In what has become nearly a tradition in the Italian J/24 National Championship, it was yet another triumphant race around the track for the familiar team on LA SUPERBA, led by skipper Ignazio Bonanno from the Italian Navy Sailing Club and his talented crew of Alfredo Branciforte, Francesco Picaro, Simone Scontrino and Vincenzo Vano. Such was their dominance over the fleet that they chose to not sail the final race. Sailing took place in the heart of Costa Smeralda on the Gulf of Cugnana, with the Cala dei Sardi Yacht Club hosting a fleet of 25 teams from all over the country. Day 1: After the measurement checks, the completion of the registrations and the traditional practice race, the first three races went off like clockwork on the first day of the regatta. “On this first day of the Championship, after the well-attended briefing in the splendid park of the Marina Cala dei Sardi restaurant, we completed the first three of the 10 scheduled races as scheduled,” explained the Committee President Stefano Giusti. “The wind remained at 12 knots in the first two races and dropped a bit in the final one. It was great racing for the fleet, not too much, not too little.” The first two races were won by Bonanno’s LA SUPERBA team, the reigning Italian J/24 Champion eight times (starting in 2011) and also J/24 European Champion twice in 2012 and 2019. The third race of the day was won by Maddalenino Mariolino Di Fraia on BOTTADRITTA. After protest hearings were settled, the leaders after the day were LA SUPERBA in first with a 1-1-2 tally, followed by BOTTADRITTA with 6-2-1 scores, and then sitting third was Italian J/24 Class President Pietro Diamanti on JAMAICA with a 2-5-3 scoreline. Day 2: Three more races were scheduled and three more were completed for the second day of racing. The CSYC Race Committee and PRO team did an admirable job of setting courses and firing off the starts promptly. Winners for the day saw a new face at the top of the leaderboard, with Antonello Ciabatti’s GIULIETTA winning the first and third races of the day, with LA SUPERBA again winning the second race. Given those results, the provisional standings after two days of racing with six races counting was LA SUPERBA in first with a 1-1-2-2-1-2 tally for 7 points. Second on the leaderboard was BOTTADRITTA with a 6-2-1-6-16-3 tally for 18 points, then sitting in third was GIULIETTA with a scoreline of 14-6-10-1-4-1j for 22 points. Rounding out the top five was Aurelio Bini’s VIGNE SURRAU in fourth and Diamanti’s JAMAICA in fifth place. Day 3: After 10 hard-fought and spectacular races, the XLII Italian J/24 Championship successfully concluded. The victory once again went to the Italian Navy team on LA SUPERBA. Bonanno’s crew closed the regatta with two more deuces, didn’t sail the last race, and counted only firsts and seconds in their scoreline. The podium was completed by Mariolino Di Fraia’s BOTTADRITTA in second place (crewed by his son Camillo, Ezio Diana, Davide Schintu and Andrea Tirotto), then taking the third position was Antonello Ciabatti’s GIULIETTA with a crew of Eugenio Basciu, Marco Naldoni, Sergio Contu and Walter Marcello Troiano. Rounding out the top five was Diamanti’s JAMAICA in fourth place, sailing with his crew of Fabrizio Ginesi, Paolo Governato, Antonio Lupo and Matteo Tronfi. Then, in fifth place, it was Aurelio Bini’s VIGNE SURRAU with a crew of Evero Niccolini, Roberta Piras, Mauro Pisanu, Pietro Alvisa and Michela Piu. “It was a truly exciting and fun Italian J/24 Championship, thanks to a good wind, four splendid sunny days, an excellent regatta course and a splendid location! A round of applause to the crews, the organizing club and the guys from the Olbia Nautical Institute, who helped us on the support boats, on the Committee Boat, and the buoy-laying dinghies: good and efficient,” commented the President of the Regatta Committee Stefano Giusti. “Cugnana and the Cala dei Sardi Yacht Club was a perfect choice for the 2023 Italian J/24 Championship: an excellent organization both at sea and on land,” concluded the President of the Italian J/24 Class Pietro Diamanti. “Sardinia is always a wonderful place for regattas, where we will return next year for the J/24 European Championship.” For more Italian J/24 National Championship information, visit Campionato Nazionale J24 - Yacht Club Cala Dei Sardi.
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