Another Glorious 3 Bridge Fiasco

J/Crews Collecting More Pickle Dishes!
(San Francisco, CA)- The 362 entries in the Singlehanded Sailing Society's 2017 edition of the Three Bridge Fiasco had more wind than predicted; except when they had none at all. One of the factors that makes the race a real “fiasco” is that the crews, all singlehanded and doublehanded, must choose which way to start and finish and which direction to sail around the three marks: Blackaller Buoy near the Golden Gate Bridge, Red Rock just south of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and Yerba Buena Island in the middle of the Bay Bridge.

The clockwise pack had a restart when the wind died north of Treasure Island.  Fortunately, the current on this patch of water was mellow, though at least one boat dropped an anchor.

Kame Richards, a local sailmaker and highly successful racer, offered some advice about strategy at the skippers' meeting on Wednesday. "If you go clockwise you're statistically in an okay group," he commented. Probably 95% of the racers went clockwise on Saturday, but this year it was the contrarians who finished first. "The tidebooks are going to be wrong," stated Richards. "The tides will not be normal.” He was right on that score. It wasn't so simple as flood turning to ebb. Rip currents abounded. The velocity of rushing water in some places was unusual on the Bay. Patches of meringue and weird whirlpools popped up in seemingly random places, all adding to the day's challenges.

With so little breeze and such strong currents, the starboard rounding of Yerba Buena was far trickier than the much earlier port rounding of it by the CCW boats had been. Some boats were dragged into the island and ran aground, others piled up into a buoy tender docked at the Coast Guard station there.

Some of the clockwise crews had fretted about typically light air at Red Rock and the flood turning to ebb, so they went straight to Red Rock after the start, leaving Blackaller Buoy for last. (As it turned out, there was plenty of breeze at Red Rock, though the ebb did start early there).   In the late afternoon, this group shot toward the Golden Gate Bridge on a river of 4- to 5-knot ebb. Turning toward shore, they found an equivalent back eddy of flood surrounding their last mark. As Kame explained: "When it's ebbing very hard, all the water can't fit under the Golden Gate Bridge. Some of it hits Fort Point and gets bounced back along the City-front." (Thanks to LATITUDE 38 for intro).

Despite the often-challenging conditions, it was Tony Castruccio’s J/30 WIND SPEED that won Class 1- Singlehanded Monohull overall, plus winning class!  Just behind him, finishing 5th overall in class was the J/24 IRISH BLESSING sailed by Chad Peddy!  In the Class 2 Singlehanded Spin division, the J/88 WHITE SHADOW sailed by Jim Hopp took home the silver, followed by Todd Olsen’s J/92S WINDTRIP INFINITY in third.

In the Doublehanded world, there were several notable performances.  In Class 10 Double Non-Spin, the J/124 SPIRIT OF FREEDOM sailed by Bill Mohr & Reid Rankin placed 4th, while another stablemate, the J/88 INCONCEIVABLE sailed by Steven & Zach Gordon took fifth position.

Winning Class 11 Double Spin was the J/125 CAN’T TOUCH THIS sailed by Rich Pipkin & Mary McGrath.  Just off the pace in 6th place was Howard Turner & Jay Crum’s J/111 SYMMETRY.  Also, in the top ten in this class were Doug Bailey & Brian Capehart’s J/105 AKULA in 8th and James Goldberg & Lana Chang’s J/109 JUNKYARD DOG in 10th place.

In the large J/105 Double class, winning was Chris Kim & Mike Lazarro’s VUJA STAR.  Nearly a half hour behind them in 2nd was Adam Spiegel & Chris Tholstrup’s JAM SESSION, with William Woodruff & Mike Weinman’s RUSSIAN ROULETTE in 3rd, John Robison & Simon James’ LIGHTWAVE in 4th and Phil Laby & Matt Skafel’s GODOT in 5th position.

The highly competitive J/22 Double class saw local rock star Russ Silvestri & John Bonds sailing StFYC’s TOM ALLEN to the top of the heap.  Next was Gerard Sheridan & Halsey Richartz’s SAMBA PA TI in 2nd with Mike Menninger & Ben Lezin’s GOOD in 3rd place.

The J/24 Double class saw old rivalries continue, this time with Darren Cumming & Loren Moore’s DOWNTOWN UPROAR winning, followed by Val Lulevich & Mark Humberstone’s SHUT UP & DRIVE.

The Double SF Bay 30 class was one of the closest fought finishes in the entire fleet between three J/32s and two J/30s.  Winning was Luther & Robert Izmirian’s J/32  PARADIGM, just 2:28 ahead of 2nd place finishers, Jenny Thompson & Chris Jensen’s J/30 FRICTION LOSS.  Third was yet another J/30 only 1:18 further back, Peter Jermyn & Curt Brown’s IONE.  Fourth was Lewis Lanier & Galen Loving’s J/32 STRATOCASTER and fifth was John Riley & Larry Weinhoff’s J/32 LA DOLCE VITA.

At the top of the Double J/70 class was Morgan & Jordan Paxhia’s PENNY PINCHER with a narrow 3min lead over Davis King & Tim Anto’s ALLONS-Y.  Taking third was Fabio Maino & Felice Bonardi’s SCILLA and 4th, only 17sec back was Scott Sellers & Geoff McDonald’s 1FA!  Sailing photos- Erik Simonson / www.pressure-drop.us  For more Three Bridge Fiasco sailing information

J/88 Razzes Offshore Fleet In Taz!

(Hobart, Tasmania)- Australia’s southern-most J/88 has been competing in the Combined Clubs Long Race series out of Hobart, Tasmania, and has recently claimed its first corrected time victory against much larger boats. The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, the Derwent Sailing Squadron and the Bellerive Yacht Club conduct the long race series jointly, with races typically being 30-50 nautical miles in length. There are 28 yachts competing in the mixed fleet, including a Reichel Pugh 66, Marten 49 and Sydney 47.

New J/88 owners Peter and Karen Davis have raced JIYUU in the first 3 races of the season, and have scored results of 9, 3 and 1 on AMS corrected time. The first race down the Dentrecasteaux Channel was a real test for their first outing, with winds reaching 50 knots on the beat back up the river.

“We saw 18 knots on the speedo whilst running down the river under A2,” said Peter, “but unfortunately broached just before the leeward mark which took the edge off the day”.

The second race was a more manageable affair, and a building sea breeze saw the J/88 run up the river under (new) A2 to catch a number of larger boats.

The third race was the highlight, with a lot of spinnaker work, and a delightful sunny day with light winds.

“We found the J/88 kept moving in the lighter breezes, and accelerated rapidly under kite when the breeze came in,” said Peter.  The J/88 finished 12th on line honours, and first overall on corrected time.  For more J/88 sailboat information

STAMPEDE Two-Peats Quantum J/70 Series

BLACK RIVER RACING Tops QJWS III
(Tampa, FL)- Fifty-six J/70 teams qualified to win the 2016-2017 Quantum J/70 Winter Series at Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Florida by competing in at least two of the three weekends with the same boat and skipper. Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE placed third overall in Saturday’s three races before the wind died to secure the Series victory (no races were completed Sunday due to lack of breeze). Darby Smith’s AFRICA earned the silver position in the series (and as Top Women’s Skipper), with Doug Strebel and Jay Lutz’s BLACK RIVER RACING in the bronze.

The QUANTUM J/70 Winter Series Corinthian division was won by Andrew Loe’s DIME PIECE, followed by Andrew Fisher’s BUTTON FLY and Mark Allen on MACRO CONNECT.

The popular Series on Tampa Bay spans three weekends of racing between early December and February, allowing participants to store their boats on-site for a reasonable fee. Alex Meleney of TRUCKIN’ US 343, said, “I want the J/70 Class leadership to know how much I enjoy going down to the Davis Island three-weekend Series during the winter. My northern crew likes to come, and it is easy to get local fill-ins. As a Corinthian, the Series is a great learning opportunity.”

How did the final event off Davis Island go that concluded the outcome of the series?  Unsurprisingly, many new faces were in the crowd post Key West Race Week.  It was a record turnout for the event, likely due to the fact that three weeks later is the Helly Hansen St Petersburg NOOD Regatta hosted by the St Petersburg YC and then, just one week later, the J/70 Midwinters hosted by SPYC in the same venue!  Lots of activity on sunny, warm Tampa Bay when all hell is breaking loose weather-wise in the northern parts of the continent.

The regatta weather forecast was variable, at best.  There was promise of at least one good day of racing, followed by scramble by the DIYC PRO and the fleet to get in enough sailing on Sunday.  At the end, there were just three races to determine the winners in the third QJWS event.  Doug Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING from Houston, TX, sailing with the famous PanAm Gold Medal winners Jay and Jody Lutz, stayed out of trouble to win the regatta with a 1-1-12 for 14 pts.  Not far off the pace was Peter Cunningham’s POWEPLAY, sailing a consistent 2-5-8 for 15 pts to take second. Third was Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, fourth was Robert Willis’ RIP RULLAH from Columbia YC in Chicago, IL and fifth place was taken by Josh Goldman’s BUILDING A from Cedar Point YC in Cedar Point, CT.

Taking the honors in the Corinthian fleet of 24 boats was Mark Allen’s MACRO CONNECT from Pontiac YC in Pontiac, MI.  Seattle YC’s Andrew Loe guided DIME PIECE into second, while Jon Pollak’s MONKEY BUSINESS from Severn Sailing Association took the bronze.  For more Quantum J/70 Winter Series sailing information.

U.S. J/70 Youth Champs Update

Win a FREE J/70 for your Sailing Club!
(Newport, RI)- The first annual U.S. J/70 Youth Championship will take place concurrent with the J/FEST New England Regatta from August 11th to 13th on beautiful Narragansett Bay.  The event will be hosted by the famous crew at SAIL NEWPORT, Newport, Rhode Island and hosted at their extraordinary facility at Fort Adams State Park.

Interest has been strong from various youth teams across the country; with crews already gearing up for the J/70 Midwinters in St Petersburg, FL, hosted by St Petersburg YC and also the Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD Regatta, hosted by San Diego YC in San Diego, CA.

The goal of this event is to help develop and build leading-edge junior keelboat sailing programs across America.  The winning club of this event will get "free” usage of a fully equipped International J/70 one-design class sailboat, with sails and trailer, provided "free of charge” by J/Boats, to the winning sailing club and its membership for twelve months.

The U.S. J/70 Youth Championship (USJYC) is open to eleven (11) Youth Teams representing US Sailing recognized Sailing Clubs or Organizations.  Sailing clubs may enter more than one youth team per event, but may only qualify one team for the USJYC championship in Newport, RI.

The 11 Youth Teams will compete on eleven brand new J/70 Class sailboats with class sails (main, jib, spinnaker) that comply with J/70 Class rules.  The boats will be identically rigged and tuned at “base settings” that are recommended by the sailmaker.

In order to qualify for the eleven slots, youth teams must qualify for entry by being the top scoring Youth Team in the J/70 Class at one of the following Regattas:

• Feb 24-26    J/70 Midwinters- St. Petersburg, FL
• Mar 09-11    Bacardi Miami Sailing Week- Miami, FL
• Mar 17-19    Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD- San Diego, CA
• Apr 20-23    Sperry Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC
• May 05-07    Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD- Annapolis, MD
• Jun 03-04    Cedar Point One-Design Regatta- Cedar Pt, CT
• Jun 09-11    Helly Hansen Chicago NOOD- Chicago, IL
• Jun 16-18    J/70 Great Lakes- Cleveland, OH
• Jul 07-09     The Newport Regatta- Newport, RI
• Jul 15-16     St. Francis Sportboat Regatta- San Francisco, CA
• Jul 27-30     Helly Hansen Marblehead NOOD- Marblehead, MA

Here is the USJYC Notice of Race.  For more U.S. J/70 Youth Championship information, please contact J/Boats at “info@jboats.com” or refer to the website- http://www.jboats.com/j70-youth-championship

Brazilians Samba To PRIMO CUP XXXIII Win!

(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- This year’s Primo Cup– Trophée Credit Suisse regatta, hosted by the YC Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco was full of surprises.  For one, no one expected so many shocking performances at the top of the J/70 class leaderboard.  French, Polish, Swiss, Russian, Italian, German, Monaco and Brazilian sailors in the top ten of the J/70 fleet? What?! Is this a “politically correct” United Nations sailing event?  Not! It’s just the natural evolution of the world’s largest and fastest growing sportsboat class; a class that could be defined as one famous British journalist labeled the J/24 class in its infancy in 1978- “the Laser with a lid”!  Everyone and anyone can get up to speed fast!  For the world’s top sailors and tacticians, that’s a scary scenario.  But, also a fun one.  That means top amateur crews can be competitive in a short period of time.  In Europe, that evolution has been turbo-charged by the J/70 sailing leagues pioneered by the Germans and led by SAP Sports and Oliver Schwall’s marketing crew in Hamburg, Germany.

It was time for a “samba pa ti” at YC Monaco for the awards celebration! The hot "Ipanema-like" tempo for this year’s regatta was set on the first day for the fleet of fifty (50) J/70s sailing in the famous Hercules Bay.  From day one, the Brazilian team from YC Rio de Janeiro on MANDACHUVA, skippered by Mario Soerensen Garcia, with Mauricio Santa Cruz calling tactics (a 4x J/24 World Champion), simply smoked the fleet, posting two bullets over the star-struck fleet.  They never looked back, posting two more bullets on the final day to win by a significant margin.  The famous beaches and streets of Rio were celebrating well into the night; Brazil had yet another feather in their cap, besides other sailing and soccer (futbol) World Cups (and Olympic Gold Medals) to their credit!

The first day produced the best the Monegasque club’s PRO could offer to the incredibly competitive J/70 fleet.  The sailors enjoyed a brisk 20-knot southwesterly with a light chop, giving everyone a chance to prove their tactical prowess.  Of the twelve nations participating, no one expected a bunch of samba-crazed Brazilians to lead the fleet with such a dominating performance.  Hot on their heels, and learning frighteningly fast, were the French team of GIVE ME FIVE from CN Sainte-Maxime, led by Adrien Follin.  The GIVE ME FIVE team posted an equally blistering tally of 3-2 to be within striking distance of the lead. Lying in third after day one was Poland’s EWA, skippered by Krzysztof Krempec from YC Pologne with a 2-4. They were followed in fourth place by a local Monegasque crew, Ludovico Fassitelli’s crew on JUNDA BANCA DEL SEMPIONE with a 4-8 and in fifth was the Swiss Lake Geneva crew of CER APROTEC skippered by Nelson Mettraux from Societe Nautique de Geneve.  Just behind them was the German team of SANNA R skippered by Gerd Knospe from VSaW.

On the final day, rain tried to delay playtime, but it was not enough to cool the ardor of those on the water, delighted to be in the thick of the action. For YC Monaco General Secretary, Bernard d’Alessandro, there was satisfaction in the scene unfolding before their magnificent club on the Mediterranean Riviera, “It is always a pleasure to see so many seasoned and amateur sailors racing in the Principality. It was an excellent turnout and we had ideal conditions every day, so I am delighted it has been a success.”

Clean starts, masterful mark roundings, impeccable control on downwind maneuvers, and smiles from ear-to-ear at the finish!  Yes, the Brazilians on MANDACHUVA really enjoyed themselves at this year’s Primo Cup–Trophée Credit Suisse.  “It was a wonderful regatta. The level was high and there was everything to play for,” said helmsman, Mario Soerensen Garcia. The team blew away their rivals on the downwind legs, keeping the boat flat and exploiting the waves for surfing (remember images of those massive waves at the Rio 2016 Olympics sailing venue offshore?  They sail in that stuff for “beer can” races!  No wonder).  By winning every race, they left Frenchman Adrien Follin’s crew on GIVE ME FIVE no chance but 2nd in the final ranking, 9 points adrift.  As for locals, Ludovico Fassitelli’s JUNDA BANCA DEL SEMPIONE, European Vice-Champion and Yacht Club de Monaco member, made a spectacular comeback to clinch 3rd place.

Rounding out the top five were Krempec’s Polish crew on EWA in 4th place and Mettraux’s Swiss crew on CER APROTEC in fifth place.  In fact, there were eight nations represented in the top nine teams!  Sixth place was Knospe’s German team on SANNA R, seventh was Germano Scarpa’s Italian crew on SPORT CUBE from YC Costa Smeralda (host of the 2017 J/70 Worlds), eighth was Alain Stettler’s German contingent on QUARTER 2 ELEVEN from Regatta Club Oberhofen, and ninth was Dmitry Shunin’s Russian crew from Moscow on GOLDEN WINGS, a Konakovo Sailing Club team.

Another special feature of the Primo Cup - Trophée Credit Suisse was that all crew members in the first three boats in the J/70 class received clothing from SLAM’s Advanced Technology Sportswear!

The grand finale for the YC Monaco J/70 Winter Sportsboat Series is set for 3-5 March in Monaco!  Perhaps one of those top teams on the podium for the series may be Russia’s top woman sailor, Valerya Kovalenko on Team ARTTUBE from Moscow, Russia.   Watch a nice Primo Cup- Credit Suisse sailing video summary here.   For more J/70 Primo Cup/ Winter Series sailing information

J/70 Ullman Sails Testing

(Newport Beach, CA)- here are some cool pictures. And, a report from the team:

“My son is doing his senior high school project at Ullman Sails and we have gotten to know Alex Curtiss there who is now head of the one-design program at the local loft. Alex graduated last year from St. Mary’s. He and the owner of the local loft, Bruce Cooper, wanted to sail test their new heavy air and all-purpose jibs as a follow-up to the San Francisco Worlds. Seeing that Friday was going to be windy with a 20 – 25 knot Santa Ana they rigged up to be out on the water early for two boat testing.

In USA 32 (Dave Ullman’s old boat that is now owned by Bruce and Sean Bennett, who won Corinthian at Worlds) was Bruce, Scott Mais (a Newport Harbor High School sailor), Ryan Davidson from Ullman Sails, and David Wood (a Corona del Mar High School sailor that was part of the team with my son in St. Pete for the High School Keelboat Championship).

On our boat (USA 70) were Robert (my son), Alex, Dodge Rees (who graduated from College of Charleston last year and is now the head coach at Newport Harbor YC and the coach for Newport Harbor High School) and Justin Law (who is former recent head coach at Newport Harbor YC and coach for Newport Harbor High School).

The wind did not disappoint and the two boats got in a good four hours of testing. A pro photographer friend, Bronny Daniels at JoySailing.com (http://www.joysailing.com), got the photos from the Ullman RIB with Matt Stevens, the assistant coach for Corona del Mar High School.”  Thanks for the report from Tom Garrett in Newport Beach, California.

J/24 Midwinters Preview

(Indian Harbour Beach, FL)- Casts of thousands are headed south to the gorgeous, soft shell sand beaches of Florida, all escapees from the nasty northeaster blizzard called “Niko”, a deepening low pressure weather system that underwent "bombogensis" and wrecked havoc on the northeastern parts of the USA.  In that massive migration south, over two dozen J/24 sailors are headed to their 39th annual J/24 Midwinter Championship, hosted by the pretty Eau Gallie Yacht Club located in Indian Harbour Beach, FL.  The regatta is running from February 10th to 12th with up to ten races planned.

Thirty-five J/24s will be launching at their deep-water marina located at the mouth of the “big” Banana River just off the Intra-Coastal waterway on Florida’s east coast.  Immediately north of where the fleet will be sailing is the famous “moon shot” complex, NASA’s Cape Canaveral, home of the famous Space Shuttles and the massive Saturn 1B launch rocket- capable of tossing 21 TONS into orbit! That’s a lot of bananas!

The fleet consists of the usual rogue’s gallery of sailors who will tell you that not one sportsboat sailor on the planet, from any class or brand, can finish in the top three of any major J/24 regatta.  They may have a point there, since most sportboat crews would have no clue what to do with a triangular-shaped piece of nylon flown off a pole that you have to connect to a ring on the mast and, then, be careful not to fall overboard while doing the “watusi” on the foredeck!  That takes talent, for sure!

Leading the charge for the locals might be none other than the first International J/24 Class President, Dick Tillman.  Tillman will be skippering INTRACOASTAL BREWERY from Merritt Island, FL.  Other Melbourne YC members supporting the event are Brad Stowers’ DOUBLE DARE, John Tworkowski’s FINE FINISH, Robert Rastello’s FOSSIL, Paul Anstey’s J-PEAS, and Chris Gates’ FLASHBACK.  Local knowledge is a good thing in them there parts, something about “rednecks” knowing the waters and stuff about ‘gators and chickunz’, all related to tides and currents, of course.

Hoping to overcome the “locals” natural advantage are a heap of World, European, North American, Midwinter Champions from days of glory gone past.  John Mollicone’s HELLY HANSEN from SAIL NEWPORT in Newport, RI may top that list (has a few World Champions on board).  Others hoping to top the leaderboard certainly include Travis Odenbach’s infamous HONEYBADGER from Rochester YC; Todd Fedyszyn’s SPOONY TACTICS from Davis Island YC; Carter White’s Maine-iacs on board SEA BAGS SAILING TEAM from Portland YC; Will Welles’ BOGUS from Mount Desert Island Sailing Club in Newport, RI; Robby Brown’s ANGEL OF HARLEM crew (not from NY!) from Davis Island YC; Mike Ingham’s TARHEEL from Rochester YC; and Aidan Glackin’s MENTAL FLOSS FROM Lloyd Harbor YC in New York.  Traveling from north of the border are Evan Petley-Jones from the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax, Nova Scotia (long drive boys!) and Nathan Bresett’s WOODCHUCK from Bay of Quinte YC in Belleville, Ontario.  For more J/24 Midwinters sailing information

CARISMA Tops J/24 Yucatan “Regata de Amigos”

(Cancun, Mexico)- Jorge Ojeda and friends continue to have a great time sailing in their local fleet of J/24s on that spectacular peninsula in the northeastern part of Mexico- the Yucatan- a region famous for its enormous Mayan cities (ruins), like Chichen Itza and Tulum’s spectacular fortress along the eastern shoreline.  The beaches are fabulously white (made from shells and coral) with baby blue waves crashing on the shoreline, and the waters offshore are just 2-3nm max from the famous cobalt blue Gulf Stream- teeming with wildlife that is beyond belief- like giant bluefin tuna, huge sailfish capable of swimming in 60 kt bursts, monster sunfish 12 ft across, gazillions of flying fish attempting suicide on various boat decks and, of course, a wide variety of sharks looking to munch on something tasty (hopefully, not your toes while you hike on the weather rail!).

The “Regatta of Friends 2017”, hosted by the J/24 Yucatan Fleet, was lots and lots of fun.  It was a good weekend for sailing with changing winds and unusual wind directions.  The fleet started off racing with 10 kts of breeze, but soon it grew fast to 20-30 kts.  For the fleet of nine boats, it was extremely exciting racing offshore!

Congratulations to the team of CARISMA, skippered by Tomas Dutton that sailed to a 1-4-1 for 6 pts.  Taking second were their friends on FILIBUSTERO just one point behind them!  Third was the VENDAVAL crew with 12 pts based on a 2-5-5 tally.  For more Yucatan J/24 Fleet sailing information

Edgartown Race Weekend Announcement

(Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, MA)- Starting to plan for your summer sailing program on Cape Cod and the islands??  Don’t forget the granddaddy of them all- Edgartown Yacht Club's 'Round-the-Island Race and the Edgartown YC Race Weekend!  The regatta takes place from July 20th to 22nd, 2017.

Like 2016, the J/Boats participants in 2017 will all be honored with trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place on corrected time amongst all the J/Boats in all classes!!  Last year, a broad range of J/teams participated, including J/29s, J/35, J/105s, J/109s, J/111s, J/120s, J/122s, J/42s and a J/46.

For more information, please contact Margaret Passafiume/ Race Administrator/ Edgartown Yacht Club/ 508-627-4364/ racer@edgartownyc.org or go to their website- http://rtirace.org/

LA SUPERBA Leads Italian J/24 Winter Series

(Anzio & Nettuno, Italy)- In the seventh stage of the 42nd Winter Championship, the fleet was able to enjoy two good races in adverse weather and sea conditions.  Leading this particular event, was the J/24 Raggio Verde di Savastano.

"The day started with no wind and an annoying residual air from the South East. The arrival at 1400 hrs of a light breeze from the west that rarely touched 7 knots, allowed the race committee (chaired by Mario de Grenet) to run two good races,” explained Federico Miccio of JUMPING JACK FLASH.

The big story of the regatta was the amazing performance by ITA 191 Raggio Verde di Savastano skippered by Carmelo Savastano with Francesco Linares on tactics.  They were followed by top Hungarian crew HUN 162 JUKE BOXING skippered by Miklos Rauschenberger and in third place by the top Italian Navy crew- Ignazio Bonanno’s LA SUPERBA.  It has been an exciting series since many Hungarian boats are using these events for training for the 2017 European Championships in Hungary on Lake Balaton and the 2018 World Championships taking place on the same lake!

The overall winter championship standings show that Bonanno’s LA SUPERBA (with crew of Simone Scontrino, Alfredo Branciforte, Francesco Picaro and Vincenzo Vano) are still leading the series with just 11 pts.  Sitting in second is ITA 447 PELLE NERO owned by Paul Cecamore and skippered by the 2014 Soling World Champion, the Hungarian Farkas Litkey, with 22 pts total.  In third is PELLE ROSSA owned by Gianni Riccobono and skippered by Sergio Strippoli with 42 pts.  For more Italian J/24 Winter sailing information