J/70 Corinthian Worlds Set for Record Fleet in Marseille

ByStuart Johnstone

(Marseille, France)- The Union Nautique Marseilles will soon be hosting 95 teams (max entries!) for the 2026 edition of the J/70 Corinthian World Championship- from May 23rd to 30th, 2026. The regatta will take place on the picturesque bay, famous for its regular summer seabreezes. Since the city is basically in the foothills of the French Alps, where they descend into the sea, the mountains heating up generate significant winds at times… a bit like the phenomenon on Lake Garda at the northern end of the lake surrounded by tall mountains.

The 95 teams hail from a record 22 nations; AUS(3), BEL(2), BER(1), BRA(1), DEN(5), ESP(1), EST(1), FRA(28), GBR(8), GER(7), HUN(4), IRL(1), ITA(2), MEX(1), MON(4), NED(1), NOR(1), POL(1), SUI(14), SWE(4), TUR(2), and USA(3). The top five nations alone are the following:
– France- 28
– Switzerland- 14
– Great Britain- 8
– Germany- 7
– Denmark- 5

What is most interesting about the field of teams is the strong presence of the Swiss crews. It’s not coincidental that passion and participation rate are high, especially since they already have a J/70 World Champion (Monaco) amongst them, and they have a very active Swiss J/70 Sailing League for major categories- Open, Women, & Youth! Sailing on at least a half-dozen lakes from May to October, the Swiss Sailing League alone has well over two dozen regattas and over four dozen sailing clubs participating!!

Here are some of the leading contenders for the top of the leaderboard from various countries.

Starting with Australia, a country that has seen the J/70 class growing leaps & bounds in the past few years, there is Davis’s NUTCRACKER, Haynes’s CELESTIAL, and Landgren’s SKYHOO.

From Bermuda, you can bet Alec Cutler’s HEDGEHOG will be a strong contender for the podium.

The French contingent is improving rapidly, given the recent success of the EURO-VOILES team on the Italian J/70 circuit. Those teams include Herve Leduc’s JIBE SET, Lafitte’s LIFT TICKET, Denis Infante’s EURO-VOILES, Pierre Guigne’s SAILING IMPACT, Alonso’s TRISKELL, and Torfou’s JIMINY CRICKET.

The British are coming, geared up for battle after early-season racing/ training in their annual summer-long J/70 Grand Slam Series that started nearly a month ago. Some of the top crews include Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER, Patric Liardet’s COSMIC, and Ali Hall’s CALYPSO. From Ireland next door, Harry Twomey’s lovable Irish banditos will be racing on WILDCARD… never a dull moment those guys are, lots of fun, but seriously fast!

The “lone wolf” from the huge Italian class is, in fact, a past J/70 Corinthian champion in various regattas in past years. It will be interesting to see if Gianfranco Noe’s hot crew on WHITE HAWK can repeat some of their top performances.

The Monaco teams, just around the corner on the Mediterranean, will have two serious contenders. Those teams include Stefano Roberti’s PICCININA and Pierric Devic’s FRASER YACHTS.

The large Swiss contingent will have several crews capable of top-five finishes. Those teams include Hanssler’s RHUBARBE-3NUITS.COM, Thomas Studer’s JERRY, Müller’s JALLA JALLA, and Kausche’s TARTE-3NUITS.COM.

Finally, the USA will be well-represented by two top teams- Keith Whittemore’s FURIO from Seattle Yacht Club and Andrew Loe’s DIME from the same club!

For more Corinthian J/70 World Championship sailing information
https://www.j70mcwc.com/index.php