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2012 Melges 24 North American Championship Lake Garda, Italy from 27 July to 4 August
www.melges24.com - Übersicht
1 August 2012
Day 3 - Gullisara Takes The Lead
Live Streaming From Tomorrow
Torbole, Italy - 1 August 2012 - After yesterday's storms, today Torbole welcomed
the Melges 24 World Championship fleet in style, first with a strong Peler wind
from the north and later in the day with the famous Ora from the south, allowing
the Race Committee to run two further races for the four qualification groups sailing
in two fleets.
The third day of the event was very much a game of two halves. To secure good racing
the crews were out of bed and on the dock by 6.30am to take advantage of the northerly
Peler. Its direction prevents the race committee from laying two separate reliable
courses and so the decision was made to race both fleets on one course for race
three of the series. The two fleets were started separately but the site of all
125 boats on a single course was truly spectacular.
Having completed race three of the series the crews were sent ashore for a long
lunch as the Peler dropped away and the legendary Ora began to build. For race
four the fleets set up on two separate courses and with the Ora well established
at the north of the lake the northerly course was able to get underway promptly
and enjoy another perfect Garda race. Unfortunately the Ora refused to stablise
properly on the southerly course and as a result they were still waiting to start
racing as the northerly group approached the finish line. With the Ora holding
up well the Race Committee move the southerly group across and took over the notherly
course ensuring that both fleets have now completed race four.
In the overall provisional ranking the lead has changed but reindexs in the hands
of an Italian, namely 2011 European Champion Gullisara, helmed by Carlo Fracassoli
with Enrico Fonda on tactics, who leads the fleet by a single point from Riccardo
Simoneschi's Audi Ultra supported by Eberhard&Co. Gullisara impressed with a second
and first place while Simoneschi, with Gabriele Benussi on tactics, claimed a second
and a seventh, giving him a two point lead over third placed Saetta, helmed by Alberto
Bolzan with Nathan Wilmot as tactician. Saetta is still counting 19 points from
the first race, but like Fracassoli he produced a first and a second today and now
has an 11 point cushion on fourth placed Andrea Racchelli in Altea who dropped out
of the overall lead.
Race three in the north group was won by Matteo Balestrero's Giogi, with former
Melges 24 world champion Nico Celon in the after guard. He went onto finish 14th
in race four but as he is still carrying a disqualification from race two he languishes
down in 34th overall. The fourth race winner of the day (as there are two groups
racing, each race in the series effectively has two winners) was American Bora Gulari
aboard West Marine Rigging New England Ropes who won the fourth race in the north
group. He'd also looked very good in race three but fell foul of the protest committee
back ashore and was disqualified so ends the day in 30th over.
In the Corinthian Division Lorenzo Gemini's SIV Arborea, retains leadership of the
fleet by four points from Marco Cavallini in Jeco Team with Oyvind Jahre's Storm
Capital Sail Racing third and and Tonu Toniste's Lenny in fourth. The Corinthian
Division is one of the great success stories of the Melges 24 Class and certainly
this World Championship features one of the strongest and largest amateur divisions
ever assembled by the class. As a demonstration that the professionals should not
underestimate the amateur sailors all four boats also count multiple top ten overall
finishes too.
There is still an awful lot of sailing to come in this championship. Starting at
12 tomorrow the final two races in the round robin series, to decide the Gold and
Silver Fleets, will be raced, after which the discard will come into play. After
that the fleet rolls into a final six race showdown for the overall titles with
the winners being crowned on Saturday August 4th. From what we've seen of the incredibly
close racing so far, just about the only thing we can guarantee is that there are
plenty more surprises still to come.
Actually there is one other very exciting thing that we can guarantee you, and that
is that, as the championship moves into its crucial final three days you will be
able to follow the action live from the race course with online streaming sponsored
by B-Plan Sports and Events.
So tune in from around noon tomorrow and watch the racing unfold with your guest
commentators Harry Melges III and Federico Michetti. Harry Melges is not only the
man whose family created and gave its name to the incredible Melges 24 class, but
he is also a past World and European Champion in the Class. Federico Michetti is
a four time Melges 24 World Championship winning crew who knows more about what
makes a Melges 24 tick than any other sailor on the planet. So join Harry and Fed
from just before noon tomorrow to watch the racing unfold live.
Events like the 2012 Melges 24 World Championship are not possible without the most
generous support of the event sponsors led by the Municipality of Comune di Nago
Torbole and including the Regional Authority of Trentino; TrentoDoc, partner of
Circolo Vela Torbole whose excellent selection of sparkling wines will be enjoyed
by all; Trentingrana, whose cheese is made using milk exclusively from the Trentino
area; InGarda, the touristic company supporting visitors to Lark Garda; and technical
sailing clothing supplier Marinepool.
Organised by Circolo Vela Torbole in collaboration with the International Melges
24 Class Association, the 2012 Melges 24 World Championship will count a maximum
of twelve races, with up to three daily races. Five races are required to made the
event valid.
How to follow the Melges 24 World Championship 2012
Live Streaming - http://www.bpse.it
Event Website - www.melges24worldchampionship.com
International Melges 24 Class Website - www.melges24.com
Images - official photographer Pierrick Contin - www.pierrickcontin.fr
Fiona Brown
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