In Gargnano, Lake Garda, from July 1 to 15, 2023, the European Dream Cup will be organized, a project strongly supported by the European Community, involving ten yacht clubs from ten nations and ten high schools per nation, for a total of one hundred schools. The Italian club involved and in charge of the organization is Circolo Vela Gargnano, a historical reality of the sailing scene, which for more than 70 years has been the club of the Centomilglia, the longest-running and one of the best-known regattas in Italy.
Participating in the project are yacht clubs from Austria, Spain, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as Italy, of course.
Open to students from all over Europe, the aim will be to encourage a deep connection among young people through the sport of sailing, with an emphasis on the major issues of these years. While the main focus will, in fact, be on sports and on a progressive immersion in the world of foiling, thanks to the use of crewed monotype boats that fly on the water thanks to foils, the 69F, the sports activity will be complemented and supported by seminars and activities for a shrewd and gradual deepening in terms of sustainability, inclusivity and digitalization.
Not only that, cooperation and integration with local volunteers and associations, with other teams will in fact be encouraged, a key role will be played by the use of social media, all to push this network of connections as far as possible and to encourage more young people to participate in these initiatives.
The key points of the project are: the use of a revolutionary hull such as the 69F, capable of providing a unique flying experience, being fast, but at the same time stable like few other boats and already used to train the young people chosen for the Youth America’s Cup, and a “mixed” and young participation. Each team will consist of six young people between the ages of 13 and 19, plus two coaches or chaperones. In rotation, members will board the boats in groups of three or four, and there must always be at least one girl among them.
In parallel with the event, the Dream Cup village will be open to the public, during which seminars will be held by experts on the issues touched upon by the project and which will host volunteers from the provinces of Brescia and Bergamo, the hardest hit by the 2020 pandemic.
The project will officially start on March 9, during an introductory online conference with all one hundred participating schools, during which the event will be explained in detail, and will be welcomed by some foiling and Olympic world champions, such as Conrad Colman, Odile Van Aanolt, and Zsombor Berecz, with the opportunity for students to interact with experts, including those on sustainability and digitalization. Among them is one of the gurus on the subject, Seth Godin, an American entrepreneur and author of numerous bestsellers and one of the world’s leading experts on marketing, who has used his knowledge in the field to promote a more sustainable lifestyle, including through his latest book The Carbon Almanac, It’s not too late.
The European Dream Cup is an open challenge to young students, a challenge that comes through sailing and foiling.
