Tallinn, Estonia - 7 August 2010
On Day One Of The 2010 Marinepool Melges 24 World Championship
2008 Melges 24 World Champion, Italian Lorenzo Bressani
at the helm of Uka Uka Racing, laid down a marker to the fleet at this year's
World Championship, with a near perfect first and a second after two difficult
light and shifty races in Tallin, Estonia today. Bressani leads by four points
from the 2008 Melges 24 Corinthian World Champion and reigning Corinthian
Melges 24 European Champion, Oyvind Peder Jahre from Norway on Storm Capital
Sail Racing Team who impressed with a third and a fourth today. Italy's Carlo
Fracassoli on Gullisara lies in third overall tonight after scoring a second
and a seventh.
Race By Race
Hopes of double-digit wind strengths for the first day of
racing at the 2010 Marinepool Melges 24 World Championship in Tallinn, Estonia
evaporated in the warm sunshine which bathed the seventy-nine-boat fleet as it
reached the racecourse this morning. With the promising early morning breeze
quickly dying away, the Race Committee were left with no alternative other than
to post a postponement which reindexed in place for a little more than an hour
before an attempt at starting racing could be made. After bringing the fleet
back just once for a General Recall, a relieved Race Committee waved the fleet
off at the second try with just two boats called OCS.
Despite having an expansive start-line available to them, the
fleet seemed keen to take advantage of a perceived benefit on the right of the
course and as a result there was considerable bunching at the starboard end.
This allowed the boats starting further down the line a little extra space to
get away cleanly and for the first few minutes it was the boats on the left of
the beat who looked to be making the early running. As the fleet approached the
halfway point however, the right began to come on strong and with the wind
flicking slightly right as well the boats on the left suddenly found themselves
in a real battle to get back across to the windward mark.
With just five to six knots of breeze blowing, if ever there
was a day for local knowledge to pay, then this was it. No surprise then to see
Estonian Tiit Vihul on Rock City round in second place behind Italian Carlo
Fracassoli on Gullisara. Hot on their heels was 2008 World Champion Lorenzo
Bressani on Uka Uka Racing. The power of the right hand side of the course
appeared to work downwind too and Bressani in particular used it to great
effect, leapfrogging into the lead by the gate. Fracassoli got there in second
with Norwegian Corinthian Oyvind Peder Jahre on Storm Capital Sail Racing Team
proving his ability to mix it with the professionals by moving up into third
place. Bressani extended steadily on the second beat, keeping a loose cover on
the fleet, benefiting from being first into the patches of extra breeze and
increasing his leverage with every shift. Despite a horribly light final run,
the top three indextained their positions to the finish, leaving the rest of the
fleet to eventually ghost home behind them.
More waiting around then ensued and with the wind almost
completely disappearing at times, the chances of a second race were looking
almost non-existent. Principal Race Officer Lars Nyqvist is made of stern stuff
however and after demonstrating resolute patience for at least another hour, he
was finally rewarded with just enough wind to get the fleet off for a second
race. Admittedly this was under a Black Flag following a Z-Flag General Recall
on the first attempt, which saw as many as ten boats taking home a twenty
percent penalty. The Black Flag did the trick however and the fleet got away
cleanly for the first time all day.
First race winner Bressani had to dig himself out of a
tricky situation in the final seconds before the gun when he found himself
boxed in on the left hand side of the line. Reacting quickly he ducked behind
several transoms before finding the smallest of gaps to dive into. With
impressive boathandling and crew work he managed to build speed by the gun and
was the first boat to tack on to port leading the pack upwind from the left.
Unfortunately for him, the right once again seemed to be the way to go and
despite his flying start Bressani rounded the top mark in fourth place, just
behind fellow Italian Nicolo Bianchi on Saetta. Just ahead was the Norwegian
Jahre, proving his first race result had been no fluke. Leading at the windward
mark was a further Italian, Alberto Bolzan on Hurricane Murphy & Nye, who
led the leading bunch into a string of gybe-sets back out to the right of the
course. Rounding in around ninth place however, Norwegian Eivind Melleby on
Full Medal Jacket, delayed his gybe for around a minute and used the resulting
clean air and slight right shift to make a huge gain on the first run. In fact
by the leeward gate he had eased into second place right behind Bolzan. The
leading pack split evenly to the right and left buoys, with the two leaders
subsequently benefiting on the right of the beat to round close together. Right
behind them, Bressani in third was still very much in the mix.
Bolzan once again went for the early gybe but almost
immediately sailed into a wind hole and had to gybe straight back. This gave
Melleby and Bressani the opportunity to sail on for a while before gybing in
clearer air and eventually both cross ahead of Bolzan at the mid-point of the
run. The wind by this stage had dropped away again and Melleby and Bressani had
to use all their light airs guile to pick their way downwind to the finish.
Melleby took the win and Bressani rounded out an impressive day in second to
take the overall lead at the end of day one. Corinthian Jahre followed Bolzan
home to take fourth in that race and secure an impressive second overall.
Second in the first race, Fracassoli could only mange seventh in this race, but
this was good enough to see him sit in third overall tonight.
Corinthian Division
Day one of the championship proved that the Corinthian
Division is coming of age as the all-amateur crews gave the professionals a
really good run for their money. Top Corinthian performer was Oyvind Peder Jahre's
Storm Capital
Sailing. This team currently holds
the European Corinthian Melges 24 Trophy and also won the 2009 Corinthian
Worlds. Throughout both races they
kept the pressure on the professionals regularly going head to head with
Lorenzo Bressani, Carlo Fracassoli and Alberto Bolzan. Complimenting his second
overall Jahre
now has a comfortable six-point lead in the Corinthian Division.
Also putting in a great showing for the Corinthians was Tiit
Vihul at the helm of Rock City from Estonia who lies second in the Corinthian
competition, six points behind Jahre, and ninth overall. Vihul came to the Melges
24 Class from
the X99s and after just two seasons is already snapping at the heels of the
established crews. His best
performance to date was winning the 2009 Nordic Championship and he clearly has
his eyes on both a top ten overall position and victory in the Corinthian
competition here in Tallinn.
2001 Yngling World Champion Christoph Skolaut sailing Franz
Rocks for Austria finishes the day as third Corinthian and twelfth
overall. A sixth place overall in
race one demonstrates that this is another hugely experienced Corinthian team
with designs on the overall standings. In the Corinthian standings they lie two
points behind Skolaut and just
one point ahead of fourth placed Jonas Berntsson from Sweden sailing Number of
the Beast. One further point
behind Berntsson is Peter Steinkogler aboard sailingteamaustria.com so we look
all set for a truly thrilling Corinthian competition over the next five days.
Provisional Overall Top Ten After Two Races
1. ITA787 - UKA UKA RAcing - Lorenzo Bressani - 3 pts
2. NOR751 - Storm Capital Sail Racing Team - 7 pts
3. ITA807 - Gullisara - Carlo Fracassoli - 9 pts
4. ITA727 - Hurricane - Murphy & Nye - Alberto Bolzan - 11 pts
5. NOR804 - Full Medal Jacket - Eivind Melleby - 15 pts
6. JPN797 - ThreeBond - Tetsuya Matsunaga - 18 pts
7. FRA639 - Euro-Voiles - Christophe Barrue - 21 pts
8. NOR400 - Baghdad - Kristian Nergaard - 23 pts
9. EST761 - Rock City - Tiit Vihul - 25 pts
10. ITA783 - Audi - Riccardo Simmoneschi - 28 pts
Provisional Corinthian Top Five After Two Races
1. NOR751 - Storm Capital Sail Racing Team - 2 pts
2. EST761 - Rock City - Tiit Vihul - 25 pts
3. AUT406 - Franz Rocks - Christoph Skolaut - 10 pts
4. SWE666 - Number of the Beast - Jonas Berntsson - 11 pts
5. AUT608 - Sailingteamaustria.com - Peter Steinkogler - 12 pts
IM24CA BLOG - includes post racing interviews and full on the water coverage
Championship racing runs from Saturday 7th to Thursday 12th August, with up to three
races per day and a maximum of twelve races total scheduled. Five races are required
to constitute a series. When six or more races have been completed a boat's series
score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score. The first
start of racing each day is schedule for 12.00 except for the final day when the
first start is schedule for 10.00 and there will be no warning signal after 14.00.
Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, and in 2011 it will also be the capital of culture
for all of Europe. This will be the biggest cultural event in the history of Estonia.
Welcome to the city of culture! www.tallinn2011.ee
You can follow the racing live at the IM24CA Blog
Further information is available from the 2010 Marinepool Melges 24 World Championship
Event Website and via the event's Facebook Group
For more information please contact:
Fiona Brown
International Melges 24 Class Association | 3 Palmers Road | Emsworth | Hampshire | PO10 7DL | United Kingdom
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