Warm fall weather and a gracious, friendly host in the form of Fraglia della Vela welcomed the J/70 one-design class to Riva del Garda for their first edition of the J/70 EuroCup. As expected, the Northern part of Lago di Garda offered perfectly epic sailing conditions. The J/70 Fleet sailed in the early afternoon with constant steady breeze from 12-23 knots from the south-the famous “Ora” wind. The last day of racing had an early morning start with a solid northerly breeze up to 25 knots, the classic “Peler” mountain winds that blow down the mountain valleys onto the lake at night. Seven nations (Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Netherlands, Monaco) participated in the event that saw the competition dominated by the British team led by Ruairidh Scott and crew (Ben Field, Charlie Cumbley and Matt Curthoys). Scott’s team was already UK J/70 National Champions and winner of the Cowes Week J/70 class. Fred Bouvier of France and British sailor Joe Woods fought hard for second place all regatta long, often trading places in the standings. In the end, Bouvier captured second with Joe Woods’ team on Red taking third. Perfect boat-handling and good speed were enough for the young German team skipper Mehlig Kevin to defend fourth place. Pietro Saccomanni (Diporto Velico Veneziano) along with Salvatore Eulisse, Alberto Grippo and Giulia Sent are the first of the Italian teams in fifth place. Fraglia della Vela provided perfect organization on the water. At the end of sailing each day a tasty, delicious pasta party and local wines were offered to all exhausted and very hungry competitors. At the very generous Awards Ceremony, there were the classic trophies for great performances, but thanks to the generous sponsorship of Hannspree Italia, enormous HD flat-screen LED TVs were provided to the top three finishing teams and Alcatel cell phones and tablets were also provided to the top finishers! Furthermore, J/Boats Italy delivered to Fraglia della Vela a J/70 half-model as the “Challenge Trophy” to be awarded each year to the winner of next J/70 EuroCup regattas. For more J/70 EuroCup sailing information, click here.

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