Porto Cervo’s J/70 fleet converges this weekend for the final chapter of the 2026 season, with seventeen crews from seven nations gathering in Sardinia to decide the Italian championship and J/70 Cup titles. The racing runs through Sunday, wrapping up what’s been a relentless calendar for the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and marking the return of this keenly competitive class to the Emerald Coast since the 2017 World Championship drew 160-plus teams from across the globe.
The contest shapes up as a genuine battle. Mauro Roversi’s J-Curve heads the overall standings and holds the form line, yet Andrey Pushkin’s Tenzor Team claimed the Lerici leg earlier in the series. Yann Ingliesi’s Cyclone comes in as defending Italian champion, while Massimo Rama sits second in the Corinthian division with Jeniale CAIM. Steven Proud and Manfredo Toninelli round out the serious contenders, each capable of a strong result over three days of windward-leeward racing.
One crew deserves particular attention. A second YCCS entry, crewed almost entirely by sailors under 25, includes Cesare Barabino from the Young Azzurra development programme handling tactics and mainsail duties. It’s worth watching how the young guns perform against the circuit’s established names. Barabino, along with stablemates Federico Pilloni and Maddalena Spanu, has already earned Mediterranean Games podium finishes this year, signalling that YCCS’s youth pipeline continues producing serious talent across foiling and Olympic classes.
The forecast calls for easterly winds holding around 8 to 10 knots with gusts to 15 knots, conditions that should suit a broad range of boat handling styles. Race officials have scheduled up to eight races across the three days, with a discard coming into play after the fifth race. That format gives everyone a safety net but keeps the pressure on throughout. The first warning signal fires at 1 PM local time on Friday, October 2nd.
The J/70 class remains one of the most accessible competitive one-design fleets globally, and Porto Cervo’s hosting of this final event speaks to the class’s presence in Mediterranean racing circles. For New Zealand sailors who’ve been watching the class gain traction locally, this regatta offers a snapshot of how the Italian fleet competes when the racing matters most and the season comes down to the wire.
