Milan – Almost two weeks after the conclusion of the J/70 Cup 2024, archived with the success of the Americans of Rowdy by Richard Witzel and with the victory of the Italian title by Notaro Team by Luca Domenici, the president of the J/70 Italian Class, Federico Siragna, draws up the balance of a season that has confirmed the local association as one of the most operational at an international level.
In 2024 alone, in fact, the J/70 Italian Class, reference partner of the J/70 International Class, has managed a total of five events, four circuit events and the J/70 European Championship in Cala Galera, events that have brought together one hundred and thirty crews, engaging them in a total of thirty-seven races, twenty-six of which valid for the purposes of the J/70 Cup and eleven for the purposes of the European Championship.
Q: The passing of the seasons does not seem to affect the dynamics and numbers of the J/70 Cup which, once again, has confirmed itself at an international level as the most participated among the one design circuits…
FS: …indeed, we emerge from this 2024 strengthened: the desire to diversify expressed by the main players in sailing competition, combined with the availability of new commercial proposals, has led to a decline in almost all the one design circuits. A reality that evidently has not affected the J/70 Italian Class and the events we organize. The numbers say it: in 2021 we were 71, 96 in 2022, 76 in 2023 and a good 130 this year.
Q: What are the main factors of this success?
FS: Without a doubt the boat, very widespread everywhere, therefore easy to find on the market new or used, technical enough and less expensive than hulls of similar size. Elements that have transformed it into a new standard and with it into a community that, although driven by different ambitions, has the pleasure of meeting, of comparing, of working as a group. It is in this aspect that the value of the J/70 Italian Class lies: that is, in the ability to create empathy between very different teams, both in terms of perspectives and origins, and of knowing how to synthesize, taking every decision after careful consideration.
Q: Who are the main architects of this success?
FS: Without a doubt the shipowners, whether Italian or foreign, although even more thanks go to those who come from further away: indeed, it is good to specify that it is precisely by focusing on the presence of the teams that travel the most kilometers that we build the season and choose the stage locations. As much as we can try to diversify and innovate, our fortune is closely tied to the response of our protagonists. Looking at the individual subjects, it should be emphasized that the dynamics of a reality like the J/70 Italian Class involve different souls, from the class secretariat to the race officials, from the media officers to the secretariats of the various clubs. It is a synergic work, animated by Giulia Albuzio, who has coordinated the work of our secretariat and held the reins for over ten years, and by Giulia Grosselli who has assisted her for a few seasons now. Two connecting figures who, to date, embody the J/70 Italian Class for the community, a title that follows them everywhere, even during holidays and away from events. It is difficult, indeed impossible, to imagine the J/70 Italian Class without them. Just as it is difficult to imagine our reality without the guys from Zerogradinord, the media team that, despite having followed us for years, never fails to put forward new proposals, guaranteeing us a sort of avant-garde in terms of communication. And in this case too, the numbers speak for themselves.
Q: How important are the clubs in all this?
FS: Very much: the realization of our intentions depends on them because, as a slogan a few years ago said, power is nothing without control. And the firepower of the J/70 Italian Class, made up of a fleet that no one can boast in terms of size, must be channeled in the best possible way by the associations that, year after year, we choose to host our events. It is to their secretariats, their volunteers and the Race Officers that they make available to us that we owe a heartfelt thank you for having contributed to making the J/70 Cup the high-level event that we all know.
Q: Do you think that the results achieved by the Italian teams at an international level help the J/70 Italian Class in its activity?
FS: More than helping it, they give it authority: the photos of Wanderlust and Sofia Giondi’s crew, who won the 2024 European title and flew the Italian flag, have gone around the world, as happened with those of Petite Terrible-Adria Ferries and Claudia Rossi, protagonists of three successes that have become iconic and a stimulus for the history of the class, and of Luca Domenici’s Notaro Team. They are Italian victories, which as such leverage and animate the audience of enthusiasts and potential owners. At an international level we still lack the conquest of the world title, but I know that for our