The "16th Cento Cup", a Grade 1 international match race which will be held in the beautiful city of Limone del Garda from June 16 to 20, will be an important testing ground in light of the America's Cup that will be held in Valencia in 2007.

The event was organized by the Gargnano and Limone Yacht Clubs under the patronage and sponsorship of the Lombardy Region Council, the province of Brescia, the Riviera dei Limoni, and the town and hotel association of Limone sul Garda.

Three Italian groups will be competing : besides the 'home team' of "+ 39", there will also be "Toscana Challenge" and "Italian Challenge" from Naples with former Mascalzone skipper Paolo Cian.

As other potential "contenders" for Valencia 2007, the Lake Garda race will feature Philippe Presti from France (twice the World Champion with the single olympic "Finn", and skipper of "Le Defi" in New Zealand) and Australia's Michael Dunstan from the OzBoyz Challenge.

Also expected from the Ranking list are Mathieu Richard from France, number four in the world rankings (French Champion and winner of the 2002 Tour de France), Russians Andrew Arbuzov (number 16) and Eugeny Neugodnikov (19), Gbr Paul Campbell, Portuguese Francisco Neto (39) and Italian Matteo Simoncelli from the team "Itway", which is now in 14th place in the world standings.

Lake Garda will be represented by the Circolo Vela Gargnano crew headed by Carlo Fracassoli, the winner of the "Lake Cup" and new national champion of the Dolphin 81 class, the yacht that will be used in the match-race version during the Limone regattas.

Competitors

MATHIEU RICHARD (FRA)
PAOLO CIAN (ITA, ITALIAN CHALLENGE)
ANDREW ARBUZOV (RUS)
PHILIPPE PRESTI (FRA, LE DEFI)
EUGENY NEUGODNIKOV (RUS)
MATTEO SIMONCELLI (ITA)
PAUL JAMES CAMPBELL (GBR)
ROBERTO FERRARESE (ITA, TOSCANA CHALLENGE)
MICHAEL DUNSTAN (AUS, OZBOYZ CHALLENGE)
FRANCISCO NETO (POR)
CARLO FRACASSOLI (ITA)
LUCA MODENA (ITA, + 39 CHALLENGE)