Porto Cervo’s J/70 fleet served up exactly what competitive sailing demands: drama, tactical nous, and crews willing to fight back from the bottom. After three races on opening day of the J/70 Cup and Italian J/70 Class Championship, Mauro Roversi’s J Curve sits atop the leaderboard, but the gap to second is paper-thin and everything remains in play across the next five races.
The Scirocco wind played its part, running 10 to 13 knots across the course off Capo Ferro. Roversi’s crew showed the most consistent hand, posting a third in race one before dominating the second and returning to third in the final hit-out. One victory and two third-place finishes left them just one point clear of Massimo Rama’s CAIM Jeniale, which told a different story across the day’s racing. Rama’s crew botched their start in the opening race but clawed back methodically through the fleet, rounding the second windward mark in the lead and holding there to take the win. Hold Fast shadowed them home.
The drama intensified in race two. J Curve seized the moment and controlled from the first gun, crossing with commanding separation over the chasing bunch. Behind that, Swish and CAIM Jeniale locked in a proper scrap down to the finish line, the two boats trading places and momentum until the final approaches. Swish took second, Rama’s crew third. By the third race, the fleet had learned to favour the left side of the course. Sinead Byrne’s One More Time seized the opportunity and grabbed the gun, with J Curve salvaging their worst result of the day in third.
Steven Proud’s Swish sits third overall, eight points adrift of the leader, yet close enough to remain relevant. The scoring system works in their favour, too. Once five races are complete, the worst result gets jettisoned, meaning anyone trailing the top spots still has genuine opportunity to reshape their campaign.
The forecast for day two brings light easterly winds in the morning that should build through the afternoon. Racing resumes at 11:30 am CEST on 3 October. Garmin, the event’s technical partner, has added the Garmin Cup as an extra prize for race day honours, which often sharpens the competitive edge.
The J/70 class remains a testing ground for one-design racing in the Mediterranean, and Porto Cervo’s fleet has already shown they understand what it takes. With five races remaining and the worst result to come out, this championship is far from decided.
