International Melges 32 Class Blog

Image by Sergei Zavarin – Ultimate Yachtshots

Gennakers In The Mist….

Despite classic San Francisco foggy conditions prevailing for the first day of the 2010 Rolex Big Boat Series, the action on the Melges 32 racecourse was no less spectacular than normal. The thick fog which descended just prior to the fleet leaving the dock made finding the marks a real struggle for the crews in both races. There was no lack of breeze however with winds peaking at around eighteen knots during the two race day.

Race One saw reigning European Champion Joe Woods from the UK give the fleet an indication of just what his team are capable of with a comprehensive victory. Over the length of the five leg race, the defending World Champion Pieter Taselaar (USA) on Bliksem had to reel in Japan’s Naofumi Kamei on Bros in order to take second place at the finish.

In race two the fog came down even more thickly, with the Melges 32 teams having to dodge ferries, Alcatraz Island and each other in order to survive. Bliksem consolidated on thier first race with a solid win ahead of Jeff Ecklund on Star (USA) in second and Italy’s Luca Lalli on B-Lin Sailing in third.

Two races in to the series, Bliksem lead from B-Lin, with American Donal Jesberg on Viva in third.

Offshore Rules was out on the water for the day and you can see the best of what we saw in our daily video compilation:

Check out this very cool video compiled by none other than the spectacular Giovanni Maspero and his Joe Fly outfit! The footage is quite nice (of course) and from beautiful Porto Cervo at the 2009 Melges 32 World Championship!

Start

Post start

1st windward mark

Calvi wins the pin. new Wave buried at start. Ninkassi OCS and returned.

Top mark Argo lead from Star then Calvi then Red.

Weather has deteriorated. heavy rain and 18 knots now.

Second windward mark has been moved to the right.

Star leads from Red then Argo then Calvi.

Start video here.

A little video from today’s impromtu practice session. Light airs and a strong current running.

Light airs practice session.

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New Wave
Argo
Samba Pa Ti
Star