J/70 World Championship 2025 Preview
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)- The Yacht Club Argentino is hosting the 2025 edition of the J/70 World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As the first time the J/70 Worlds has been hosted “down under” in the southern hemisphere, the turnout of seventy-nine entries is quite remarkable! They represent sixteen nations; including Argentina (22), Australia (1), Bermuda (1), Brazil (14), Chile (5), China (1), Spain (2), Great Britain (2), Germany (1), Italy (3), Portugal (1), Switzerland (1), Sweden (2), Turkey (3), Uruguay (7), and USA (13).
Sailing will be taking place from Tuesday, October 28th, to Saturday, November 1st, with teams experiencing the muddy, choppy waters of the Rio de la Plata. Amongst the 79 entries are some very talented teams, all with their eyes set on getting onto the podium. Here’s the breakdown of the top teams from various nations.
Argentina: as the host country, the “locals” are a talented group. Amongst their contenders are Francisco Van Avermaete’s SI QUERIDA, Nicolas Cubria’s POCO LOCO, Ezequiel Despontin’s 707, Guillermo Parada’s NILDO, Fernando Gwozdz’s MUTADITO, and Matias Pereira’s BLUE.
Bermuda: having recently won the J/70 Corinthian World Championship in Marblehead, MA, Alec Cutler’s HEDGEHOG and his US Naval Academy Sailing Team buddies (all All-Americans, by the way!) will certainly be hungry and hoping to carry that momentum to the leaderboard at the J/70 Worlds.
Brazil: without a doubt, the “sleeper” group of sailors in this year’s J/70 Worlds has to be the Brazilian contingent. This group is talented and very well-traveled, having been to most major regattas in Europe and the USA in the past few years on a very regular basis. Their level of sailing continues to grow, and don’t be surprised to see one of them on the podium. Those teams include Sam Albrecht’s EL ENEMIGO, Jimmy Koch’s WIZARD, Ralph De Vasconcellos Rose’s MINDSET, Renato Cunha Faria’s TO NESSA, and Haroldo Solberg’s VIKING- OCEANPACT.
Chile: like their cross-Andes mountain neighbors, the Chilean sailors are no strangers to traversing the imposing 14,000-foot volcanoes that make up the Andes Mountain range between Argentina and Chile. Notable teams that have fared well on the international J/70 circuit are Vernon Roberts’ MORENITA, Andres Ducasse and family on their DUCASSE SAILING TEAM, and Mauricio Flores’s KINTSUGI.
Espana/ Spain: as a juggernaut of sportboat sailing in Europe in the past decades, and producing multiple J/80 World Champions, the Spanish J/70 Class is placing all their bets on a past J/80 World Champion- Luis Albert on PATAKIN and his crew from Real Club Nautico de Palma. Albert’s PATAKIN team has consistently posted top-five finishes in European J/70 circuits.
Great Britain: as a perennial power in the J/70 class, with two J/70 World Champions, it’s surprising more British teams aren’t represented. As such, the two who are participating should represent their little island nation well. Past J/70 World Champion Charles Thompson is sailing BRUTUS III with his friend Tom Mallindine as helmsman. And, Martin Dent is sailing with his daughter, Ruby, as a sharp, ruthless tactician on JELVIS. Either one of these teams can win, place, or show, and certainly can finish in the top ten.
Italy: the Italian participation is surprisingly light, considering its large, talented fleet. Nevertheless, one of those top teams is Mauro Roversi’s J-CURVE, and a top woman helm will be Sofia Giondi sailing WANDERLUST.
Sweden: the fast-growing Swedish J/70 class is going from strength to strength, with many of their top teams being products of their increasingly competitive Swedish J/70 Sailing League. Two of their top teams are sailing- Per Roman’s GARM and Filip Engelbert’s ELVIS.
Turkey: the Turkish J/70 fleet continues to grow and gain experience. Their Cyrillic-writing neighbors to the north have sponsored the TENZOR Cup Winter Series on the eastern Mediterranean north of Istanbul. As a result, the Turkish teams are improving rapidly. Leading that charge is Ahmet Eker’s EKER team and their colleagues on DENIZCIK, skippered by Gulboy Guryel, could surprise a few people.
Uruguay: the cross-river (Rio de la Plata) neighbors of the Argentineans are the J/70 fleet based in Punta del Este and Montevideo, Uruguay. Several experienced teams should do well, including Diego Wulf’s SHAMBHALA, Pedro Garra’s PLAN B, Antonio Garcia’s CHAPULIN, and Bruno Centanaro’s PURA JODA.
United States: Counting several World Champions and the current Open J/70 South American Champion amidst the American contingent, it’s dead certain the incredibly formidable fleet of “gringos” from the north will predominate on the podium and the top 10 positions. Leading the charge will be Peter Duncan and his RELATIVE OBSCURITY team. But, several crews will give Peter’s mercenaries (Jud Smith, Willem Van Waay, & Victor Diaz de Leon) a run-for-the-money, including two teams from Chicago, IL (Rich Witzel’s ROWDY and John Heaton’s EMPEIRIA), Travis Odenbach’s HONEYBADGER, Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, Cate Muller-Terhune’s CASTING COUCH, and Brian Keane’s SAVASANA.
Women skippers: There are more than a dozen women skippers racing the Worlds. However, don’t be surprised if the Americans sweep the podium for the Top Women Skipper awards- Maggie Mckillen’s MAGATRON, Cate Muller-Terhune’s CASTING COUCH, Laura Grondin’s DARK ENERGY, and Laura Sigmund’s NORBOY from Chicago.
For J/70 World Championship sailing information and results
https://viramos.com/championships/814266b9-7043-4391-bd4e-e05350b94417
For more Yacht Club Argentino regatta information
https://yca.org.ar/
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