(San Remo, Italy)- The kick-off stage for the J/70 Italian Open National
Championship featured thirty high performance J/70s from 3 different
countries. Despite some spring weather tantrums over the weekend, the
Alcatel OneTouch J/70 Italian Nationals Series turned out to be a
tremendous success, all made possible by the great organization of the
local YC San Remo and partner Gill. The fleet enjoyed all types of wind
conditions, including the last three races with solid breeze where the
J/70 offered a great show of power, easy handling, stability & fun.It was Alessio Marinelli on UJI UJI along with tactician Sandro Iseri who won the second stage of the Italian circuit in San Remo. Tied with equal points in second place was Franco Solerio's L’ELEGAIN with Daniele Cassinari calling tactics. Monaco's duo of Guido Miani and Massimo Benussi on ANGE TRANPARENT finished out the podium in third.
Saturday's
opening day brought very light wind that made races very tactical and
produced some tough match-ups. There was a tightly fought duel between
Solerio and Marinelli, the latter winning both races by a whisker.
Similarly, on the first and second race, ANGE TRANPARENT and Luca
Domenici's NOTARO Team took third and fourth, respectively.On the second day, more favorable winds opened the door for a highly-competitive final day of action. Taking advantage of the great sailing conditions was the reigning Italian and European J/70 champion Carlo Alberini's CALVI NETWORK, with Branko Brcin calling tactics. They won two of the last three heats, while Solerio's L’ELEGAIN took his first win in the penultimate race.
In the end, consistency paid off and team L’ELEGAIN has taken the lead in the overall series after the second stage of the J/70 Alcatel OneTouch Italian Trophy. Nevertheless, the level of high performance racing embodied by top J/70 teams such as CALVI NETWORK and Swedish Ingemar Sunsted's ROCAD RACING promises a very intense battle in the class with three more rather interesting stages to follow- - - everyone still has a chance to win!
The
competition has been very tight in every race. In fact, about 60% of
the whole fleet are finishing races within 60 seconds of the lead
boats! Such compact, close racing makes for fun sailing and puts a
premium on good boat-handling and steady, not-so-risky strategies. Keeping it close for everyone with both class support and ensuring all boats conform to J/70 International Class rules has been Paolo Boido’s team at J/Boats Italy. In particular, they’re making sure all boats are measured at minimum weights and people adhere strictly to the “hiking rules” (e.g. no, no touchy touchy those ankles!). As a result, the J/70 is one of the few classes in Italy (as well as Europe) that have very strong Corinthian owner/drivers that are competing at the top of the class.
The next stage of the J/70 ALCATEL ONETOUCH ITALIAN TROPHY will be held once again in Sanremo on May 16-17 before moving towards Cervia (June 12-14) and Riva del Garda (September 12-19).
J/70 ALCATEL ONETOUCH ITALIAN TROPHY top five leaderboard is the following:
- 1. L’ELEGAIN- Franco Solerio (ITA)- 24 points
- 2. NOTARO Team- Luca Domenici (ITA)- 29 points
- 3. ROCAD RACING- Ingemar Sunstedt (SWE)- 40 points
- 4. ANGE TRANPARENT- Guido Miani (MON)- 40 points
- 5. UJI UJI- Alessio Marinelli (ITA)- 45 points
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