The second “act” of the Italian J/24 National Circuit took place in Livorno, Italy. The regatta was hosted by the Italian Naval Academy and the City of Livorno. Nine races were sailed over the three days in a wide variety of sailing conditions. After dominating virtually every day, the winner of this act was none other than the star of the Italian Naval Academy Sailing Team—ITA 416 LA SUPERBA, skippered by Ignazio Bonanno with crew of Francesco Ciccio Linares, Vincenzo Vano, Francesco Picaro and Alfredo Branciforte. After the first day of racing, LA SUPERBA had a commanding lead with three straight bullets. Behind them in second was Fabio Apollonio’s ITA 371 J-OK, and in third was ITA 400 CAPTAIN NEMO co-skippered by Domenico Brighi and Guido Guadagni. In fourth and fifth positions, respectively, were ITA 212 JAMAICA skippered by Pietro Diamanti and ITA 489 VALHALLA sailed by Fabio De Rossi. “This first day was characterized by weak winds and so many waves: difficult conditions for the crews, but at the same time it made the races tough, unpredictable, and exciting,” commented Mr Diamanti. On the second day, three more races were sailed with largely the same outcome. The day was sunny with winds in the 14 to 16 knots range. LA SUPERBA added three more bullets to their scoreline for a perfect record so far. After a great performance with 6-2-2 on his scoreline, Diamanti’s JAMAICA jumped into second overall in the provisional standings. Also climbing quickly in the standings was De Rossi’s VALHALLA, scoring a 2-3-8 to finish third overall after two days on the water. After three Sunday races and three on Monday, the final day just two races were run in big waves and 18-24 knot winds. “There have been three beautiful sailing days, challenging but very good, without any protest,” commented Alessandra Virdis, Chairman of the Regatta Committee, assisted by Riccardo Incerti, Gabriella Matteucci and Mario Forgion. LA SUPERBA posted two more firsts to win the regatta with just 7 points net in eight races. Second was Diamanti’s JAMAICA team (Fabrizio Ginesi, Paolo Governato, Giuseppe Garofalo and Antonio Lupo) after they posted two more seconds to finish with 20 points net. Taking the bronze position was De Rossi’s VALHALLA-HOTEL VERONA with 27 points net. His crew was Marco Belotti, Alberto Zandomeneghi and Andrea Fronti.
Arzachena/Palau- Sardinia: A cool wind accompanied the Sardinian J/24 fleet on the second day of racing of their spring circuit. Here is the report of Sardinia J/24 Fleet Captain Marco Frullio: “The organizing club, the Club Nautico Arzachena was able to opt for the race course near Spargi to allow the crews to run three quick races. The Race Committee, led by Sandro Ricetto, however, waited until the breeze was up to 16-18 knots. In the wavy, windy conditions, it was Aurelio Bini’s ITA 405 VIGNE SURRAU with crew of Evero Niccolini, Pietro Alvisa, Roberta Piras, Mauro Pisanu and Danilo Deiana who proved to be the “boat to beat.” Their scores of 1-3-2 for the day meant they easily led the fleet in the series after this weekend. The other race winners were Mariolino Di Fraia’s ITA 460 BOTTA DRITTA and Filippo Masia’s ITA 497 BOOMERANG. At the end of racing, the excellent performance of Gianluca Manca’s crew on SANTA LUCIA enabled them to take second in the series (just four points back from VIGNE SURRAU). Then, sitting in third place is Davide Gorgerino’s ITA 431 LNI CARLOFORTE-AUTO A. After racing, the crews were all treated to the wonderful hospitality of the CAN, and the refreshing meal and tasty wines at the end of the regatta were offered at Hotel La Vecchia Fonte…thank you!” For more Italian J/24 information, visit https://www.j24.it/.