J70 European Championships - Calvi Network takes off like a rocket

by Elena Giolai on 25 Sep 2014 Great turn out for the first European Championships of the new J70 monotype organized by Fraglia Vela Riva: 33 crews take part from eight nations. A perfect first day with three regattas completed with southerly winds of 8/16 knots.

These numbers confirm the rise in popularity of this skiff in which Fraglia Vela Riva has believed in since the beginning. Just last year the club organised the first Eurocup despite the small number of boats participating. The J70 has enjoyed great success in the U.S. Not only for its high performance but also for its manageability especially for non-professional crews who sail for pure enjoyment.

The first day of the J70 European Championships couldn't have got off to better start: all thirty crews competed in all three legs with southerly winds of eight to 12 knots. These calm conditions gave the crews time to get to know the course and to gain confidence. In the following two races the Ora picked up to 16 knots before dropping for the finish of the third race providing the ingredients for an exciting day of regattas. Coming out ahead among the Brits and Slovenians are the Italians with Carlo Alberini on Calvi Network. Alberini who is owner and helmsman was in no way intimidated when faced for the first time by such a large fleet of J70s.

In fact he took first place and a second followed by another second in the third race giving him a 12 point lead over Baby J (Esse Charlie) of Great Britain, first non-professional crew 'Corinthian'. Baby J took 11th place in the first race, first place in the second and fifth in the third which ultimately gave him second place overall but tying on points with Italian Sasha Grey Sailing team of Mario Beraha with 3-6-8.

Team Ceeref of Slovenia are currently in fourth place. They are well-known from the challenging RC 44 regattas the boat designed by 'Mr. America's Cup' Russell Coutts. Igor Lah, assisted by Michele Ivaldi, got off to a good start with a second place followed by a 9-7 bringing them to within one point of the top three.

The only possible discard of the competition will be brought in after the sith race. The technical staff at Fraglia Vela Riva together with the J70 class and regatta Committee have decided to start racing on Thursday at 9.00 with a northerly wind which will most likely change to a southerly one during the course of the day. It will be interesting to see if other noted crews such as Olympic 470 bronze medallist Hugo Rocha of Spain on New Territories will be able to pull up in the standings after the discard. He took a 20 followed by a seventh and a third. In fact there are many crews in the top ten who have chance of moving up in the standings, which will no doubt add to the excitement of the Event website