(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- Ninety international teams from twenty-three nations (Australia, USA,France, Italy, Germany, Chile, Sweden, Monaco, Mexico, Uruguay, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, Denmark, Great Britain, Brazil, Argentina, Poland, Norway, Ireland, and Finland) descended on the Principality of Monaco for the 2022J/70World Championship, organized for the first time by Yacht Club de Monaco.
On the opening day practice race on Monday, the regatta opened up with a lot of promise. Good winds, great competition, and a beautiful opening ceremony at the gorgeous facilities of YC Monaco. Thereafter, it was days of endless exasperation trying to get the regatta going with any races. It was a magnanimous effort by theJ/70Worlds PRO Mark Foster to keep the fleet engaged and hoping, praying for wind. Unfortunately, a huge, flat High-pressure system simply sat over the Mediterranean Sea with isobars barely in sight. That meant beautiful days of sun, and cool weather, but no winds. For four days, the YCM RC/ PRO team had to hoist the "AP over A" flags signaling race day cancellations. It was not until the final day on Saturday that three good races were run to complete the minimum required for the World Championship.
The Royal Red Carpet Treatment
“It was exceptional and an honor to welcome all these sailing champions. All eyes of the sailing world were riveted on our Principality,” said Yacht Club de Monaco General Secretary Bernard d’Alessandri.
As part of the "Monaco- Capital of Advanced Yachting" project, HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco, YC Monaco's President, came down to the club on Friday to greet everyone involved in the organization, including some 50 volunteers who comprise the Flotte des Commissaires, the international Race Committee, the Jury members, and many of theJ/70Worlds sailors on the quay or docks. If some of you recall, HRH Prince Albert II is an avid yachtsman and enjoys sailing a lot, having competed in the localJ/24one-design class for nearly 20 years!
The Championship also benefited from the support of the Monegasque Sailing Federation, FxPro, Xerjoff, Sebago, and technical sports clothing brand SLAM, which supplied garments for all crew on the podium. Tommaso Chieffi, ambassador for the Italian SLAM brand, came to watch the events. He explained, “we often participate in the America’s Cup regattas. Today, I have witnessed exchanges of such quality both on the water and ashore, such a spirit of sportsmanship. Real class!”
Swiss on top of the World!
On the final Saturday, the outcome was nowhere near what the yachting world anticipated from the gathering of multiple Olympic, World, and European champions that were present in the regatta. There is no shortage of superlatives to describe the total mastery, exemplary helmsmanship, and tight mark roundings achieved by the crew on Killian Wagen’s Swiss team on DECOUVERTES GEOMOD (Gregoire Siegwart, Luke Patience, David Hughes, and Celia Willison). The Swiss boat, also the winner of the 2022 Primo Cup- Trophee Credit Suisse in Monaco, blew the competition away in the Open category with characteristic Swiss consistency.
“We came here with one goal and we are delighted to have achieved that,” said crew member Luke Patience. “It’s a great team and we just conserved energy to give it our all today, even though we were constantly nervous about our decisions on the water”. With such formidable competitors, their record of 3-1-10 for 14 pts gave them a massive lead of 22 pts!
Another team that did spectacularly well was LEONTEQ, skippered by Monegasque Pierrik Devic, who emerged with the silver medal in home waters! It was a tremendous reward for thisJ/70class regular in Monaco, proclaiming that he could not have done it without his amazing crew- Francois Bernac, Stephane Christidis, Axelle Foucaud, and Martin Lemarchand.
Said Pierrik, “it was a huge surprise! But, it is the result of all the hard work I’ve put in with my crew in the last year. It was an amazing field with big names in sailing and we are very proud to come 2nd, which we owe to the professionalism of our crew and our consistency!" Their tally of 20-7-9 for 36 pts gave them a well-deserved silver medal on the podium.
Completing the Open podium and taking the bronze medal was Peter Duncan's all-star American crew and pastJ/70World Champions on RELATIVE OBSCURITY- Willem Van Waay, Victor Diaz de Leon, and Morgan Trubovich. Their tally of 11-16-14 was consistent for a 41 pts total, just squeaking by the next two boats by a mere single point!
Rounding out the top five in fourth place was Luis Albert's PATAKIN from Palma, Spain. His team of Afonso Domingos, Eduardo Regueza, and Paolo Manso managed to post a respectable record of 6-11-25 for 42 pts, narrowly missing the podium by only one point! Then, finishing fifth position was yet another Swiss team- Nick Zeltner's QUARTER2ELEVEN! His crew included Bruno Zeltner, Stefan Pulfer, and Silvan Zuppiger... all from Yacht Club Oberhofen... hmmm, there must be some magical pixie dust in that Swiss mountain water and fresh air up in the Swiss Alps!
As one of the speakers partaking in the awards ceremony, YC Monaco Vice-President Pierre Casiraghi said, “it’s a real pleasure and honor to hold such an event. That hasn’t happened since 1976. Above all, it was great to see our Monaco crews shine!” He referenced their top teams- Pierrick Devic's LEONTEQ and Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio's G-SPOT.
Tight from the start in One-Pro Division
The level of competition was such that gaps never widened. Everyone understood that if they got the start right, the race was half-won; and that it was not worth being greedy and risking a black flag and potential disqualification. While the axe may have fallen on a dozen impatient boats, others showed great skill like Australian Tim Ryan’s crew on VAMOS (Rob Greenhalgh, Jess Grimes, and Charlie Gundy) that stood out in the One Pro (one professional aboard) category. They beat Monegasque Ludovico Fassitelli's JUNDA team (Stefano Cherin, Francesco Orlando, Davide Vignone, and Leonardo Bonelli) that came in second, with the Spaniard Mon Canellas's OUTLIER team (Dario Alvaredo, Ole Eichhorn, Leasha Barry, and Matias Sabate) in the third position.
Swiss Dominate Corinthian category, too!
After the victory in the Open, it was another win for the Swiss. This time it was in the Corinthian (amateur) group with a well-deserved first place for Nick Zeltner’s QUARTER2ELEVEN team. He snatched victory from under the nose of Spaniard Luis Bugallo's MARNATURA team (Enrique Freire, Javier de la Gandara, Manel Pereira Cunha, and Alejandro Prego) that took second place, while the FFV French Youth Team led by Timothé Rossi was third (his crew was Erwan Felio, Thibaut Demai, Julien Bunel, and Charles Henon).
Attentive to the environment
Summer-like temperatures, lack of wind, and an almost immovable anti-cyclone certainly challenged the experts.
“It was very unusual, even exceptional for October,” noted Gianfranco Meggiorin, President of Navimétéo in charge of daily weather forecasts for the crews. “We have seen this in different regions of the Mediterranean. Suffice it to say that things are changing. Unusual phenomena are occurring, situations that are still unknown, so we have to continue to study the data and try to understand what’s happening”.
Organized in partnership with RAMOGE, one of the oldest environmental protection agreements in the world, involvingFrance, Monaco, and Italy, theJ/70Worlds was an opportunity to highlight actions taken by YC Monaco to mitigate environmental impacts.
“Our race committee boat has been run on bio-diesel for the last five years. For our safety boats which are not electric, they operate on bio-fuel, too. We have dynamic positioning buoys that avoid any damage to the seabed, and recently installed in the YCM Marina recyclable polymer floats, which have mooring arms, not chains, to protect the seabed, and are easier to use,” explained Olivier Campana, President of the MonacoJ/70Class Association.
The next meeting in the Principality will be Act 1 of the MonacoJ/70Winter Series (November 3rd to 6th, 2022).Sailing photo credits- YCM/ Carlo Borlenghi. Formore 2022 J/70 World Championship sailing information
