(Riva del Garda, Italy)- The first J/70 Europeans is being hosted by
Fraglia Vela Riva from September 24th to 27th on the fabulous waters of
Riva del Garda. Famous for their impeccable regatta management, the FVR
RC are promising some new and fun innovations for the J/70 class. If
last year’s J/70 EuroCup experience was any indication, the record
turnout of 37 J/70s from 10 nations will have the fantastic experience
of the early morning northerly mountain winds that are shifty and
streaky for at least one race, then break for lunch and wait for the
afternoon southerly seabreeze to fill at 15-20 kts for 2 or more
afternoon races! Despite the fact the J/70 Worlds just took place in Newport, Rhode Island, the J/70 Europeans will have a deep and talented fleet from Austria, Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Russia and Slovenia. Some of the notable teams participating have been champions in other leading European J classes. Perhaps one of Spain’s best one-design sailors, and past J/80 World Champion, is Hugo Rocha, sailing his first major J/70 event and certainly no stranger to racing fast on Lago di Garda. From France is a cadre of top teams, led by J/80 Champion Ludovic Senechal, Fred Bouvier and Luc Lajoye. English teams have Joe Woods, Dave Atkinson and Charlie Esse participating, many having sailed on the lake as well in other boats, like M32s and M24s. The second largest contingent are the Germans with well-known lakes and one-design sailors in their midst like Frank Tusch, Michael Tetzner, Theresa Ober, Yannick Netzband, Holger Neuhaus and Marvin Frisch. With the largest number of teams, the Italians are hoping their “local” knowledge will be helpful, especially for the J/70 series leader- Carlo Alberini on CALVI NETWORK. However, they will be pushed hard by Pietro Saccomani, Mario Beraha, Andrea Magni, Vittorio di Mauro and Alessio Marinelli. Monaco has two teams represented, including Jacopo Carrain and Alessandro Mango. From the Netherlands comes the past J/22 Europeans Champion, Wouter Kollmann; from Russia are Dmitri Zaritskii and Sergei Ezhikov and from Slovenia is Igor Lah. For more J/70 Europeans sailing information
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