Our history

“October 3rd nineteen hundred and forty-seven…” with these very first words tidily handwritten on a crumpled yellowish notebook sheet, Paolo ANDREIS, Giuseppe ANDREOLI, Carlo BENAMATI, Dino B. BENAMATI, Cristoforo BENAMATI, Walter BENAMATI, Alvise BERTUZZI, Franco CAMPOSTRINI, Danilo CHEMASI, Aldo CHIARAMONTI, Vittorio DA RE, Mario GIACOMAZZI, Gino LAGO, Livio MARANGONI, Martino MARTINI, Umberto PERETTI COLO', Aldo PIFFERI, Guerrino PIFFERI and Antonio ZORZI founded the Fraglia Vela Malcesine whose 61st year has just been celebrated. These sixty years have been spent promoting the sport of sailing and organizing races and events which have also involved athletes from within our own ranks.

The Fraglia della Vela Malcesine was born just two years after the end of the war when people wanted to rebuild anything that had been lost during the bombardments. Above all they wished to boost their morale by returning to the recreational and sporting activities that they had enjoyed pre-war. This was going to be difficult as money and materials were in short supply.
It was with this spirit that a group of friends sharing the same enthusiasm for sailing decided to join up and try to realize their common dream and become the founders of a sailing club.
Thus, working together, the “FRAGLIA DELLA VELA DI MALCESINE” was born.
After the election of the first Chairman and board of directors, a splendid Ball was organized at the Captains’ Hall to celebrate and publicise the Fraglia’s creation, also involving the participation of the local community.

In early 1948, the Club purchased a keelboat - their first glorious boat. In this the club members could try out the lake’s winds and sailing area, and share their enthusiasm for the foundation of this brand-new club with other people.
Young as it was, the Fraglia was soon officially acknowledged by the U.S.V.I. becoming one the few Italian sailing clubs associated with the National Federation.

In August 1948 the first regatta was organized, which involved the participation of local fishing boats sailing in three races. A good fresh wind and unlimited enthusiasm accompanied this ad hoc collection of boats with their patched and colourful sails standing out against deep blue waters.

A second significant step forward was made in 1949 when the Club decided to acquire a Star yacht. Now they were owners of a recognised one-design boat.
Sailing races, members’ elections and meetings occurred very regularly until January 1951 when the opportunity arose to realize a great dream: the Club could finally have its own club-house. The newly elected Board of Directors promptly inquired about a State property located on the lake promenade and on June 29th 1951 the Giacomazzi company was entrusted to build the club premises including a quay and a haulage crane.
The basic installations were now available to launch further sailing events. The very first FVM Star sailors obtained an excellent placing at the “100 Miglia del Garda” race. During the following years the Star fleet was increased to seven boats.

In 1951 the first “Racing Calendar” was issued:
1st July: Club-regatta for rating boats
12th August: Fishing boats Regatta
25/26th August: Star, Snipe and Dinghy Lake Garda Championship.

Exciting years were to come: the first “Vela d’Argento” (August 1954); the first Dinghy Italian Championship, (July 1955), to be held again in 1958 and 1962; the Finn Italian Championship (1965). In 1967 Malcesine’s first sailing school was founded.
In those days most of the best sailors were helmsmen racing in the 12 feet Dinghy Class. Well remembered are the brothers Dino and Carlo Benamati with their 2nd placing at the 1962 Italian Championship, as well as Guerrino Pifferi winner of the 1973 Italian Championship in S. Margherita Ligure.
During the ‘70s and ‘80s the Fraglia organized both national and international events which were added to the local regattas that the Club organized for the most popular boat classes at that time, i.e. Dinghy 12 f., FJ, FD, Snipe, Star and Strale.
The Croce brothers marked a milestone in the history of the Italian yachting as winners of the Star Italian Championship in 1970 and again in 1982. The Star Class Spring European Championship (1973) will also be recorded as an extraordinary event in Malcesine at that time. During the following year more events were held: Finn European Championship (1975); Strale Italian Championship (1977); Finn European and Snipe Italian Championships (1979); Finn Italian Championship once again (1984); Contender Italian Championship (1986).
The Dinghy 12 f. Italian Championship was organized in 1971, 1974, 1975 and 1982 when the young Fraglia athlete Gianni Pifferi gained the Italian title winning by a remarkable distance over the second boat.

25 years after its foundation, the Fraglia Vela Malcesine had the most extraordinary experience they could ever have dreamed of when the Star pairing of Flavio Scala and Mauro Testa, participated in 1972 Monaco Olympics in Kiel. Later the “Scala team” sailed in open-sea races aboard Italia and in the America’s Cup held in 1983.
Cannes (France) 1991: Roberto Benamati won the prestigious Star World Championship. Thanks to this achievement, he represented Italy at the Barcelona Olympics (1992). During the following years he also competed in the Asso99 and Libera classes winning both the European and Italian Championships.

1994 year was a thrilling one for the Fraglia’s young athletes: a 3rd place for Mara Trimeloni at the Womens’ Italian Championship and a 5th place for Ylena Carcasole at the Optimist European Championship. These results raised everyone’s hopes and, in fact, Ylena Carcasole won the 1995 Italian Championship. She then  changed class to 420, and, with Mara Trimeloni as bowman, 1996 saw the start of quite a number of excellent results for them including Silver Medal at the 420 Italian Championship in Malcesine (1996), another Silver Medal at the Championship in Maccagno (1997) and a Bronze Medal in Bari (1998). When the crew split up, Mara transferred to 470s while Ylena, faithful to the 470/F class, entered the Italian Olympic Team with Gemma Fiorentino as her new crew-member. After abandoning the 470/F at the end of 2001, she now races Yngling together with Chiara Calligaris and has subsequently become part of the coaching staff of the Fraglia Vela.

37 years after the first Finn Italian Championship was organized by the FVM they had the satisfaction of seeing one of their athletes on the podium at the 1998 Finn Championship. The perseverance and passion that Michele Marchesini had dedicated to the sport of sailing finally paid off, and this young upcoming athlete went on to win two Silver Medals (2000 and 2001 Finn Italian Championship) and became a member of the Italian Olympic Team.

Meanwhile the Club’s activities and sporting aspirations were constantly increasing and the time had come to have a bigger area for organizing races and events. Thanks to the co-operation of the Malcesine Town Hall, towards the end of the ‘80s the opportunity arose for a second club-house in Navene where races could be better organized on a much larger boatpark of 11,000 sq mt. This brand-new area of operation has been constantly improved and properly equipped thanks to the indefatigable work of Sandro Lombardi, current councillor. Today the Fraglia is suitably placed to host major international events such as the Star Spring European Championship, Star European Olympic Selections,  Master Finn World Championship, Asso99, Surprise, First8, 420, Joker, Dart  Italian Championships,  470 M/F Olympic Class European Championship (2000),  49er World Championship (setting up a record with 155 entries) and Finn European Championship (2001).
There were also good results for Andrea Cucchi during 2001. This athlete, sailing in the Formula Windsurfing Class, has gained both the Italian title and a 5th place at the European Championship. The Fraglia Club has high hopes for this Milanese athlete, their adopted son, who’s young, very determined and extremely keen.
In July 2002, just one year later, Andrea became ISAF World Champion in Marseille. A few months later, Michele Marchesini gained the Gold Medal at the Finn Class Italian Championship held in Cervia at the end of September and Roberto Benamati won the Centomiglia regatta once again aboard the yacht “Principessa”.
The Fraglia della Vela Role of Honour is proud to include the successful result of Marco Carletto aboard his keelboat “Calzedonia” at the National Championship Ufo o.d.

Michele Marchesini went to the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 thanks to his constant training, racing and many sacrifices: the best result that any athlete could hope to achieve.  Even if his race results were not as good as he had hoped, Athens was to Michele a memorable time that few ever get the chance to experience.

Work started on the new Fraglia Buildings in 2003 disrupting for a short while the sporting activities of the club, but, by 2005 the race programme was back on course, fuller and richer than ever before including international regattas of high calibre such as the H-Boat World Championships. On 29th July 2006, in the presence of local dignitaries, FVM members and supporters, the new Sailing Club was finally inaugurated, in the same year as a fleet of 200 Toppers came to Malcesine for their World Cup.  Offices, meeting rooms, shower rooms and parking, completed in 2006, were added to in 2007 by the gym and bar/restaurant facilities.  In this same year, now equipped to host events as a centre of excellence, the FVM organised the European Star Championships, for the second year running the Topper World Championships, the Mustoskiff World Championships, the Protagonist Nationals and H22 Nationals and a part of the RC44 series which brought many famous names in the world of sailing to Malcesine.  Thanks to the great organisation and warm welcome the RC44 class received, they came back in 2008 bringing such sailors as Russel Coutts, Sebastien Col, James Spithill, Larry Ellison, Dean Barker and Cameron Appleton with them.  Malcesine received a great deal of publicity and recognition from this event, more than most sailing clubs can usually ever hope to achieve.

In 2008, the Role of Honour of the FVM was augmented by the Gold Medal won by the young upcoming sailors Vittorio Bissaro and Lamberto Cesari who won the Hobie Tiger European Championships at Copenhagen, and, judging by their passion and determination, a place in the next Olympics seems highly likely.

This year we are ready as ever to enjoy another busy sporting year, still true to the objectives set 60 years ago but with a new dream:  the construction of a new port to the south of the Fraglia Buildings, destined to accomodate more boats for international regattas.
This latest venture represents a new chapter in the history of the Fraglia for which we can thank all the Board of Directors and all the Club Presidents from the date of its foundation to today:


1947 - 1969        Aldo CHIARAMONTI
1950                  Aldo PIFFERI
1951 - 1955        Steno SOPRANA
1956 - 1964        Albino BENAMATI
1965 - 1976        Alvise BERTUZZI
1977                  Carlo BENAMATI
1978 - 1980        Giuseppe GODI
1981 - 1982        Alvise BERTUZZI
1983 - 1990        Battista BARZOI
1991 - 1992        Valentino TOBLINI
1993 - 2009        Giovanni TESTA

Good Sailing to all!

Fraglia Vela Malcesine