The 2022 edition of the J / 70 Cup, reference circuit for one design sailing in Italy, kicked off today in Punta Ala. Once again, the J / 70 Class has not betrayed expectations, bringing to the starting line of the first event of the season 41 boats representing 10 nations.

In spite of the weather forecasts, which predicted unstable wind all day, the Race Committee managed to lead the fleet in three regattas characterized by light breezes, in which the tactical choices of each crew made the difference, creating at the end day a very compact ranking.

The leader after Day 1 is Monegasque Pompee Loic with Sailing Racing Team (10–5-2 today’s split times), followed by Gianfranco Noè on White Hawk (3-13-8), who thanks to today’s results also takes the control of the Corinthian classification, reserved for non-professional sailors. The third step of the provisional podium is for the Spanish entry Patakin of Luis Albert (16-2-7). Brutus II’s English (17-3-5) and the former European Champions on Luca Domenici’s Notaro Team (4-14-9) close the provisional top-five.

It is necessary to go down to seventh place in the classification to find the first of the three winners of the day’s tests, which responds to the name of DAS of Alessandro Zampori, first on the finish line of Race 3. The first two tests of the day have their own leader, respectively, in TP of Gianfranco Fino, currently eleventh overall, and Junda of Ludovico Fassitelli, tenth.

The Corinthian ranking is governed by the aforementioned White Hawk, followed by Aniene Young by Luca Tubaro and the Irish Wild Card by William Twomey.

The regattas will resume at 11.00, with weather conditions that are expected to be drastically different from those of today: during the night it is expected that the South Easterly will start a powerful blow on the Tyrrhenian and tomorrow will test the crews with rough seas and gusty winds.