Italy to host 25th International Catamaran Challenge Trophy

Province of Rimini to feature catamaran match-racing as part of BLURimini Festival

The Trustees of the International Catamaran Challenge Trophy, in conjunction with defender Southern Yacht Club, have accepted the bid submitted by Rimini, Italy, to host the celebratory 25th anniversary regatta. The event is scheduled May 26-June 1, 2005.

The Province of Rimini, located northeast of San Marino on Italy's upper Adriatic coast, is the host. The BLURimini organization and the Vela Viva Sailing Club will coordinate the event. The regatta will be a featured part of the 7th annual BLURimini Festival, a celebration of music, entertainment and sailing.

"We think that Rimini and its popular festival will make a wonderful host for the silver anniversary of the ICCT," said John B. Dawson, Chairman of the ICCT Trustees. "Multihull racing is popular in Europe, and we anticipate a fleet of 10 to 15 defenders and challengers."

The event will be sailed in F18HTs, an 18-foot, high-performance catamaran. The two-person cats are being provided by the host city and Bimare Marine, the Italian builder. They carry a 20-square-meter (215-square-foot) mainsail and spinnaker.

After the Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans, La.) successfully defended last fall the trophy that it won in 2003, the Trustees of the ICCT, with the approval of Southern Yacht Club, put the event out for bid in an effort to open it up to more competitors.

With its festival promoting a close association with the sea, Rimini seemed the perfect venue. Rimini officials say that 16 million tourists visit the province annually, and last year's festival, which featured 15 different regattas and 10 concerts, attracted an estimated 80,000 people.

Province officials view the sport of sailing as a great promotional vehicle and were eager to add the ICCT to their festival because they feel it has growth potential. Rimini has offered to pay the room and board costs for all teams, and has proposed a prize purse. As the boats will be provided by the organizers, competitors' costs will be minimized.

"The addition of this most important and unusual catamaran match-racing regatta during the Festival will greatly enhance the pleasure of the thousands of visitors to our area at that time of year," said Gianni Sorci, President of BLURimini s.r.l., the coordinating organization of the BLURimini Festival. "The configuration of our shoreline and the site where the regatta will be sailed lend themselves to great views of the racing by the spectators."

Americans John Lovell (New Orleans) and Charlie Ogletree (Houston, Texas), who have won the ICCT back-to-back, will be one of the U.S. defense teams, but they aren't assured of advancing to the Match.

As many as 20 American and foreign entries will be considered either a defender or challenger, respectively, and both sides will sail a series of elimination rounds to determine the competitors for the 25th Match.

Organizers expect to promulgate a Notice of Race by the end of February, which will include details of the regatta format, set an entry deadline and announce the amount of the prize purse.

The International Catamaran Challenge Trophy, frequently referred to as the "Little America's Cup," was donated in 1961 by the Sea Cliff Yacht Club as a perpetual trophy for friendly international match-racing competition. Twenty-one events were held between 1961 and 1991.

After the U.S. won the trophy back from Australia in the 22nd Match in 1996, seven years passed without an event. In 2003 the Trustees changed the format of the regatta to ensure close competition among the world's top catamaran sailors on an annual basis.