The first event in the 2023 Italian J/70 Cup circuit took place in Porto Ercole, Italy for a large 45-boat fleet from seven European nations. The three-day regatta was blessed with good weather conditions, enabling the PRO to run a total of eight races. The top of the leaderboard ended up being a two-boat duel between the Spanish PATAKIN team and the G-SPOT crew from YC Monaco. Starting day one with a 2-2 tally to lead the fleet was Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio’s G-SPOT, while Luis Albert’s PATAKIN crew posted a 3-6 to end the day in second place. Third for the day was Allesandro Molla’s VIVA crew with a 5-5. The second and third days of racing saw the winds of fortune change for the G-SPOT team. Meanwhile, Albert’s Spanish World Champion crew on PATAKIN maintained a very steady pace to produce a 2-3-6 record to take over the top of the leaderboard. On the final day of three races, Albert’s PATAKIN team of Rayco Tabares Alvarez, Gerardo Prego Menor and Joan Cardona Mendex finished the regatta with a 4-12-1 to win the regatta with 25 points net. Serena di Lapigio’s G-SPOT team of Karlo Hmeljak, Alessandro Franci and Michele Paoletti closed strongly in the last three races with a 1-5-3 to snag the silver medal with 27 points net, just two points astray from the leaders. Rounding out the podium in the bronze medal position was Mauro Roversi’s Italian crew on J-CURVE (Manuel Weiller Vidal, Andrea Felci, Giulia Albuzio and Davide Vignone), finishing with 36 points net. The balance of the top five included Molla’s VIVA team in fourth and Luca Domenici’s NOTARO TEAM in fifth place. It was a convincing win for Jonathan Calascione’s Britsh team on CALYPSO (Owen Bowerman, Morgan Peach and Alexander Gabriel Harej) in the Corinthian Division, managing to win the seventh race and ending with 56 points net. Second was Gianfranco Noe’s Italian team on WHITE HAWK (Matija Succi, Giuliano Chiandussi, Barbara Bomben and Alexander Gabriel Harej) with 74 points net, followed in third place by Sofia Giondi’s YC RIMINI team (Filippo Baldassari, Matteo Morelina and Paolo Freddi) with 79 points. Notably, Sofia was the top women’s skipper at the event. For more Italian J/70 Cup circuit information, visit https://www.j70.it/en/.