Milan – The J/70 Italian Class confirms itself among the most innovative and prolific class associations from an organizational point of view: proof of this is the program of events drawn up in view of the 2024 season, coinciding with the tenth year of activity of the Italian association, led from 2021 by Federico Siragna, and the incredible success in terms of registrations recorded yesterday afternoon on the occasion of the launch of the J/70 European Championship next May in Cala Galera.

Just yesterday the J/70 universe confirmed itself as the most active on an international level to the point that, already 17 minutes after registrations opened, the organization had seen 80 of the 120 available places burned: a number that last year, in during the registrations for the J/70 Corinthian World Cup, he had been reached after 72 minutes. A wave that normalized after about 40 minutes, with the assignment of over 110 places in view of the European Championship and almost 60 for the first part of the circuit, scheduled a few weeks earlier on the same field as the continental championship.

Another fully booked which confirms J/70 Italian Class as an exceptional partner of the J/70 International Class, which, shortly after, entrusted it with the organization of the J/70 Corinthian World Cup 2023 and the J/70 European Championship 2024.

Precisely over the course of the last few seasons the J/70 Italian Class has worked with the dual aim of varying its “competitive” offer by extending it beyond the period of the now well-established J/70 Cup. Therefore, events are entering the official 2024 calendar and “original” activities, as well as events organized by clubs that, over the years, have invested time and resources in the J/70 universe, transforming small regattas into competitions of undoubted technical level.

For the opening of the season the appointment is between Riva del Garda and Madonna di Campiglio, elected to the theater of Sail&Ski (15-17 March), an absolute first for the J/70 Italian Class, this combined event spread over three days, organized thanks to the collaboration with Fraglia Vela Riva and APT of the well-known ski resort. The program includes two days of testing on the buoys interspersed with a Saturday which will see the sailors, including some big names in skiing, competing on the slopes. The final ranking will obviously take into account the results achieved on fresh water and frozen water.

As soon as the Sail&Ski is over it will be time for the Winter Contest signed by Circolo Vela Toscana, where several top crews have gotten into the habit of preparing for the season; the 2024 championship regattas will take place between 30 March and 1 April and between 13-14 April.

Just one week (20-21 April) and the J/70s will be among the protagonists of the International Sailing Week – City of Livorno Naval Academy, an event with a glorious past which has been the subject of a brilliant relaunch operation over the last few seasons, which has promptly found its side of the J/70 Italian Class.

After two weeks there will be space for the J/70 Cup, whose winning format, based on four events, one of which is valid as the Absolute Italian J/70 Championship, will be proposed again. It will start on 26-28 April from the Circolo Nautico e della Vela Argentario, a unique opportunity to test the regatta field of the J/70 European Championship, and then move to Garda for the classic summer pairing Fraglia Vela Riva (28-30 June), organizer of the J/70 Corinthian World Cup 2023, and Fraglia Vela Malcesine (26-28 July), and discover the names of the winners in the waters of Lerici (18-20 October), where the overall Italian title will also be up for grabs.

The J/70 Cup calendar will give up the classic May stage to make room for the J/70 European Championship (18-25 May), the flagship event of the J/70 Italian Class season which will organize it together with the Circolo Nautico e della Vela Argentario, where the fleet gathered for the first of the season will have the opportunity to consolidate in view of the continental review. Yet another event organized by the J/70 Italian Class with clear international connotations: an anthology of national flags is expected at the Argentario.

“Having confirmed the J/70 Cup, which as usual will consist of four events, we have aimed at extending the racing season to give our owners and their crews the opportunity not to disperse and to compete on a variety of events, heterogeneous in duration and, sometimes, contained, as in the case of the J/70 Sail&Ski. The main event of the season will be the J/70 European Championship, which we will organize in May at the Argentario, where we had a lot of fun at the beginning of 2023 – explains Federico Siragna, president of the J/ 70 Italian Class – The stop to activities between the end of July and mid-October was necessary to give the interested teams the opportunity to take part in the highly anticipated J/70 World Championship scheduled for mid-September (14-21, ed.) in Palma de Mallorca. Although the numbers are reserved