J/24 Range Rover European Championship at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda - Day 3
by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda 15 Jun 2024 18:17 BST
12-16 June 2024
Headcase, leader of the provisional overall classification - J/24 Range Rover European Championship © YCCS / Daniele Macis
After yesterday's 4 races in a Mistral wind, today the J/24 fleet sailed a further 3 races in a Scirocco breeze that built from an initial 12 knots to reach 20-22 knots.
Steep waves of over a metre high made for challenging conditions for the fleet, which demonstrated impressive technical ability on the race course.
Reigning European champion Headcase was the uncontested star of the show today, claiming victory in all three of the races held. The Irish team proved themselves to be a cut above, thanks to great teamwork and having trained in similar conditions. With five bullets and a third-place finish, Headcase leads the provisional classification with just eight points in total and one more race day to go. From the fifth race of the series, each team can discard their worst result - a 14th place on the first day in the case of the provisional leader.
Louis Mulloy, bowman on Headcase: "Today we came away with three bullets, but it was pretty tricky racing. In the first race we only managed to get to the front of the fleet on the last downwind leg, in the second race we really had to work very hard to get into that lead position, and even harder to hold onto it. In the last race the breeze was building again, and we got into conditions that we are comfortable in, we pushed really hard, and we're happy to have come away with another bullet in that one as well."
La Superba, the J/24 representing the Italian Navy, sits in second place (two fourths and a second place today), on a total of 18 points. Further back in third place, with 33 points, is Jamaica, owned by the President of the Italian J/24 Class, Pietro Diamanti, who has consistently placing in the upper ranks of the classification, and today discarded the result of the last race due to a breakage.
"Jamaica is a historic boat," said Diamanti, "I have been racing with her since 1995. I am happy to be here in Porto Cervo, a unique location, in the company of friends and having fun together. We are very satisfied with how the races are going and I have to admit that we are achieving results above our expectations in this European Championship."
Yesterday's leader, Hungarian boat J.Bond, slips back to fourth place with 39 points, followed by Aurelio Bini's Vigne Surrau, just one point behind in fifth place.
For tomorrow, the final day of racing, the first start has been brought forward to 10 a.m. CEST, with a westerly wind forecast of 15-16 knots. The intention is to run three races.
The event is organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the International J24 Class Association and the Italian J/24 Class Association, and the support of title sponsor Range Rover.