X-35 comes of age

54 yachts to compete at World Championship next week

The X-35 World Championship starts next week on the 22 September. The venue is Cala Galera (in Argentario, Tuscany) and the organisers are Yacht Club Italiano and the Circolo Nautico e della Vela dell’Argentario, partnered by Rolex. The number of boats entered to date is an impressive 54.

Events will get under way with the first day being given over to registration and measurements. To ensure maximum uniformity between the boats they will be weighed pre-race, the sails will be checked to ensure compliance with Class Rules, and crew weight – which must not exceed 640 kilos – will be recorded.

On Tuesday, in addition to further registration and measurement procedures, a cocktail gathering will be organised to welcome the participants.

Racing starts on Wednesday, with races held daily up to Saturday 27 (Sunday 28 is booked as a reserve day in the event that less than 6 races are held). The programme provides for a minimum of two upwind-downwind courses per day for a total of ten races at the end of which the crew qualifying for world champion status will be declared.

Just three years since the launch of the Danish built X-35 over 200 have been built. Much of this growth is attributed to stringent class rules - all the boats are identical, save for the materials used for the sails (boat owners are free to patronise the sail loft of their choosing), only two professional yachtsmen are allowed per crew, and the helmsman must be the owner.

Italy fields one of the biggest fleets worldwide (35 boats entered for the last national Championship) and the participants, all in the role of tacticians, include some of the most well known on the Italian scene: Francesco Bruni, brothers Francesco and Matteo Ivaldi, Gabriele Benussi, Lorenzo Bressani, to mention but a few.

The Italian teams will be up against numerous competitors from all over Europe, with the fleet in Tuscany including crews from eleven countries: England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, the Netherland, Russia, Estonia, Greece, and Turkey.

In addition to Rolex, support to Yacht Club Italiano will be provided also by BMW. As a courtesy, its cars will be available for use for competitors.

More information and entry list here .