Patakin wins Italian J/70 J/Cup Act II
by J/Boats 13 Jul 08:56 PDT
Patakin wins Italian J/70 J/Cup Act II © J/70 Italian Class
A stellar fleet of fifty teams from around the world assembled in the famous venue of Fraglia Vela Riva on the spectacular shores of Lake Garda.
With several World, European, and National Champions present, it was sure to be a seriously competitive regatta.
In the end, the RC/PRO team at Fraglia Vela Riva managed to run eight awesome races over the three-day event. Winning was the Spanish team of Luis Albert on PATAKIN. His team of Gerardo Prego Menor, Joan Cardona Mendez, and Alejandro Muscat managed to win the regatta by 9 pts, with a total of 21 pts net. Second was past World Champion Joel Ronning on CATAPULT with his crew of Mark Ivey, Victor Diaz de Leon, Greiner Hobbs, and Erik Shampain with 29 pts net. Then, rounding out the podium was another American team- Rich Witzel's ROWDY with crew of Carlos Robles, Max Salminen, and Tomas Dietrich, taking third was 36 pts net.
Rounding out the top five was Michael Grau's PAINT IT BLACK team from Germany in fourth place with 39 pts net. Then, the top Italian team was Luca Domenici's NOTARO TEAM with 58 pts net.
Corinthians division
Winning this division was a Polish woman skipper- Oliwia Feret on GRP METIKAM. Her crew included Maciej Reck, Marek Stanczyk, and Tomasz Feret. Second place was another woman skipper- Isabelle Fellows on CALYPSO. Her team included Jonathan Calascione, Sebastian Ripard, and Benno Marstaller. Rounding out this very international podium was Australian Tim Ryan on VAMOS. His crew consisted of Charlie Gundy, Jessica Grimes, and George Richardson.
More information at www.j70.it
Italian J/70 J/Cup Act II - The Australian Joust Report
We got an amusing report from Rod Warren's JOUST crew that sailed on Lake Garda for their first time. Here is Rod's report:
"A doctor, a sail maker and a cane farmer walk into a bar in Italy... sounds like the start of a classic joke, but it was much more. From the look on the boys' faces when they jumped into Lake Garda to clean the boat, convinced by us it was not that cold, to outrun a 30-knot electrical storm with the kite up, it was the start of a fantastic, hilarious, and enjoyable sailing experience.
You have to sail in Italy to understand the splendor and experience they offer. Organizing a J/70 from halfway across the world sight unseen seems a daunting task, and it would be anywhere but Italy.
When three Australian J/70 owners got together to buy a boat in Europe, chance landed us at Lake Garda. We had already been in communication with the World J/70 Class President- Vittorio Di Mauro- who extended extreme friendship and assistance and put us in touch with the people who could deliver this task.
We arrived at Italian J/Cup #2 in sunny Riva del Garda at the northern end of Lake Garda to be overawed by the magnificent towering cliffs, deep blue water, and the consistent wind.
Our trip had been preceded by our Commodore Sue Bowes exchanging burgies with the president of Fraglia Vela Riva- Mr. Andrea Camin- who extended us great courtesy. From the first moment, the locals could not have been more generous with the assistance of Francesco, Rico, and Guilia making our conversion from Australia to Italy seamless.
The racing was intense and of a standard unavailable locally. From 39 boats trying to ping the pin at the same time to mark roundings accompanied by yelling in nine languages, punctuated by umpires' whistles, and the universal question Me? Really? It left us ruing what might have been and hungry to return.
As Vittorio said, the philosophy in Italy is simple - "one person wins and the rest have fun!"
More information at www.j70.it