(Crotone, Italy)- Twenty teams gathered together on the beautiful bay off Crotone, Italy to sail their third and final event of their 2017 Lega Italiano Vela (the Italian J/70 sailing league). The Club Velico Crotone organized the event.
Il Circolo Canottieri Aniene was the winner of the 2017 season of the Italian Sailing League. With a flawless series, built with four first, one second and one third in the six races, the CCA team (Lorenzo Bressani, Luca Tubaro, Matteo Mason and Umberto Molineris) dominated the league’s finale.
It was an extremely tactical first day, with a wildly shifting wind. The second day had strong winds, challenging the crews, particularly on their boat-handling and planing mode angles downwind. On the final day, it was a steady, but streaky breeze of 11 to 15 kts. It was readily apparent to everyone on the race track, the CCA team had it nailed all weekend long.
"This season we have rallied hard several times, and we have been able to think about the best strategies and tactics. We changed Matteo Mason's role, adding to jib trim the role of tactician, too. It was a winning choice, a necessary one for the high level of this finale, which was well above last year,“ commented Lorenzo Bressani- skipper of the CCA team.
In addition, as it always happens in high-level one-design regattas, the training and crew make the difference; as was evident by the performance of the next two teams on the podium. Second place went to the Yacht Club Adriaco- represented by the victorious J/70 Worlds Corinthian crew (Gianfranco Noè, Emanuele Noè, Andrea Micalli and Samuele Maria Semi). Then, placing third was the Circolo della Vela Bari with crew of Simone Ferrarese, Michele Lecce, Corrado Capece Minutolo, and Gianmaria Foglia.
"We have an exceptional field of racing sailors,” commented the LegaVela President Roberto Emanuele de Felice. “It was a perfect venue for racing. A thank you to President Verri and his team- Crotone really did their best to host a wonderful event. Congratulations to the Circolo Canottieri Aniene, which in this finale embodied great spirit and tremendous talent needed. The LIV Formula is outstanding, and it is clear the level of J/70 racing by all clubs is getting much higher."
“Remarkably, 11 teams had at least a first place,” said LIV Executive Vice President Alessandro Maria Rinaldi. “This shows the top level talent of all crews! It was clear that CCA had talent and experience, the Club has trained more this year by taking part in the selections at St. Petersburg's Sailing Champions League and at the SAILING Champions final in Porto Cervo. The competitive level was also very high for the other Clubs and for that reason Legavela Servizi will set up a special 2018 bid for sailing clubs that want to train and participate in 2018. A warm and hearty 'Thank You' goes to all the yacht club staff that enabled this event to take place. Thanks Crotone and goodbye to next year!" Italian J/70 Sailing League video summary Follow Italian J/70 Sailing League on Facebook here For more Italian J/70 Sailing League information Add to Flipboard Magazine.