Microsite

“All ways lead to Rome” thought the 470 masters from all over the world who gathered at Lake Bracciano, a round crater lake of 10 km diameter, situated in a lovely landscape and only 45 minutes of train away from Rome’s Vatican.

Blue water, sand beach, warm sunshine: what do you need more? The lake had two wind systems, a 4-5 Bf North in the morning, and a 3-5 SW, shifting towards West, in the afternoon. The wind direction could be told from the forest fires plumes that raised inland. The firefighting airplanes several times came to the lake to tank water (5 tons in 10 seconds), hoping there is no 470 in the way.

The 2008 Master’s Cup will enter history as the largest Masters Cup fleet ever: 88 boats flooded the Ali6 Club at Anguillara. Preceding the Masters, an Open Italian Championship allowed to train massive starts in which the favored side was always the most crowded and the marks hidden behind layers of sails. The committee and jury had no easy job. While there was plenty of wind, it was shifting strongly, but moving the marks took time due to the depth of the lake.

Image: The wind shifts offered challenging races. Also, the lee mark without a gate was a moment of extreme tension, even when no boat capsized.

The lee mark was also a good place to improve our Italian vocabulary, but at land everything was fine again. The atmosphere was very good; we met again seasoned Masters and got to know new sailors.

The hospitality of the Italian was laudable: buffet and dance in the evening, cold water before each start,… The Ali6 Club also organized our visit to the nearby Airplane museum for a glimpse into history, - surprising these old airplanes used many sailing ship artifacts. Of course, few missed sightseeing nearby Rome with their fan club.

The Master Cup went to the German Stefan Schneider und Frank Thieme, the French Gilles Chapelin und Franck Barthe were crowned Grandmasters and the Italian Fernando Ziccarelli und Davide Gamba were titled Apprentice Masters.

It was a great feeling to sail in such a large fleet, and we hope to repeat the experience in Varna, Bulgaria in 2008 – see you there!

Hubert Kirrmann
SUI 1410.