Wingfoiling and Kitesurfing in Ticino: the Rules

Ticino is the other Switzerland: two large pre-Alpine lakes running north to south, thermal winds that fire on almost every fine day, and a season that starts earlier and ends later than on the Swiss plateau. It is also the canton with the most explicit rules in the country. Instead of pointing at a map, Ticino names its no-go zones one by one. Here is what the regulation says, and what the wind does.

What the Ticino regulation bans, in black and white

Kitesurfing is covered by article 7 of the cantonal regulation implementing the navigation act. The closed sectors are listed by name:

• Lake Lugano (Ceresio): the gulf of Lugano between Paradiso and Castagnola, and the lake of Ponte Tresa.
• Lake Maggiore (Verbano): the gulf of Locarno, between the mouth of the Maggia and Minusio, and the gulf of Ascona, between Punta San Michele and the lido.

You will have noticed that these are precisely the two postcard bays. That is no coincidence. They are also where the scheduled boats run and where swimmers gather in summer.

Three bans that apply everywhere on both lakes

The same article adds general rules, independent of the gulfs above. Kitesurfing is prohibited:

• on the routes of the scheduled boats;
• within 150 metres of public jetties, harbour entrances and the arches of the Melide bridge;
• in the Lavena narrows.

Ticino's 150 metres are more generous than Neuchâtel's 200, but the Melide bridge deserves a special mention: it is a bottleneck where the wind accelerates and where all the traffic on the Ceresio funnels through. Giving it a wide berth is not just a legal obligation, it is common sense.

So where does wingfoiling stand?

The text targets kite surfing (in Italian, tavola ad aquilone). It does not mention wingfoiling, for a simple reason: it was written before the discipline existed. A wing held in your hands, with no lines and no wind window, is literally not a board towed by a kite, and the same grey area exists in most Swiss cantons.

We are not going to decide that on the canton's behalf. The sensible reflex is to treat the kite-closed zones as zones to avoid on a wing, to stay clear of the boat lanes, and to call the cantonal navigation office if you plan to ride a sensitive sector regularly. A written answer beats an interpretation.

The Verbano: tramontana in the morning, inverna in the afternoon

Lake Maggiore runs on two opposing thermals, and that is what makes it interesting: the day offers two windows instead of one.

The tramontana builds overnight and drains down the valleys — the Maggia and the Verzasca — onto the lake. It is already established early in the morning and loses its strength towards the end of the morning. It is a land wind out of the north, so offshore on the Ticino shore, with everything that implies for safety.

The inverna takes over. This thermal climbs from the south, from the lower Lombard end of the lake, sets in during the early afternoon and usually holds until late afternoon. It is the wind local sailors plan around: steady rather than powerful, and the one to build a session on.

The Ceresio: the breva, and not much else

Lake Lugano is more deeply set and more convoluted, and its regime is simpler: the breva, a southerly thermal that sets in during the afternoon in stable weather, the local equivalent of the inverna. On a lake this indented, the wind bends with the terrain and sheltered pockets are everywhere. Add the closures in the gulf of Lugano and at Ponte Tresa, and the Ceresio becomes a fallback lake rather than a primary destination.

What kit suits lake thermals

Tramontana, inverna and breva have one thing in common: they are thermal breezes, not depression winds. They are steady and rarely violent. In practice that means volume and lift.

On a wing, this is the territory of high-aspect front wings with plenty of area, on a mast that will not ventilate when you are working to stay up through the lulls. On a kite, sizes above what you would rig on Lake Geneva in autumn. In both cases, a board that forgives on take-off: on a lake breeze, getting up comes down to a knot or two.

If you are unsure about a foil size or a wing area for this kind of water, write to us. We ride the same breezes in Neuchâtel and we know how the gear behaves in light wind.

The Ticino season

Ticino's asset is not wind strength, it is the length of the season. The southern side of the Alps stays rideable in spring and autumn when the plateau sits under low cloud, and the water is milder. It is the plan B for bad-weather weekends up north: while Lake Geneva is grey and airless, the Verbano is often turning with the inverna.

One last point: the rules quoted here come from the cantonal regulation in force, but regulations change. Before a first session in a sector you do not know, check with the navigation office of the canton of Ticino. On Lake Murten, a 150-franc fine for kitesurfing in a closed zone was upheld all the way to the Federal Supreme Court after four years of proceedings. Exclusion zones are enforceable.