WANNAWAKE Academy

WANNAWAKE Academy is a board sports outfit based in Riva San Vitale, at the southern tip of Lake Lugano in Ticino. Legally, it is a non-profit sports association, the Wannawake Club, founded on 1 January 2026 on the initiative of Luca Bernaschina, a physiotherapist and former decathlete. Its statutes set out the practice and teaching of wakeboarding, kitesurfing and wing foiling for members and outside participants alike, and the association sells supervised sessions to the public. Activities are by reservation only, with a meeting point in Riva San Vitale.

The priced offer on the lake mainly covers boat-towed wakeboarding, wakesurfing and waterskiing, plus e-foiling (private lesson, hourly or weekly rental). For kitesurfing and wing foiling, the academy offers private sessions, clinics and a progression programme on request, as well as coached trips abroad, often with its partner Bigdayz: a kitesurf clinic in Dakhla (Morocco) in April 2026, a Red Sea kite safari by boat with Luca as instructor, and a kite, wing and foil catamaran cruise around Paros (Greece) with an IKO coach. It is also the Ticino ambassador for FLARE, a maker of parakite wings, and runs paragliding, speedflying and mountain bike outings with its partner justEride.ch.

In Ticino, kitesurfing is governed by the cantonal navigation regulations: it is banned in particular in the Gulf of Locarno (between the municipal harbour and Minusio), in the Gulf of Ascona, in the Gulf of Lugano (between Paradiso and Castagnola) and on the lake of Ponte Tresa, as well as on scheduled boat routes and within 150 m of public piers and harbour entrances. Participants must be able to swim, have their own accident and liability insurance and wear the required safety equipment; sessions may be changed or cancelled depending on wind and weather.