Casale Wins J/24 Worlds
(Cannigione, Italy) -- The Italian boat Fiamma Gialla of Andrea Casale won the 2008 J/24 World Championship title in Cannigione, Italy. Andrea Casale and his crew of Fabio Montefusco, Ernesto Angeletti, Vittorio Rosso and Enzo di Capua took the title amongst the 76-strong fleet competing in Cannigione during June. (MORE)
2008 J/24 World Champion Andrea Casale
J24 World Championship takes shape for Cannigione
Top crews from 15 countries to compete for prestigious title
The J24 Class celebrates its 30th Anniversary year with the World Championship event in the Gulf of Arzachena, Cannigione, Sardinia, off the coast of Italy. The World Championship, scheduled for 5th – 13th June, is immediately preceded by the Italian National Championship. The Italian championship, 25th – 30th May, provides opportunity for the international armada to test the sailing conditions, with a break between for sight-seeing and practice between the events.
Tropheo Navale Regatta provides pre-Worlds Warm-up
A fleet of 56 J24s has assembled for the Tropheo Navale regatta in Livorno, Italy. This holiday weekend regatta, now in its twenty fifth year is run by the combined club and the Italian Naval Academy. The event is being used by the FIV to select its representatives for the J24 Worlds, to be hosted in Sardinia 5-13 June.
Six races have been sailed to date in light and difficult conditions. Twenty degree shifts and an occasional wind bend have tested competitor patience.
Di Stefani of Italy leads the series by five points from Britain's Ian Southworth in Hedgehog and Luigi Ravioli in Fiamme Gialla. The series leader, like Ravioli, works as a sports instructor for the Italian tax authorities.
Comments Ian Southworth " We are pleased to be on pace for this first event since winning the J24 Europeans last September. We are not yet sailing with our full Worlds crew. But are approaching this as a shake down event. A top five place would be a nice bonus!"