The Techno class is very familiar with Torbole and its local club, Circolo Surf Torbole, which has already hosted numerous international Techno competitions.

As they always do, the local organising team had laid everything on perfectly, a warm welcome for all the riders and an opening ceremony that featured the traditional competitor parade through Torbole village led by a marching band, then the presentation of all the teams one by one on the podium. A great opening day atmosphere and opportunity for all the riders renew old friendships and make new ones. Easter Monday was devoted to training and warm-upand with the wind filling in to 25 knots it was the perfect wake-up call for everyone ! This gave riders and judges alike the chance to make their final adjustments and resolve any technical issues.

Tuesday 11th April. The forecast suggested that the “Ora” (southerly wind) would start blowing around midday…and that proved to be the case enabling the first races to get underway on schedule ! The magic of Lake Garda!
A bit weak to begin with, the Ora increased progressively eventually reaching 15 knots, making three rounds of races possible for all the categories. A perfect start!
270 riders from 16 different countries were on the start line for these European Championships, including 100 Italians from all the clubs nearby, every one of them dreaming of the podium.
Two separate courses were set up for the siz race categories: Open, Under 19s (U19), Under 17s (U17), Under 15s (U15) and the Under 13s (U13). It’s worth pointing out that the last two categories have the biggest number of entries in the entire fleet. This is great news, it’s the younger generations who will ensure the future success and longevity of the Techno Class and represent a great nursery of future talent for international windsurfing.
U13. Let’s start with the youngest category, where Greek rider Thiseas Nikolopoulos reeled off three wins out of three and leads the rankings from Turkey’s Sarp Sarli and Italy’s Luis Burkhart. The highest ranked girl (girls and boys compete together) is Turkey’s Parla Kabasakal in 6th place.
U15 Girls. Estonia’s Bertha Kivistik made a strong start, winning 2 of the 3 races. She leads from Italy’s Gaia Bonezzi.
U15 Boys :Moritz Schleicher from Germany (2-2-2) is leading after the first day, followed by the Greek duo Panagiotis Ioannou and Evangelos Giannakopolos, lying equal 3 points behind.
U17 Girls : Turkish rider Nurhayat Güven (3-2-1) has grabbed the early lead ahead of the Sardinian Teresa Medde and another Turkish rider, Defne Simay Basdag
U17 Boys : It’s Spain’s Bruno Tor (1-1-2) leading the dance, with two more Greeks,Alexandros Vasmanolis and Minas Koutelas in hot persuit.
Techno Plus Women : Poland’s Falkiewicz leads the fleet for now, ahead of the Italians Angelina Medde and Veronica Poledrini.
Techno Plus Men : Greece in the ascendancy here too, with Alexandros Kokkinakis leading from Cypriot Vasilis Charalambous and local Italian Marco Guida Di Ronza
Southerly « Ora » wind is again forecast for Day 2, with racing scheduled for another midday start!
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