Artemis of Kristian Nergaard, Trond Solli-Saether and Anders Pedersen won the 5.5 Metre 2026 Alpen Cup at Riva after two final races Saturday afternoon to end a perfect event on Lake Garda.
Aspire of Przemek Gacek, Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Kilian Weiss ended up second with Marie-Françoise XXII of Jurg Menzi, Jurgen Eiermann and Kim Chabani) in third.
The final two race wins went to Marie-Françoise XXII and Caracole of Bernard Haissley, Nicolas Berthoud and Daniel Stampfli.
The Alpen Cup is the traditional European season opener and also the first event in the 2026 5-Nations Cup. The second is the North American Championship, now underway in Galveston, Texas.
Then it moves onto Cowes, UK for the British Championship before heading south again to the German Open on Chiemsee in August, followed by the innovative Multi-Nationals at Malcesine, in September, held just before the 2026 World Championship in Lavrion, Athens, Greece.
2026 Alpen Cup Final Leaders after 8 races:
1st NOR 57 Artemis, Kristian Nergaard – 17 pts
2nd POL 17 Aspire Przemek Gacek – 19 pts
3rd SUI 233 Marie-Françoise, Jurg Menzi – 24 pts
4th SUI 226 Shaolin, Flavio Marazzi – 27 pts
5th BAH 24 John B, Kristoffer Spone – 31 pts