The “classic” Easter regatta for Italian J/24 teams has always been the PasquaVela, hosted by Yacht Club Santo Stefano as part of the second stage of the Italian National J/24 series. The traditional rewards are, of course, an Easter tradition – delicious chocolate eggs for all winning crews! Twenty-three J/24 teams attended and managed to sail eight races in four intense days of competition. On the opening day, the weather was perfect and a Mistral between 10-14 knots enabled the smooth running of three races. For the second day of racing, the wind shifted south and a strong southerly wind started blowing over 30 knots, making for a difficult decision for the Race Committee. After initially taking the fleet out onto the bay, hoping the winds and massive seas would subside a bit, the RC’s PRO wisely decided to cancel the scheduled races as things were getting a bit out of control for some boats. With lights winds on the third day, the RC PRO was still able to complete three races sailed. And, for the final day, with winds in the 12 knots region, the PRO managed to squeeze in two final races. For the regatta winners, Ignazio Bonanno and crew on LA SUPERBA, it was a thrilling victory, becoming winners of the regatta for the third year in a row! In fact, LA SUPERBA won on a tie-breaker over the German team EUROPA 2 sailed by Tobias Feuerherdt. LA SUPERBA’s 1-2-5-3-1-4-1-2 scoreline bested EUROPA 2′s tally of 3-1-1-2-2-7-4-3 on a count-back for most firsts. Consequently, the Germans took second and taking the bronze was yet another German team, J-J ONE skippered by Frithjog Schade with a 2-3-3-7-3-8-3-1 record. For more information, visit http://www.j24.it/web/index.php.
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