European Dream Cup
The European Dream Cup is a project strongly supported by the European Community that involves ten yacht clubs from ten nations with ten high schools per nation, for a total of one hundred schools, and it takes place in Gargnano, Lake Garda, from July 1st to the 15th, 2023.
The Italian club involved and in charge of the organization is Circolo Vela Gargnano, a historical yacht club, 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 we have the Clube Naval de Cascais for Portugal, Club Nautic Vilassar de Mar for Spain, Helsingfors Segelklubb for Finland, OVK Nessebar 2000 for Bulgaria, Tùravitorlàs Sportklub for Hungary, … Germany, Yacht Club Marina Portoroz for Slovenia, Dutch Sails for The Netherlands and the Royal Danish Yacht Club for Denmark, as well as Italy with Circolo Vela Gargnano, 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 focus will 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 with foils, the 69F, the sports side will be complemented and supported by seminars and activities for a shrewd and gradual deepening in terms of sustainability, inclusivity and digitalization.
Cooperation and integration with local volunteers and associations as well as with the other teams will be encouraged. The use of social media will play a key role to push this network of connections as far as possible and to encourage more young people to participate in these initiatives.
The main points of the project are: the use of a revolutionary boat such as the 69F, capable of providing a unique flying experience, being fast and stable at the same time, and already used by so many young people who dream to participate in the Youth America’s Cup, and promoting a “mixed” and young participation. Each team will consist of six young people between 13 and 19 years of age, plus two coaches or chaperones. In rotation, members will jump on the boats in groups of three or four, and there must always be at least one girl onboard.
The Dream Cup village will be open to the public during the two weeks of event in July, there will be seminars held by experts on the topics touched by the project and which will host volunteers from the provinces of Brescia and Bergamo, the most affected by the 2020 pandemic.
The project will officially start on March 9, with an introductory online conference with all 100 participating schools, during which the event will be explained in detail, and will be welcomed by some foiling and Olympic 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 topic, 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. Active living for everyone starts here, the future starts now.
