International Melges 32 Class Blog

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. - On December 3-5, the International Melges 32 Class Association (IM32CA) will proudly usher in yet another classic Gold Cup Regatta, hosted by the Lauderdale Yacht Club (LYC). The red carpet has been rolled out for this first-class event welcoming every owner and competitor, promising the best in Melges 32 competition, racing conditions and camaraderie.

Twenty-one teams have traveled from all across North America, Great Britain and Italy to compete. Among those poised for victory are defending Gold Cup champion Rod Jabin (Annapolis, Md.) onRamrod with 2009 Melges 24 World Champion Chris Larson serving as tactician. One of Jabin’s top adversaries, 2010 Winter Series and European Champion Joe Woods (Torquay, UK) with tactician, Olympic Gold Medallist Paul Goodison on Red is also in attendance. “The pressure is on.” said a very relaxed and smiling Jabin prior to Wednesday afternoon practice. “Our team is a little different this year, but we’re looking forward to some great racing, so it should be fun.” Jabin debuted in the Melges 32 class at the ’09 event beating Woods by a single point.

Other teams expected to excel and do well include Kip Meadows (Rocky Mount, N.C.) and tactician, multiple match racing champion Andy Horton on roXanne; the young and energetic 2010 U.S. National Champion Ryan DeVos (Macatawa Bay, Mich.) on Volpe pairs up with the extraordinary Ed Baird on tactics; East Coast Champion Alex Jackson (Riverside, Conn.) on Leenabarca will be assisted by Volvo Ocean Racer Rob Greenhalgh’s tactical expertise, and Lanfranco Cirillo (Torri del Benaco, Verona, Italy) onFantastica employs the incredible talents of the legendary Michelle Paoletti.

The IM32CA would like to welcome fleet newcomers Alexis Michas (New York, N.Y.) with tactician Mark Mendelblatt on VIVA; A Scow-boy Joel Ronning (Excelsior, Minn.) onCatapult with tactician Bill Hardesty and Oscar Strugstad (Bournemouth, Dorsett, UK) will be joined by tactician Andy Beadsworth on Dawn Raid.

“The class is thrilled to be back in Ft. Lauderdale for Gold Cup.” commented International Chairman and Class President Jeff Ecklund (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), who will take the helm of STAR. “This is the best fleet of grand prix performance yachts to be a part of right now. Our World Championship in San Francisco produced a record-breaking 32 Melges 32s further proving the health of the class. It’s really awesome to see a fleet as robust as this, and it seems that with almost every event we see new faces.”

“We are also quite excited about our Take A Junior Sailing Day program at Gold Cup.” continued Ecklund. “Twenty-one lucky youth sailors will get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on Saturday, December 4 to sail with and against the very best in the sailing world.” Ecklund has been a strong supporter and advocate of the Lauderdale Yacht Club Junior Sailing Program, as well as a driving force behind its integration with the Melges 32 Gold Cup Regatta. A complete list of junior sailors and the boats they will sail on will be published shortly.

Full Entry List
1.) Phil Lotz | Dalton Bergan, Arethusa
2.) Jason Carroll | Dave Ullman, Argo
3.) Michael Dominguez | Anthony Kotoun, Bronco
4.) Joel Ronning | Bill Hardesty, Catapult
5.) Malcolm Gefter | Jon Mollicone, Celeritas
6.) Oscar Strugstad | Andy Beadsworth, Dawn Raid
7.) Dalton DeVos | Chris Rast, Delta
8.) Lanfranco Cirillo | Michele Paoletti, Fantastica
9.) Bob Hesse | Brad Boston, Lake Effect
10.) Alex Jackson | Rob Greenhalgh, Leenabarca
11.) Steve Rhyne | Charlie Smythe, Mojo
12.) John Taylor | Andrew Campbell, Ninkasi
13.) Rod Jabin | Chris Larson, Ramrod
14.) Joe Woods | Paul Goodison, Red
15.) Kip Meadows | Andy Horton, roXanne
16.) Geoff Pierini | Max Skelley, Shakedown
17.) Jeff Ecklund | Harry Melges, III, STAR
18.) Stuart Simpson | Nigel Young, Team Barbarians
19.) Alexis Michas | Mark Mendelblatt, VIVA
20.) Ryan DeVos | Ed Baird, Volpe
21.) Steve Howe | Morgan Larson, Warpath

View Full Crew List
2010 Melges 32 Gold Cup Official Event Website

MEGA MEDIA
Friends, family and fans of the Melges 32 will be able to tune-in and enjoy the racing action and developments from a distance, special thanks to Sail 22’s all new Sailing Updates and Sail Groove. They have teamed up to bring as-it-happens coverage from the water as well as after racing sailor interviews. Don’t miss it!

Daily race reports, press release and photos will be available at the official website of the International Melges 32 Class Association. If you are unable to attend the 2010 Melges 32 Gold Cup, stay in touch by subscribing to the IM32CA RSS Feed or visiting the Official Melges 32 Blog. The Melges 32 can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

MORE MELGES 32 RACING IN 2011
The 2010 Gold Cup Regatta is the first of three, major 2011 Winter Series events for the Melges 32 in North America. On January 17-21, the fleet will assemble in Key West, Fla. for Premiere Racing’s Key West Race Week and Miami Grand Prix on March 10-13.

In Europe, things will heat up in the spring with yet another spectacular line-up of Audi Sailing Series events beginning in March, leading up to Copa Del Rey on August 1-6, culminating at the 2011 Melges 32 World Championship in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Dear Melges 32 Owners,

The Lauderdale Yacht Club and the International Melges 32 Class Association are excited to have you all back for the 2010 Gold Cup Regatta!

Here are some quick items and reminders:

CREW DECLARATIONS

Please check the updated Crew List and make sure your team is ready to go. There are some outstanding crew members with invalid classifications. These MUST be taken care of in advance of racing!

SAIL DECLARATIONS

Sail Declarations are due at the close of registration (1800) on Thursday, December 2

WEIGH-IN

This will take place at the Lauderdale Yacht Club Sailing Center.

Times and days are as follows:
Wednesday, December 1 – 0800 – 1000
Thursday, December 2 – 0800 – 1000, 1600-1800

PRACTICE

Phil Lotz’s Arethusa will be dropping buoys on Wednesday, December 1 @ 2:00 p.m. and the fleet is cordially invited to participate.

PARTY

On Friday night, December 3 at Bimini Boat Yard on 17th Street there will be an informal, unofficial fleet social for drinks, cocktails and libations. Look for a flyer in your Skipper’s Pack.

Z ACCOUNTS

Please proceed to the Lauderdale Yacht Club front desk to organize a reciprocal account with your home yacht club or to acquire a guest card.

The high-level sportboat racing product, service and sales distributor Melges Europe is offering two exclusive speed clinic weekend opportunities to Audi Melges 20 and Melges 32 owners. This is your chance to try on some hot performance as the 2011 season will be here before you know it. In the exquisite location of Malcesine, Italy on October 16-17, then again on November 6-7, Melges Europe invites everyone to save the dates. Be there to absorb the talents and experience of Italian Sailing Team 470 Coach Guglielmo Vatteroni and Melges Europe President, Federico Michetti. Both experiences will be invaluable to teams ramping up their programs for 2011 Audi Sailing Series competition!

Schedule of the Events

Saturday

Sunday

For further information, contact Melges Europe General Manager Luisa Bambozzi on e-mail or phone +39 02 94435078.

As published by Scuttlebutt:

On the first day of the Melges 32 Worlds last week, the San Francisco Bay thermal was in town, and the race committee gave the fleet of overpowered, high charging sprit boats three gut hiking races in 20+ knot winds. That night, there were pleas for clemency, as another three race day could separate the men from the boys sooner than the boys wanted to be separated. Nice try, guys.

With light winds forecasted for later in the regatta, and the sheep in the paddock on day two, dinner plans would have to wait. But while the racers were getting thrashed on the course, on-water and online spectators were reveling. And for this contest, the proverbial 50 yard line seats were at the weather mark.

While getting to the weather mark was hard enough, getting around it proved to be some kind of rodeo. “Son, get on your spurs and chaps – it’s round-up time.” Turning at the off-set mark and getting the 1300 sq ft kite to the masthead didn’t always work out as planned. Among the incidents of failure, videographer Vince Casalaina caught one of the uglier moments, and it resulted in an interesting decision by the protest committee.

It was day two of the Worlds, at the first weather mark of race three on that day. Joe Woods’ Red team rounded the offset mark, and in the process of raising their kite, was fully out of control within 10 seconds. As they rounded up, another 10 seconds passed before Michael Dominguez’s Bronco team literally speared Red with their pole, taking aim at their aft weather quarter.

Luckily, Bronco’s pole retracted on contact. Otherwise both Bronco’s pole and Red’s hull would have been a lot worse off. And what about the protest? Red was found at fault based on Rule 16.1 which says, “When a right-of-way boat changes course, she shall give the other boat room to keep clear.”

Said Anthony Kotoun, Bronco’s tactician, “At that wind speed, you’re hauling the mail which affects your reaction time. So when somebody flips over in front of you, it depends on how far away they are as to whether you can get around them. A similar situation happened to me in Key West on another boat, where the boat ahead flipped over and we ran them over and shredded our kite on their spreader. There is a certain amount of trust you have that the guy in front of you will have a good set. And sometimes, it doesn’t happen.”

Here’s the must-see video:

Race 7

Race 8

Race 9

Race 10

San Francisco, California – Congratulations to 26-year old Luca Lalli on B-Lin Sailing as he has clinched the 2010 Melges 32 World Championship title, two points ahead of his strongest adversary John Porter on Full Throttle. Aboard Lalli’s Melges 32 was tactician Lorenzo Bressani, Flavio Favini, Federico Michetti, Carlo Zermini, Luca Faravelli, Lorenzo Del Rio and Stefano Nicolussi. Jeff Ecklund on STAR had a phenomenal week pulling up to secure third overall.

With two additional races on PRO John Craig’s agenda, ultra light conditions greeted the fleet as they made their way out to Berkeley Circle for the final showdown between top seated Lalli, Porter and Andy Lovell on Rougarou. With a mere 6 knots of breeze, the fleet went racing with Don Jesberg on Viva rounding the top mark in first, followed by Yukihiro Ishida’s Yasha Samurai, then Alex Jackson’s Leenabarca in third. The three raced downwind with Jesberg holding on for first with Lovell coming in from the right to slide in for second. Back upwind Lovell stretched his lead with Ishida overtaking Jesberg. Lovell took the win, Ishida was second. Porter, although rounding the first mark about mid-fleet, recovered well to challenge Jesberg for the third position at the finish. Jesberg had a little more momentum, just barely making the line to take third. Porter settled for fourth. Ecklund was fifth.

At this stage of the day, Porter had the title in hand with a one-point advantage over Lalli. As the race committee scrambled to fire off the second race of the day, prior to the 2:30 p.m. cut-off, teams were just as anxious to get in one more heat. The breeze was still light and fickle, lots of sunshine and flat seas prevailed as they went into almost immediate sequence once the line was set, Z-flag in effect. As the fleet approached the line, the first start resulted in a general recall with a Z-flag penalty applied to Porter and Kip Meadows on roXanne. Jackson, on the other hand shot off the line making a lane for the top spot around the mark, followed by Steve Howe on Warpath and Pieter Taselaar’s Bliksem rounding third, Lalli in fourth. Firmly in the lead, Jackson took the win with Howe maintaining a second. Lalli finished third, sealing the deal for the championship win and title a substantial 11 points ahead of second overall Porter.

On behalf of the International Melges 32 Class Association, a very special thanks to every team that traveled to make this the largest Melges 32 Worlds ever. A great round of appreciation is extended to PRO John Craig and his entire race office staff, especially Melanie Roberts, Regatta Chair Nadine Franzyck and the St. Francis Yacht Club for the warm reception and hospitality. Extra special thanks to Sailgroove’s Chris Love, St. Francis Yacht Club Junior Director Mike Kalin and guest commentator Offshore Rules’ Justin Chisholm, presented by Velocitek.

T2Ptv has been on site all week long filming the 2010 Melges 32 Worlds. Please check out their website this upcoming week as a highlight reel will be posted.

The 2011 Melges 32 World Championship takes place on September 20-25 in Palma de Mallorca, hosted by Real Club Nautico de Palma.

Top Ten Results (After 10 races, 1 discard)

1.) Luca Lalli/Lorenzo Bressani, B-lin Sailing; [15]-6-1-8-8-2-7-4-9-3 = 48
2.) John Porter/Jonathan McKee, Full Throttle; 3-[23]-10-4-4-11-4-2-4-17/ZFP = 59
3.) Jeff Ecklund/Harry Melges III, STAR; 6-[19]-9-13-1-8-1-10-5-10 = 63
4.) Andy Lovell/Johnny Lovell, Rougarou; 2-4-3-25-13-6-8-6-1-[31] = 68
5.) Steve Howe/Morgan Larson, Warpath; [33/DSQ]-9-17-5-12-1-11-7-13-2 = 77
6.) Alex Jackson/Rob Greenhalgh, Leenabarca; 10-5-4-21-6-5-[24]-21-8-1 = 81
7.) Doug Douglas/Russell Coutts, Goombay Smash; 13-1-14-1-[25]-9-9-16-20-4 = 87
8.) Joe Woods/Paul Goodison, Red; 7-20-5-9-10-[33/DNF]-6-8-11-5-6-17 = 88
9.) Pieter Taselaar/Jeremy Wilmot, Bliksem; [23]-12-2-14-2-13-16-22-11-5 = 97
10.) Yukihiro Ishida/Tony Rey, Yasha Samurai; 4-21-11-16-11-[24]-17-5-2-12 = 99

Full Results
Full Entry List
Full Crew List

Photo Galleries
Sharon Green
International Melges 32 Class Association

Visit the official website of the International Melges 32 Class Association. If you are unable to attend the 2010 Melges 32 World Championship, stay in touch by subscribing to the IM32CA RSS Feed or visiting the Official Melges 32 Blog. The Melges 32 can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Here is our race three video from Day One at the 2010 Melges 32 World Championship here in San Francisco. The Day 2 videos are edited and uploading so will be with you very soon. Make sure you check back shortly for another day of great action….

The opening three races at the 2010 Melges 32 World Championship in San Francisco produced some spectacular action with breezes building steadily throughout the day from around twelve knots to well over twenty by the third race.

Always a difficult regatta to predict, day one saw three different race winners.  Class newcomers Tirade (Stefan Goldwater NZL) took the first in spectacular style, leading from the off, they blitzed away from the fleet on the first downwind leg and were never seriously challenged again. The second race was won by another team new to the class – William Douglass (USA) on Goombay Smash, who looked totally in control for the entire race. The third race saw the Italian Luca Lalli on B-Lin Sailing return to form with a win after an otherwise lacklustre performance in the previous two races.

It is Andy Lovell (USA) on Rougarou who leads at the end of day one, after an impressively consistent performance which saw them clock up a 2,4,3, scoreline. Second is the Kiwi crew on Tirade and third is Alex Jackson (USA) on Leenabarca.

Here is the best of the action as we saw it: