J/24 Five for Fighting wins Autumn Championship
by J/Boats 9 Dec 2017 07:08 UTC
J/24 Autumn Cup at Parkstone © PYC
The 2017 of the Autumn Championship for the Gulf of Poets J/24 Fleet took place over two weekends and was organized by the Club Nautica Marina di Carrara in collaboration with the Circolo della Vela Marina di Massa. The region is not necessarily famous for its amazing sailing conditions, since the rest of the world knows it for something decorating many upscale households and offices- their renowned "Carrara marble"! The mountainsides gleam white in the day and glow orange at sunset- an astonishing view!
In total, ten races were run over the two weekends. A victory in the last race simply confirmed the crushing win the young crew on ITA 304 Five for fighting put on the dozen-boat fleet. The team was led by owner/skipper Eugenia De Giacomo with crew of Nicola and Matilde Pitanti, Lorenzo Cusimano and Bruna Marco.
The sailing was characterized by sun and perfect wind, about 10-15 knots from the northeast on Saturday. Then on Sunday, two more races in similar conditions to count five for the weekend. There were four different winners of the races, including Five for Fighting (race 6 and 10), Riccardo Pacini's Coccoe, Roberta Banfo's Tally-Ho (skippered by Luca Macchiarini), and Giuseppe Simonelli's Razor Bill (skippered by Davide Sampiero).
At the end of racing on Sunday, F4F had five 1sts and three 2nds in their ten-race tally to win with 16 pts net- a huge margin over the second place team. That boat was Pacini's Coccoe with 25 pts net. Third and fourth places were determined by a tie-breaker between Pietro Diamanti's Jamaica and Macchiarini's Tally-Ho, with the former getting the benefit of count back to round out the podium. Fifth place went to Simonelli's Razor Bill.
"They were beautiful regattas, very fun and very competitive," commented Pietro Diamanti. "I am satisfied with this edition of the Autumn Championship and the victory of a crew made up of determined and very good youngsters like Five for Fighting, always ready to go down into the water and to commit to the maximum. Congratulations also to Riccardo Pacini, a great return with a super crew formed by my brother Giuseppe, Fabio Apollonio and Renzo Marini and Tommy Fusato."
For more about Italian J/24 Class sailing information click here.