J/24 LAKE GARDA - A PHOENIX ARISING FROM THE ASHES

Here is an amazing "Throwback Thursday" story for you armchair sailors.  

J/24 ITA-85 was built in 1982 by J/Boats Italy in La Spezia, the super yacht building capital of Italy just southeast of Genoa.

In September 2017, this particular J/24 sank on Lago di Garda in a huge storm that produced hurricane force winds of 70 knots in nearly an instant...your basic "microburst". It was a wall of water and wind whistling down out of the famous Italian Alps and ripping down the lake with great ferocity.

The fleet of J/24s racing on Lake Garda were caught nearly without any warning. Most of the fleet got knocked down and got their sails down. But, ITA 85 was caught with their mainsail up and their spinnaker flying.  Not surprisingly, getting hit by a 70-knot microburst would flatten any boat.  

The J/24 went down in over 240 meters (770 feet) of water with its mainsail "flying" and spinnaker still rigged on deck and spinnaker pole on the mast...exactly as it was set before the sinking.  Thankfully, the crew was safe and were immediately rescued.  

The boat was salvaged by deep-sea recovery specialists using sophisticated sonar and a submersible ROV (remotely operated vehicle). 

Here is the YouTube video of that J/24 rescue.


In short, once the boat was found and marked on GPS, the team waited for a calm day to do the rescue effort. The ROV went down with two ropes with large hooks attached.  The ROV's articulating arm attached each hook (one to the forestay and another to a rope loop) and slowly pulled the boat to the surface. Once the mast breached the surface, divers attached inflatable bags all around the boat, inflated them to get the deck above water and pumped her out. Soon after, with mainsail still flying, the boat was towed back to the harbor. After a bit of a clean-up, she was good to go again and is still sailing on Lago di Garda!  A true "phoenix arising from the ashes"! 

According to J/Boats Italy founder Paolo Boido, "Thanks to Bob and Rod Johnstone who designed such a strong and lovely One-Design boat.


Also, thanks to my team at J/Boats Italy who built the boat, so well-built and strong, able to survive the heavy water pressure in depths of more than 240 mt (770 feet). That's about 23 ATM (atmospheres at sea level) or 341 PSI.

Amazingly, there was no damage to the mast, all shrouds were fine, the turnbuckles all worked, so did all the Harken blocks and even the Harken winches! We were shocked there wasn't more damage. It seems the ice-cold fresh water on Garda acted like a "preservative". The owners were so grateful to the salvage team and love sailing their beloved ITA-85 today!"Add to Flipboard Magazine.

NOTARO Team Triumphant @ Italian J/70 Cup

 

(Malcesine, Lago di Garda, Italy)- Like all other events this season, the Italian J/70 Cup series adapted as quickly as possible to the ever evolving covid-19 pandemic. As the epicenter of the initial massive growth of infection rate in northern Italy (and for the rest of Europe) back in March/ April, it was amazing to see the Italian J/70 class have the passion and determination to conduct their 2020 Italian J/70 Cup series. 

The second stage was conducted on the famous Lago di Garda, hosted by the Fraglia Vela Malcesine along its picturesque eastern shoreline...truly a storybook town. Thirty crews participated in this event this past weekend. Many of the hot Italian teams were in attendance, such as reigning J/70 European Champion Claudia Rossi on PETITE TERRIBLE and European Corinthian Champion Gianfranco Noe on WHITE HAWK. Here are the daily reports. 


Day One
The Peler wind, which remained strong throughout the day, slightly decreased during the afternoon. That traditional southern breeze made it possible to complete four consecutive races, much to the delight of all the sailors. 

The first victory of the day went to Federico Strocchi's CHEYENNE, sailing just his second regatta ever on the Italian J/70 Circuit. And, by winning the last race, closed the day in third overall. The second bullet of the day went to Luca Domenici's NOTARO Team, and the third win went to Mauro Roversi's J-CURVE. 

At the end of the day, NOTARO Team closed the day in first on the leaderboard with solid 2-1-2-6 finishes. Federico Leproux's ALICE was a distant second with a 5-9-7-3 tally. 


Day 2
Sunday's weather was windy, cold, intense, with a stronger than normal "peler" breeze from the south. Three more races were held. And, the domination of Domenici's NOTARO team continued unabated. 

"In Malcesine, we had days of strong wind and demanding conditions, which the crew has always been able to cope with well. There have been changes in the crew compared to 2019. So, initially we had to find some synergy on board. But everything went well. In fact, to the point that once again we managed to win. This victory brings great satisfaction to me, especially because it is shared with my family who was here with me. Thanks also to those who support me from home. Because, without their help I would not be able to be here to race," commented Luca Domenici. Luca's crew included Diegro Negri, Giorgio Tortarolo, Michele Mennuti and Francesca Gangi.


Second was J-CURVE crew led by Mauro Roversi, with team of Manuel Modena, Federica Salvà, Branko Brcin and Carlo Fracassoli. And third was ALICE, skippered by Alessio Peppu Marinelli and crewed by Vid Jeranko, Enrico Fonda, Nevio Sabadin and Livia Tarabella.


In the Corinthian category, the victory went to the ANIENE YOUNG team comprised of Luca Tubaro, Filippo Baldassari, Matteo Morellina and Andrea Ruffini. Second was Ludovico Fassitelli's JUNDA- BANCA DEL SEMPIONE (crew of Maximilian Kuester, Francesco Orlando, Davide Vignone, Alessandro Montefiore). Third was WHITE HAWK (Gianfranco Noè, Matija Succi, Giuliano Chiandussi, Barbara Bomben, Alexander Gabriel Harej).

The Italian J/70 fleet is preparing to leave Lake Garda to head to Sanremo, where the last two events of 2020 will, hopefully, be held for the 2020 season.  For more J/70 sailboat information

Societa Canottieri Garda Salò Tops Wins J/70s- Malcesine

(Malcesine, Italy)- The Fraglia Vela Malcesine welcomed the second act of the Italian Sailing League, on the splendid setting of Lake Garda.

“With 18 crews at the start, many of them with great ambitions, we opened the second seasonal selection of LIV tonight,” said Roberto Emanuele de Felice, President of the Italian Sailing League.  “Thanks to the Fraglia Vela of Malcesine for their hospitality and the organization of an event that takes place in an exceptional setting.  The weather conditions of Lake Garda will allow the crews to express themselves at their best. 45 races are expected in three days of racing. We know that the goal is the selection of the top Italian teams for the SAILING Champions League to be held in Porto Cervo, Sardinia later in September."

The first day of racing after eight long hours on the water produced twenty-four races.  The day started at 0800 hrs for the first flight of teams (after the morning briefing at 0700 hrs!) and ended at 1600 hrs. It was only possible to get in so many races because the strong Pelèr breeze was blowing up to 20 knots early in the morning!

In fact, the Pelèr winds were way above the average; it blew well beyond midday, making the race course perfect and extremely tactical- lots of puffs and wind streaks roaring down the lake from the Italian Alps!

Then, at 1300 hrs, the Pelèr stopped and, immediately, the Ora came in from the south!  Crazy weather conditions on such a beautiful sunny, clear day! The new race course was so close to land that many swimmers and tourists were intrigued by the tight maneuvering of the boats right along the shoreline!

Winning the day easily was Societa Canottieri Garda Salò six 1sts, a 2nd and 3rd.  Six points behind was Circolo Canottieri Aniene with three 1sts and four 2nds in the scoreline.

Then, tied for third on 20 pts each were three teams- Compagnia Della Vela of Venice, the YC Gaeta and Circolo Della Vela Bellano

The secret of success, according to the Società Canottieri Garda Salò, was getting good clean starts.

"These are short races,” explains Enrico Fonda, “our goal in every race was to start fast and lead at the top mark.  However, sometimes it does not always work that way!” (he said laughing).

The Società Canottieri Garda Salò has a team composed of ten sailors that rotate into the various regattas to represent the club.

"We did not train a lot together, but we are all expert sailors and we know the J/70’s well. Plus, Lago di Garda is perfect for racing, and the Pelèr, which is shiftier and puffier, is much more tactical, something I prefer to beat our opponents!”

On the final day, nine more races were sailed to complete the regatta.  In the morning, the Pelèr did not show up! But around midday, the Ora blew in from the south around 10 kts for a fun and exciting finale for the regatta.

The Società Canottieri Garda Salò team (Pietro Corbucci, Stefano Raggi, Diego Franchini, & Enrico Fonda) won the Act 2 in Malcesine.  Second place was Circolo Canottieri Aniene (Luca Tubaro, Simone Spangaro, Matteo Mason, & Davide Tizzano- who was Olympic Gold for rowing). Third place went to Compagnia Della Vela of Venice (Paolo Acinapura, Salvatore Eulisse, Alessandro Banci, Andrea Tedesco, & Jacopo Paier).

"Our victory”, commented Enrico Fonda, “came thanks to a fantastic and prepared team. We had a goal, to always start well and win, and we were always focused to achieve it, this was the key to guaranteeing the consistency of content necessary to conclude in first place.”

"The second stage of Lega Italiano Vela selection,” commented President Roberto Emanuele de Felice, “goes into the history books after a set of extremely closely fought races, perhaps the hardest battles in the history of LIV. We have experienced challenging conditions, fast racing, and choppy waves- fantastic sailing!”  Follow the Italian J/70 Sailing League on Facebook, watch sailing video highlight here   For more Italian J/70 Sailing League sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

2018 J/24 Worlds Announcement

(Lake Garda, Italy)- The J/24 World Council Meeting, held at the historic site of Fraglia Vela Riva, has announced that the 2018 J/24 World Championship will take place in Riva del Garda from 24th to 31st August, 2018.

“It is a pleasure to once again host the J/24 fleet for its major events- the Italian Championship in May and the Worlds at the end of August,” stated the Fraglia Vela Riva’s President, Giancarlo Mirandola.  He added, “this class is part of sailing history, in fact celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and it continues to be healthy and actively sailed worldwide. After having hosted the 1999 and 2009 Italian Nationals here in Riva del Garda, it is a great honor to organize and host the 2018 J/24 Worlds.”

The regatta will consist of ten races, for which many talented teams are expected to sail being attracted not only by the magnificent race course, but also by the natural beauties of Garda Trentino and the renowned hosts at Fraglia Vela Riva.

After a tour of the club, the participants of the J/24 World Council Meeting acknowledged the suitability of the facilities and appreciated the professional competence of Fraglia Vela Riva in running world-class events. Moreover, it was decreed the World Championship would be limited to 80 boats. The Italian fleet, as hosting nation, has the right to enter 24 pre-selected boats and one boat for the former World Champion, one for the 2017 Italian Champion, one female team, one youth team (under 25) and two boats from the organizing club.  For more J/24 class and World Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.