Italian Crew Wins Croatian Trophy Challenge on Tie-Break in Šibenik

The Croatian Trophy Challenge in Šibenik ended the way F18 racing at its best can end: with nothing to spare. Elia Mazzucchi and Jacopo Lisignoli in ITA 69 and Zoltan Dioszegi and Gabor Jankovics in HUN 046 came off six races with the same net score, and the Italians took the title only on the tie-break, thanks to two race wins.

That finish told the whole story of the regatta. The event at JK Šibenik in Šibenik-Zaboric, Croatia, ran from 30 April to 3 May 2026 and drew 30 teams from 23 clubs and 7 nations, while the scored fleet settled at 28 entries under Appendix A with one discard. In a format that leaves little room for a bad lane, a slow set, or a missed shift, that single discard became the difference between first and a long watch on the results sheet.

The race committee had already shown how tight the pressure was. The International Formula 18 Class Association reported four races in the first two days, and the fleet then finished the full six-race series by May 3. Day two brought gusts up to 25 knots, and only 14 boats started the second race, a reminder that the Adriatic can turn a polished F18 regatta into a test of nerve as quickly as it tests speed.

For club-level cat sailors, the message is plain. On a box-rule class like Formula 18, where US Sailing says multiple manufacturers can line up boat-for-boat without handicaps, the boats are close enough that small gains in starting position, mark approach, and cross-boat judgment matter more than broad platform differences. In Šibenik, that meant the Italians did not need a runaway series; they needed enough wins, and they got exactly two. Andrea and Matteo Vigano in ITA 303 completed the podium in third.

The result also fits the class’s wider profile. Formula 18 was developed in 1993 by Olivier Bovyn and Pierre-Charles Barraud, recognized in 1996, and became an International Class in 2002. US Sailing notes that major continental and world championships often attract 100 to 160 catamarans, so a 28-boat Croatian regatta still sits inside a far bigger, very active international ecosystem.

It was also a sharp contrast to 2025, when Maurizio Stella and Davide Recalcati won the Croatian Trophy Challenge from a 29-crew fleet in the same Šibenik sailing ground. This year’s tie-break finish, with the Adriatic islands and shifting breeze in play, was a cleaner lesson in modern cat racing than any podium photo could be: in F18s, speed matters, but consistency decides titles.