Sardinia Team Race World Championship OpenSkiff - Overall
by Elena Giolai 16 Nov 2025 18:37 UTC
13-16 November 2025
The Sardinia Team Race World Championships RS Aero & OpenSkiff came to an end today in Cagliari, in the Su Siccu basin. The event was organised by the Lega Navale Italiana Sulcis Section in collaboration with the Società Canottieri Ichnusa.
Two consecutive weekends of activity began on 7 - 9 November with the RS Aero under 25 class and continued from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 November with the youth OpenSkiff class reserved for under 17 sailors. The Società Canottieri Ichnusa, in its historic headquarters overlooking the Su Siccu basin in Cagliari, hosted boats, support craft, judges and sailors, and co organised the event together with the Lega Navale del Sulcis.
The first part of the event, dedicated to the RS Aero class, enjoyed three splendid days of wind last week and awarded the title to the team from the Principality of Monaco after an exciting final. The second weekend was very different, characterised by almost summer like temperatures and an unexpected layer of haze that completely shut down the wind on Saturday and Sunday, making it impossible to continue racing despite the constant presence of the Race Committee on the water to monitor the wind. The only usable racing day was therefore Friday 14 November, during which the entire first round robin and six matches of the second were completed.
The final ranking is therefore taken from the first round robin, which saw France dominate with one hundred percent victories thanks to the team composed of Charles Ganivet, Clara Zunquin and the very young Come Zunquin under 13. Behind them finished Italy LNI Sulcis with sixty percent success. Poland finished third, also with sixty percent and fifty three points, represented by Stanislawa Wygonska, Jan Waskiewicz, Wojciech Wilczynski and Aleksander Grygolowicz. In fourth place came Switzerland, fifth Italy Circolo Vela Arco and finally Hungary. For Italy, the Lega Navale del Sulcis therefore achieved an excellent second place, confirming the growth of Italian teams in team racing, a discipline that in recent years has been developing thanks also to technical training camps organised by the Italian Sailing Federation with the support of coach and umpire Michele Ricci. Representing Italy LNI Sulcis were Angelo Manconi, Elena Telisca and under twelve sailor Fabio Serra, supported by a very determined Riccardo Hai Gessa, already winner in the previous weekend with the RS Aero class for Monaco, his home country. Naturally there is some regret for the absence of wind over the last two days, which prevented the semifinals and finals from taking place, but even in Cagliari there are days when the breeze does not arrive.
The organisation nevertheless ensured maximum effort in welcoming the teams, strongly believing in the growth of this event which, for the OpenSkiff class, represented the first Team Race World Championship in its young history. The format is very popular, offers great dynamism and allows the young sailors to experience valuable technical and social moments, even outside the water. The 2026 edition has already been proposed for the Italian Sailing Federation calendar in the last weekend of October and the first of November, an ideal period for Sardinia from a climatic point of view.
Thanks go to the international umpire team, to the Race Committee always ready to seize every window of wind, to the Italian Sailing Federation, to the Società Canottieri Ichnusa and to the Lega Navale del Sulcis which, with great commitment and a collaborative spirit, continue to bring high level and innovative events to Sardinia, such as team racing for the RS Aero and OpenSkiff classes.
The international calendar in Sardinia for 2026 will be particularly rich. At Easter the first stage of the OpenSkiff Eurochallenge circuit will take place at the Yacht Club Porto Rotondo. In July it will be time for the European Championship in Calasetta. From October onwards Cagliari will host a series of special events in the Su Siccu basin, including the OpenSkiff Champions Cup reserved for the top ten in the under 13 and under 17 ranking lists and the second edition of the Sardinia Team Race World Championships for the OpenSkiff and RS Aero classes. Sardinia thus confirms itself as a strategic location for international youth sailing, further supported by the Department of Tourism of the Region of Sardinia, which strongly invests in a sport perfectly aligned with the island's identity and sustainability policies.
Statement by Tore Turco, president of the Lega Navale Italiana Sulcis Section: "We are very satisfied to have brought to Cagliari a new and educational event such as team racing for the young sailors of the RS Aero and OpenSkiff classes. We strongly believe in the growth of the new generations and will continue to work to offer them high level sporting and human opportunities".
Statement by Sergio Virdis, president of the Società Canottieri Ichnusa: "Two thousand twenty five has been a very intense year for our Club. We organised four events dedicated to the RS Aero and OpenSkiff classes, from the national regatta in June to the Champions Cup in October, up to this Sardinia World Championship. We are proud to support youth sailing and to play an active role also in the development of innovative disciplines such as team racing".