Breeze J/24 World Championships at Porto Rotondo, Sardinia

67 boats from 17 nations competed in the Breeze J/24 World Championships hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda at Porto Rotondo. This was a regatta of the highest standard with the final outcome decided on the last beat of the last race, with 4.25 points between 1st and 4th overall.

Sailing from Porto Rotondo in Sardinia must be one of the top international racing venues in the World, high temperatures and various wind conditions test the crews of all the yachts competing. Two weeks before, the Italian J/24 nationals had attracted 85 entries, proving that the hosting nation competitors where going to be hard to beat on their home waters.

Sailing was held on Windward-Leeward courses with a gate leeward mark that was very necessary with the highly bunched fleet. Huge gains and losses were to be made by choosing a clear path at the marks, especially on the first lap where bunches of 20 boats went round at the same time.

The first day was what we were expecting of Sardinian conditions, a steadily rising South-Easterly breeze, with 10 knots at the start of the first race building to 25 knots and above for the second. These races showed that the Italians were in form and at home, Sandro Montefusco winning the first race and 470 helm Tommaso Chieffi winning the second, no foreign competitors had managed to get into the top three. The overnight leader was Italian Admirals Cup Winning helm Flavio Flavini with a 2nd and a 3rd.

The second day brought changing conditions and only one race was started due to light North-Easterly shifty airs. Guillermo Parada from Argentina sailed brilliantly in the difficult chop to claim victory followed by a line of Italians still sailing fast. These conditions persisted into 4th and 5th races, seeming to suit the Argentinians with high places in both races, Parada gaining two seconds and the overall lead. Also the Americans were beginning to score consistently and were moving fast up the rankings, with Chris Larson winning race 5.

The next day saw the return of the sun and many were hoping for a return of the classic Sardinian conditions, but after a morning of flat calm only a light Northerly breeze appeared. This saw Terry Hutchinson show some form to win the race, closely followed by Keiji Kondo of Japan with their best race of the series. Race 7 was started in similar conditions, but during the race the breeze shifted erratically giving numerous place changes. The big gainer in this was Miyuki Kai from Japan who went hard left on the second beat to lead at the next windward mark and for the rest of the course. Behind the series leaders were trying to put in consistent results, Parada and Larson both managed top six results.

The next day saw the 41st overall Grand Cayman Island crew score their result of the championship when after a perfect start they lead for the entire race, only to be overtaken on the last beat by Chris Larson. They thought their hopes of winning a World Championship race were lost until Larson did not recieve a sound signal at the finish, having been a premature starter. Going into the last race it looked like the Championship was going to be decided between Montefusco of Italy and Parada of Argentina.

The last day produced a light South-Easterly breeze, leading to a very tense race. Montefusco had a good lead over Parada and the other boats and only needed a top 10 result. This though in a fleet of this calibre is by no means guaranteed, and a poor start by both the Argentinian and the Italian put them in the thirties at the Windward mark. Larson on the other hand was handling the pressure well and lead for the entire race to claim victory and the championship. Montefusco only managed 24th and Parada 22nd, dropping them to 2nd and 3rd overall respectively, Parada tied on points, but with a better discard than Hutchinson. The top British boat was European Champion Stuart Jardine aboard Stouché coming 13th.

The championship was superbly hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, with the competition being of an extremely high standard. The top twenty places had many World Champions from other classes including Stars, 470s, Cadets and Snipes. Many thanks must also go to Breeze deodorants for sponsoring the event.