Italian J/24 Series Reports

(Rome, Italy)- For many of the J/24 fleets across the Italian peninsula, the conclusion of their winter series over the past few weeks has meant just a short breather.  Now, some of the fleets have started up their official 2017 summer series.  Here are the latest reports on that activity.

Marina di Carrara
In the “Gulf of Poets”, as it is referred to, two days of great sailing have taken place.  For the ten teams sailing off the breakwater of the Marina di Carrara, six races were held.  It is pretty clear that one team is dominating the proceedings, with ITA 215 MOLLICONA, sailed by Vincenzo Mercuri and James Del Nero, compiling a 2-1-1-5-2-1 for just 7 pts net.  Despite their excellent record, just two points back is Italian J/24 Class President Pietro Diamanti, sailing ITA 212 JAMAICA to a 1-2-4-1-3-2 tally for 9 pts net.  Sitting in third is IRA 202 TALLY HO, sailed by Roberta Banfo and Luca Macchiarini.

“We had two beautiful days of sailing and sun during which we sailed six good races,” commented Pietro Diamanti. “All crews were very happy. A big thank you to all those who worked on the Race Committee for their most excellent race management."

Pare Valmadrera/ Lario
With three victories in six races, there are no questions that ITA 503 KONG GRIFONE sailed by Marco Stefani has a narrow lead in their series; their tally so far is 1-1-2-1-2-3 for 7 pts!  However, keeping close tabs on them is Roger Spreafico’s ITA 476 DEJA VU, posting scores of 3-2-1-3-1-1 for just 8 pts!  Sitting in third position in the cheap seats is Mauro Benfatto’s ITA 352 with 15 pts.

“It was amazing racing over the two days on the lake water of Parè Valmadrera!  Plus, we had admirable organization by the Circolo Vela Tivano, they deserve a big Thanks from the Fleet,” commented Mauro Benfatto. "The next stage is scheduled for March 25th & 26th at the Navy League of Mandello del Lario. Here we will designate the winner of our series in Lario.”

Anzio & Nettuno/ Rome
The Roman J/24 fleet concluded their Trofeo Roberto Lozzi series with a flourish; four races were held over the weekend, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. Not surprisingly, it was ITA 416 LA SUPERBA that won the series; she was skippered by Ignazio Bonanno and crewed by Simone Tarjeta, Alfredo Branciforte, and Francesco and Vincenzo Picaro.  Sailing faster and smarter all series long was the Hungarian team on HUN 1622 JUKE BOX; their crew was Miklòs Rauschenberger, Balmaz Litkey, Tamas Peter, Akos Pecsvaradi, & Tamas Richter.

"On Saturday we had a nice strong wind of 18 kts,” explained Federico Miccio.  “In fact, by the time we started racing it was gusting up to 25 kts!  Loving the 100% blade jib conditions were the Hungarians on JUKE BOX, they posted a 1-2 on Saturday’s racing.

Then on Sunday, we were presented with totally different conditions.  There was no sirocco wind as forecasted; instead, we had a light breeze of 5-6 kts, true 150% genoa conditions! The conditions were a bit crazy. In fact, on the first race we had a 70-degree shift to the south (from the original easterly direction), so the teams on the right side of the course simply sailed away into the lead!  In particular, ITA 40 ALBA CHIARA, skippered by Stefano Ventures (with crew of Raffaele Venditto, Alessandro de Julio, Luciano Tricarico and Eugenio Aurisicchio) sailed over the horizon to win the race, followed by ITA 447 PELLE NERO (with the Hungarian Farkas Litkey steering) in second and JUKE BOX in third place.

With the wind now positioned at 190 degrees, the RC started the last race of the series.  Winning was ITA 447 PELLE NERO followed by ITA 210 JULIUS CAESAR, then JUKE BOX.

As a result, the final standings for the series was LA SUPERBA first with 21 pts, followed by PELLE NERO in second with 37 pts and JUKE BOX in third with 38 pts.  Rounding out the top five were ITA 428 PELLE ROZ in fourth with 80 pts and JULIUS CAESAR in fifth with 86 pts.

"This year, both the Trofeo Lozzi and the series gave us many surprises,” commented Miccio. “Not only did we have the honor to host the Hungarian crew that won the Trofeo Lozzi, but Farkas Litkey was able to give the crew of LA SUPERBA a hard time for the series.  It was the first time any team had challenged them so hard for the top of the podium! This is a great sign that our fleet is getting more competitive and we hope that will show in the upcoming J/24 European Championship in the home waters for the Hungarians- Lake Balaton.”  For more Italian J/24 fleet sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.