Riva del Garda, June 26th 2017

The third event of the Italian Circuit ALCATEL J/70 CUP came to an end yesterday in Riva del Garda, northern Garda Lake after a weekend of exciting and challenging sailing.

The Open formula which J/70 Italian Class organised, keeps attracting crews from all over the world. To put this into perspective, the World Championships that will be held in Porto Cervo in September already have 110 boats registered for that event. For the ALCATEL J/70 CUP event in Riva del Garda, there were 73 boats from 16 Nations on the starting line.

Forecasts said that Carlo Alberini’s Calvi Network would have been on top of the ranking again, but there were copious boats to keep under control. Among these, was the Petite Terrible by the young owner Claudia Rossi, who recently made the duplex at the J/70 European Championship in Hamble, and the Spanish entry Noticia, second in the continental event held few weeks ago. There was also the newcomer Mascalzone Latino, by former America’s Cup sailor Vincenzo Onorato, and an innumerable number of sailors with Olympic, oceanic or America’s Cup experiences.

The first two days of racing confirmed the leadership of Calvi Network, where there were ideal sailing conditions with a typical southern wind of Garda Lake, called Ora. In the third day of racing, when two races were sailed in lighter conditions with wind blowing from the North, there were many changes in the ranking.

Claudia Rossi’s Petite Terrible showed incredible perseverance and consistency all through the series: In the first race of Sunday the crew benefited from a bad race by Calvi Network and gained the leadership of the ranking. They maintained this with the following race, winning event number three of ALCATEL J/70 CUP and also the challenger trophy Eurocup.

Stunning races were sailed by the crew of J-Curve, a 2017 newcomer of J/70 Italian Class; a great score-line with just one result below the tenth position, the boat helmed by Italian owner Mauro Roversi concluded the event in third position overall.

It was the first time in 2017 that a podium, and the top five were made up by Italian teams. Notaro Team, who were European Champion in 2014, and the newcomer in the Class Rush Diletta 2.0, with Olympic sailor Matteo Ivaldi calling tactics, closed the event with the same total score, respectively in fourth and fifth position.

In the Corinthian division, White Hawk and Magie Das Sailing Team challenged each other for first place. The overall victory in the third race marked the difference for White Hawk, who won the event of Riva del Garda in its’ division, after having been on top of the podium both in Sanremo and Malcesine, previous events of ALCATEL J/70 CUP. Third place of the Corinthian podium went to the Swiss entry Jurno by Stefan Serger.

The fleet racing in the circuit organized by J/70 Italian Class now moves to Scarlino. This is the last event before the Worlds in Porto Cervo. It will be in Scarlino, from July 28th – 30th, and the overall winner of the 2017 ALCATEL J/70 CUP will be determined.

Final results, after seven races, one discard:

1. Petite Terrible-Adria Ferries, pt. 18
2. Calvi Network, pt. 33
3. J-Curve, pt. 46
4. Notaro Team, pt. 53
5. Rush Diletta 2.0, pt. 53

©J70Italian Class/SilviaGallegati