J/Newsletter- July 2nd, 2025

ByStuart Johnstone
Sailboat racing with crew on the ocean.


This past week was a global celebration of sailing, featuring family victories and World Championship glory. It showcased the incredible depth and diversity of the global J/Sailing community. From the storied shores of Porto Santo Stefano in Italy to the brisk freshwater of Kingston, Ontario, in Canada and the salty air of Block Island offshore of Rhode Island, sailors of all ages, backgrounds, and ambitions came together for a series of events that captured the heart of the sport.

In Italy, the Lamaro family’s J/40 PALINURO brought Olympic pedigree and heartfelt teamwork to the forefront, stealing the spotlight at the PasquaVela Regatta. Meanwhile, on Lake Garda (that famous lake in northern Italy), the inaugural J/70 Mixed-Plus World Championship marked a bold new chapter in inclusive competition, drawing Olympians and emerging talent alike… including a record turnout of 125 women sailors as both skippers and crew!

Across the Atlantic, Block Island Race Week delivered its classic mix of tactical challenges and shoreside camaraderie, with J/Teams dominating the podiums in both one-design and handicap racing. And in iconic sailing hubs like Cowes, Long Beach, and Hamburg, the energy remained electric as women’s regattas, doublehanded duels, and national championships further highlighted the passion and power of the international J/fleet.

It was a stretch of racing defined not just by results, but by resilience, reinvention, and remarkable spirit—on every course, in every corner of the world.

How the Lamaro Family’s J/40 PALINURO Eclipsed the PasquaVela Regatta 2025

(Porto Santo Stefano, Italy)- As a backgrounder, the owner/ skipper of the new J/40 PALINURO in Italy is Gianluca Lamaro. He is an experienced sailor that includes participating in two sailing Olympics (Los Angeles and Seoul), has a world bronze medal in the Soling class in Anzio 1981, and many more titles. We hope you enjoy this article about Gianluca and his family team. The writer is Roberto Perrone Capano from the Lega Navale Italiano newsletter. 
 
“For starters, Gianluca is just shy of 70, but his energy, intellect, speed, and competitive enthusiasm are those of a young man. Born in 1956, Neapolitan by birth, now with five active, passionate children:
– Pietro, son number 3, is the first tailer and was an under-21 and Series A rugby national. 
– Michele, son number 4, is the captain of the Italian National Rugby team, and flanker for Benetton Treviso… he’s good at grinding winches or jumping spinnaker halyards
– Paolino, son number 5, is the rigger and bowman of PALINURO. 
– Margaux and Francesco are missing, but also enthusiastic sailors. 
 
How can you say no to yet another experience with Gianluca and his Lamaro family? The reasons are explained below.
 
We have known each other since I was 8 years old, 11 years for him. As neighbors and daily companions, we enjoyed soccer games in the courtyard at the Parco Grifeo 40 in Naples, overlooking the gulf. We often played with two of his younger brothers, Stefano, now a surgeon, and Peppe, a Qatar Airlines pilot. We were both born under the stubborn sign of Scorpio, but with characters as different as they are compatible. Read more here.

Spain’s YUPI Crowned J/70 Mixed-Plus World Champions!

(Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy)- The debut of the J/70 Mixed-Plus World Championship took place last week on Lake Garda, Italy, for a fleet of 47 teams. Hosting the sailors off the gorgeous lakeside village of Torbole was the Circolo della Vela Torbole. 

The fleet from 18 nations (AUS, BRA, CYP, DEN, ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, JPN, HUN, ITA, MON, NED, POL, SWE, SUI, & USA) reflected the success of this inclusive and competitive format. The event brought together an elite mix of sailors: Olympic medalists, world-class professionals, rising talents, and skilled amateur teams, all racing under simple, accessible rules that define the Mixed Plus category. In fact, there were 25 Olympians amongst the sailors on the teams, some of them very famous sailors. Coincidentally,  there was a record number of 125 women participants as skippers and crew!  Read more here.

J/112E Pair Silver @ IRC UK Nationals

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The 2025 IRC National Championship, part of the Royal Thames Yacht Club’s 250th Anniversary Regatta, brought together over 50 IRC-rated boats for three days of competitive inshore racing in the Solent. 

With 21 of the 30 yachts entered in the 2025 Admiral’s Cup expected to compete, this year’s IRC Nationals had teams racing from all over the world, bristling with elite sailors from the Olympics, America’s Cup, and round-the-world races. The fleet will include a broad range of designs racing in four IRC Classes— from Quarter Tonners to grand-prix One Designs and IRC-optimized custom builds.  Read more here.

J/Teams Rock Block Island Race Week!

J/111 BRAVO Awarded Everett B Morris Trophy, J/122 TEAMWORK Wins ORC NA’s D3!
(Block Island, RI)- This year’s Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race Week featured a diversity of weather challenges all week long; from clear sunny “shorts & shades” glamma days to grey, cool, ugly, drizzly days to keep everyone honest. In the end, numerous J/Teams filled up the leaderboard, garnering a lion’s share of the silverware across several PHRF/ ORC handicap divisions as well as strong participation in one-design classes for J/88s, J/105 East Coast Championships, J/44 North Americans, and J/109s sailing in their East Coast Championships. Here is how it all went down over the five-day regatta.. Read more here.

SKELETON KEY Leading J/111 SoCal Series

(Long Beach, CA)- The first-ever J/111 Pacific Coast Championship was held last weekend at Long Beach Race Week. It was a great momentum builder for the class in Southern California. This was the third event in the J/111 SoCal One-Design Circuit, which was a big success (the other two events were the San Diego Yachting Cup and Cal Race Week).

In the end, it was Peter Wagner’s SKELETON Key that was declared the overall winner with three firsts over the three events to finish with just 3 pts. The series silver medal was determined by a tiebreaker at 9 pts each. Marty Vogel’s MADMEN with a 5-2-2 series won the countback over John Staff’s OBSIDIAN with all 3rds! 

In the eight J/111s that participated, rounding out the top five were Steve Flam’s FLAMBOUYANT and Dan McGanty’s J-BOSS in fourth and fifth, respectively. Read more here.

Challenging Chicago Sailing World Regatta

(Chicago, IL)- As they’ve done enthusiastically for years, the Chicago Yacht Club and its army of volunteers rolled out the proverbial red carpet for hundreds of sailors for the three-day weekend Chicago Sailing World Regatta presented by HELLY HANSEN. The regatta featured one-design classes for J/70s, J/88 Great Lakes Championship, J/109 Great Lakes Championship, and J/105s. In addition, there were J/Crews that enjoyed the offshore events for both ORC and PHRF handicap divisions… Read more here.

J/70s & J/80s Enjoy Famous Kingston Sailing Weather!

(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)- In preparation for the 2026 J/80 North Americans and J/80 Worlds regattas in July next year, CORK/ Sail Kingston, in collaboration with the J/80 North American Class Association, hosted a 3-day “test event†regatta in Kingston, Canada on June 27-29. Most notably, the regatta was employing the Vakaros RaceSense starting system – a first for J/80’s in North America.

A dozen J/80’s and a slightly smaller fleet on J/70’s from fleets across eastern Canada and northeastern US enjoyed three spectacular sailing days with a total of eight races run in the champagne sailing conditions that Kingston, “the freshwater sailing capital of the worldâ€, is known for. Read more here.

LA SUPERBA Crowned XLIV Italian J/24 Champion- for 11th time!

(Lerici, Italy)- With the award ceremony, the curtain fell on the 2025 edition of the Italian J/24 Championship for the twenty-four J/24 teams from across Italy, well organized by the delegation of the FIV (Federazione Italiano de Vela) and the Circolo della Vela Erix.

Divided into three days of competition – characterized by strong Mistral winds in the first two and a weaker one in the final one – and eight hard-fought and challenging races held in the waters of Lerici, the 2025 Italian Championship was a great success. Read more here.