J70, cheating and pros

[DarkHorse]

If the cover article is anywhere true (and history says it is), I believe we have finally put a nail in the coffin that pros are a great advantage to a class. 

The class rules are 'closed' in that only changes allowed specifically in the rules, else its NOT allowed.

Hull appendages can be sanded and thats it - unless damage has been made (we must assume there is LOTS of damage in the class!!).

Thus any changes outside of light sanding is specifically rejected and therefore must be considered cheating. Throw in the pros whose only job is to make the boat win, and you have a terrible mix. They will likely burn through this class and onto the next - and if they get caught , they move on with no retributions (where should rule 69 come into play so that this is more than a class specific issue).

Imagine if the class leaders had to sail with class legal equipment like the rest of us do!

 

[TBone]

You're faulting the Pros.

What about the Owners?

 

[J T]

What makes you think it's the pros?  Are you speaking of "pro-riggers" who may or may not just be doing what the owner has asked?  I'm not sure many of the Pro Smacticians get involved with the fairing and such with the boats. 

All in all I think you're painting with a fairly wide brush.

 

[kent_island_sailor]

I fair random J70s for fun and then drop a dime on them later................... 

 

[jesposito]

You're faulting the Pros.

What about the Owners?

Most owners don't have a clue.

The sailmakers and others figure loop holes in the rules and have the owners do the dirty deed, and act like they know nothing.

I've seen it happen with PHRF boats up in Eastern and Western LIS 

 

[MR.CLEAN]

7 boats chucked, including three real contenders.  5 of them italian.  All with keel fairing, shimming and/or moved delrins.

Front page in a minute

 

[Icedtea]

Amazing- to jog my memory, what was the final outcome for Mr. Greenwald's blatant cheating a few years back?

 

[Plumber]

Yikes...Good on the class for stepping up!

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Amazing- to jog my memory, what was the final outcome for Mr. Greenwald's blatant cheating a few years back?

he voluntarily withdrew from the class for a year IIRC, and then campaigned a J/111 while he waited.

 

[TBone]

Most owners don't have a clue.

The sailmakers and others figure loop holes in the rules and have the owners do the dirty deed, and act like they know nothing.

I've seen it happen with PHRF boats up in Eastern and Western LIS 

Not the Pros getting chucked though.

Perhaps the Owners need to begin paying attention?

 

[MR.CLEAN]

We believe that hell may have actually frozen over a few hours ago.

We’re not sure how else to explain the fact that of the seven teams just thrown out of the J/70 World Championship for measurement violations – in Italy – five are Italian!  Organizers even have the support of the J/70 Italian Class despite the stature of the excluded owners, which includes the current Alcatel J/70 Cup champion and several top teams.   It’s a sign that the folks running the J/70 are taking their little boat as seriously as they have long needed to, given how prominent and huge the class has become since their first Worlds barely 3 years ago.

As past competitors in the Class, we’re not surprised to see the hammer finally drop on some of the over-the-top mods that have been creeping in since the get go, but we are definitely surprised and quite impressed to see it happen in a place that’s notorious for ‘turbo” Italian one-design entries that get away with it (anyone remember the Melges 24 bulb with chines or the Farr 40 that floated 2″ high of her lines? We do).  We’re also not saying that the DSQ’d boats are full of outright cheaters rather than opportunists taking advantage of Class Measurement guidelines and tools that were less than precise, but the hammer doesn’t care what the nail looks like, as long as it is a nail. Those rules and tools have now been tightened up, which should mean fairer racing for everyone in this huge fleet.  Bravo, J/70 Class admins and measurers, and bravo, Italia!

Anyway, the official notice is on your left.  From Italy, the DSQ’d boats are Achille Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino Jr (Francesco Bruni, tactician), Allesandro Molla’s Viva (Nicollo Bianchi, tactician), Marco Salvi’s Vertigo (from Porto Cervo, the event host!), Claudio Dutto’s Asante Sana, prior Worlds podium finisher Carlo Alberini’s Calvi Network(Branco Brcin, tactician), Mauro Mocchegiani’s Rush Diletta (Matteo Ivaldi, tactician), and the Alex Semenov’s Russian-owned New Territories (tactics by Pottuguese J/80 and SB20 World Champion Hugo Rocha).  We’re not sure whether this makes those pros more marketable or less marketable, but you might want to double check their work the next time they say ‘it’s legal, don’t worry’ before your big regatta!

Is this another case of pro sailors ruining a class, or does this kind of thing only happen when Classes slack on their measurement controls?  And is the J/70 Class’s action signs of great governance to come?  We’ll find out when SA brings our coverage to the J/70 Worlds on Wednesday (if the Mistral has shut down by then, that is!) . Until then, there’s of course a thread…

 

[MR.CLEAN]

There's like 9 America's Cup sailors on the crews of those excluded boats, including the current helmsman for Luna Rossa...

 

[J T]

Clean...wrong notice in the above post I think

 

[hmsmweasel]

do we know what the infractions are, depleted uranium bulbs  LOL

 

[james3232]

What does a delrin mod do?

 

[Plumber]

What does a delrin mod do?

I believe it allows the keel to drop lower.

 

[CVIAN]

Check the three Brazilian boats two of them are well known for having boats that do not measure at all 

capim canela used to sail j24 measured with a toolbox weighting 70 kilos that went off the boat to the tender every race 

manda chuva used to have his j 24 boats built with concentrated weight by the manufacturer that sailed with them

 

[J T]

Bravo to the J70 International Class and the J70 Italian Class.  This is from the FB page from the Italians:

J/70 Italian Class Following recent irregular modifications discovered during the 2017 Worlds measurement process, the J/70 Italian Class wishes to make a statement regarding the situation:

With the benefit of past experience and recognizing the need to maintain the strictest One-Design standards, the current Council has invested in two new measurers with the knowledge and tools necessary to ensure the strictest compliance with Class Rules.

Thanks to this foresight and the oversight of the International J/70 Class, the Porto Cervo Worlds measurement process highlighted the non-compliance of some boats, especially regarding keel irregularities.

The Class Regulations leave no room for interpretation. No modification is allowed to J/70s other than minor repairs of imperfections and blemishes.

Those who were found with irregularities at the time of measurement clearly violated the Class Rules by giving themselves an illegal advantage over the fleet. Those early rules violations also may have influenced other owners. In any case, these violations are also a breach of the values of sportsmanship and fairness on which the J/70 Italian Class is founded.

The Italian Class has immediately sought further investigation of the situation and has requested that the Organizing Authority and the International Jury express their opinion on the eligibility of all boats in question at the Audi J/70 World Championship.

Regardless of whether the boats are accepted by the Worlds Organizers, the Italian J/70 Class reserves the right to take disciplinary actions against Italian Class Members responsible for illegal tampering with their boats.

 

[sham69]

he voluntarily withdrew from the class for a year IIRC, and then campaigned a J/111 while he waited.

Greenwald was banned from the Class for 18 months, not a voluntary withdraw.

The carbon rudder was not used/measured at the 2014 Worlds. The subsequent keel mods at Key West 2015 is what got him suspended from the Class.