NEWS

Pollard takes third successive UK Nationals

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 10:40:23 +0100

Photo by Katina Read : : Report by John Pollard: :
The 2008 UK National Championships were held in Guernsey over a very windy long weekend. After a postponement two races were sailed with A Team Westaway winning both races. Further racing was cancelled as it was getting dark.

Next day racing was brought forward to start at nine and three further high wind races were sailed before racing was abandoned for the day with gusts of 33 knots recorded.
The race officer did a fantastic job in getting five quality races in to give a discard.

That evening a great Melges event was held at the Guernsey Yacht Club. The John Merriciks trophy was presented to A Team Xcellent and John Pollard in turn presented this to class legend Rob Smith who gave a moving recollection of John Merricks after which the bucket was handed around raising £250 for the trust.

Next day there was no let up in the wind and further racing was cancelled. The prize giving was held in the morning with Pollards team consisting of himself, Rob Smith, Mickey Shwartz and Fred Kemp winning the championship for the 3rd time, with five first places.

Pollard was also elected as Class Chairman and looks forward to increasing enthusiasm and numbers in the UK and channel islands of this fantastic sports boat. His message to the class was ‘Spread the word and help all who join or show interest’.

Overall results:

xcellent 111111
mad cap 32222
white rabbit 23363
first Corinthian mad cap
john meriks xcellent

2008 Melges UK Nationals - Draft NOR published

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:34:17 +0100

NOTICE OF RACE

The International Melges 24 National Championship will be organised by Guernsey Yacht Club LBG, in co-operation with The UK Melges 24 Class Association.

1. RULES.
1.1 The regatta will be governed by The Rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing.

1.2 No national authority prescriptions will apply.

1.3 The Equipment Rules of Sailing will apply.

2. ADVERTISING
The event is classified Category 'C'.

3. ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY
3.1 The Championship is open to all boats of the Melges 24 class that meet with the obligations of the Class Rules and their National Authority, in the case that a National Authority exists.

3.2 Eligible boats may enter by completing the entry form and sending it, together with the required fee, to Guernsey Yacht Club LBG by 31st August 2008.

3.3 Late entries will be accepted subject to a 20% late entry penalty.

4. CLASSIFICATION
4.1 The ISAF Sailor Classification Code will apply to the Corinthian Trophy. Please refer to the ISAF’s website. www.sailing.org

4.2 Competitors shall indicate classification and the unique ISAF User ID number for each sailor on the entry form if entering for the Corinthian Trophy.

4.3 The closing date for registration of Corinthian Entries shall be 31st August 2008.

4.4 Sailors must be registered with ISAF prior to this date and be able to declare their user ID number on the entry form.

4.5 Late entries cannot be considered for the Corinthian Trophy.

5. FEES
The Entry Fee will be
£250 if received by 31st August 2008 and
£300 for entries received after 31st August 2008.
This Entry Fee includes launching at commencement and recovery at conclusion of the Regatta at designated times, berthing for the event, trailer storage and tickets to the principal events for all competing crew.
Entry fees should be made by cash or cheque payable to Guernsey Yacht Club LBG. Entries will not be valid until payment is received.
Credit Card payment will be not accepted.

6. SCHEDULE
6.1 Registration and crew weighing will be at Guernsey Yacht Club on-
Thursday 2nd October 1200 – 2100hours.

6.2 Racing Schedule
Friday 3rd October up to 4 races
Saturday 4th October up to 4 races
Sunday 5th October up to 3 races, no start after 1430hours

6.3 The scheduled time of the warning signal for the first race each day is 1030 hours.

7. MEASUREMENTS
7.1 Each boat shall produce a valid measurement certificate.

7.2 The Organisers may weigh, measure or inspect any boat and or her equipment and sails before, during or after the races. Chartered or loaned boats may display National letters and sail numbers in contravention of Class Rules.
THERE WILL BE NO FACILITIES FOR INITIAL MEASUREMENT.

8. SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
The Sailing Instructions will be available on entry.

9. VENUE
9.1 Attachment 'A' shows the location of launch and recovery area, St Peter Port Harbour together with the location of the Guernsey Yacht Club.

9.2 Attachment 'B' shows the location of the racing area in the Little Russell.

10. THE COURSES
The course to be sailed will be windward-leeward configuration with fleet racing. Spreader marks and leeward gates shall be used.

11. PENALTY SYSTEM
11.1 Rules 44.1 and 44.2 are changed so that only one turn, including one tack and one gybe, is required.

11.2 Appendix 'P' (Immediate penalties for breaking Rule 42) shall apply.

12. SCORING
12.1 The Low Point System of Appendix 'A' will apply.

12.2 4 races are required to be completed to constitute a series.

12.3 (a) When fewer than 5 races have been completed, a boat's series score will be the total of her race scores.
(b) When from 5 to 11 races have been completed, a boat's series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.

13. SUPPORT BOATS
13.1 Support boats shall be identified as decided by the Organisers.

13.2 The Coach and Support boat appendix shall be in operation (attached)

14. LAUNCHING AND BERTHING
14.1 Cranage will be available at the following times at the Castle Emplacement, St Peter Port harbour:
Thursday 2nd October [HW 0900] 1100 to 1200 and 1700 to 1800
Cranage outside these hours will be subject to additional charge and tidal limits.

14.2 All boats are to be afloat by 0900 hours on 3rd October.

14.3 Boats shall be kept on the assigned location in the harbour. Fenders and mooring lines will be required.

15. HAUL-OUT RESTRICTIONS
Boats shall not be hauled out, or kept on a "hydro hoist" or other flotation devices during the regatta.

16. DIVING EQUIPMENT AND PLASTIC POOLS
Underwater breathing apparatus and plastic pools or their equivalent shall not be used around boats between the preparatory signal of the first race and the end of the regatta.

17. RADIO COMMUNICATION
17.1 A boat shall neither make radio transmissions while racing nor receive radio communications not available to all boats. This restriction also applies to mobile telephones.

18. PRIZES
The prizes will be given as follows:
A series prize for the first three boats overall, and the first three Corinthian boats.

19. DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
19.1 Competitors participate in the regatta entirely at their own risk. See Rule 4 Decision to Race.

19.2 The owner/competitor is entirely responsible for the safety of their own boat, whether afloat or ashore, and nothing, whether in the Notice of Race or Sailing Instructions or anywhere else, reduces this responsibility.

19.3 It is for the owner/competitor to decide whether the boat is fit to sail in the conditions in which they will find themselves. By launching or going to sea, the owner/competitor confirms that boat is fit for those conditions and the crew is competent to sail and compete in them.

19.4 Nothing done by the organisers can reduce the responsibility of the owner/competitor nor will it make the organisers responsible for any loss, damage, death or personal injury, however, it may have occurred, as a result of the owner/competitor taking part in the racing. The organisers encompass everyone helping to run the race and the event, and include the organising authority, the race committee, the race officer, patrol boats and beach-masters.

19.5 The provision of patrol boats does not relieve the owner/competitor of any responsibilities.

20 INSURANCE
The boat is required to hold adequate third-party insurance, and it is the owner or owner’s representative’s sole and inescapable responsibility to ensure that the insurance is in place and is adequate.

21 CLUB MEMBERSHIP
Temporary membership of Guernsey Yacht Club is extended to competitors and their families during the championships.

22 FURTHER INFORMATION  Club www.gyc.org.uk
Accomodation: www.visitguernsey.com

Ferry: www.condorferries.com

Airlines: www.aurigny.com
www.blueislands.com
www.flybe.com

NOTICE OF RACE & SAILING INSTRUCTIONS APPENDIX -
COACH, SUPPORT, PRESS & SPECTATOR BOATS

COACH AND SUPPORT BOATS

1. Coach and supporter boats shall register with the race office during registration. They shall declare which boat or boats they are attached to.

2. Coach and Supporter boats shall keep clear of the racing area at all times during racing.

3. Any Coach or Supporter boat that interferes with another competitor or the racing in any way, including creating excess wash, or hinders an official boat carrying out it’s duties shall have their race boat or boats liable to a penalty at the discretion of the Principal Race officer.

4. The penalty given by the Principal Race officer is at his discretion, but shall be applied to the overall score and therefore not discarded.

5. No Coach boat or Support boat shall pass information in any way to a boat that is racing. RRS 41. Infringements of this will be taken very seriously

6. Coach and Support Boats shall communicate only with the boats they are registered to, and only by means of voice between races. Closed VHF or mobile telephone communication is prohibited.

7. Coach and Supporter boats shall display a flag, or other identification symbol, as may be required by the Race Committee.

8. All Melges 24 boats shall proceed to the Racing area under their own power.

9. There shall be no transfer of any goods or equipment until after the finish of the last race of the day between Melges 24’s and their coach or support boats.

10. Coach and support boats shall not go alongside their Melges 24’s until after the finish of the last race of the day.

11. Any competitor may protest under this appendix.

PRESS AND SPECTATOR BOATS

1. All Press and Official Spectator boats shall be registered with the Race Organisers during Registration.

2. Press and Spectator boats shall not interfere with the racing in anyway and shall stay at a distance outside the racecourse where their wake causes no problem.

3. The organisers may appoint one or more photo boats, which will be allowed within the race course. The position of these boats shall not be grounds for redress.

4. Press and Spectator boats shall display any flag, or other identification symbol as may be required by the race committee.

2008 Melges UK Nationals to be held in Guernsey

Wed, 9 Jul 2008 14:12:55 +0100

The UK Melges 24 Class will hold their 2008 National Championships in Guernsey from the 3rd- 5th of October.

A core fleet of around ten Channel Islands boats is expected to be boosted by entries from the UK mainland as well as the Continent.

Last year in Weymouth John Pollard and his team aboard ‘Xcellent’ retained their 2006 title in an exciting ten race series which went down to the wire.

For more information on the 2008 UK National Championships please contact Simon Henning via simon_henning@cwgsy.net.

UK Melges 24 teams at 2008 Italian Nationals

Wed, 7 May 2008 14:08:10 +0100

Four British teams made the journey to the island of Sardinia for the Italian Nationals at Cagliari - the final warm up before the 2008 World Championship in Porto Cervo. They joined fifty eight other boats from Italy and across Europe in what turned out to be one of the best Melges 24 regattas of the season so far. Eleven of a possible twelve races were sailed in bright sunshine and a variety of breezes from eight up to twenty knots. Italy’s Joe Fly helmed by 470 Olympic representative Gabrio Zandona took the title ahead of Lorenzo Bressani on Uka Uka and Matteo Ivaldi on Brontolo AB Medica.

UK Melges 24 sailors Stuart Simpson, Rob Smith and Jamie Lea relax whilst waiting for the Cagliari sea breeze to come.

After a brief sojourn in the Melges 32 fleet for Key West race Week in January Stuart Simpson’s UK entry Team Barbarians were back in their Melges 24 and keen to get up to speed as quickly as possible before the Worlds. At the end of the eleven race series in Cagliari they managed to squeak into the top ten with some good results (a second and two thirds) marred only by a black flag in race four and a twenty second in race three. Team Barbarians helmsman Jamie Lea commented ‘It seems our extended layoff has done us good. Due to everyone’s commitments we haven’t raced as a full M24 team since Hyeres in 2007. We have arrived here with a fresh outlook on life and it all feels pretty good.’ Simpson’s team finished 6th in last year’s Worlds out in Santa Cruz and are tilting at a top ten result in Port Cervo where there are already over one hundred entries.

Jamie Lea - Helm of Stuart Simpson’s Team Barbarians

Torquay sailmaker John Pollard, sailing with the newly married Rob Smith as tactician aboard A-Team Westaway, failed to find the form they managed in Marseilles earlier in the year where they finished third overall. In Cagliari their best result was a tenth and they uncharacteristically twice suffered from gear failure including depositing three of their crew into the water in race eight when their lifeline snapped. Impressively however they managed to finish that race in 49th place and rig up a jury lifeline from their jib halliard tail which enabled them to stay out for the chilly third race of the day. Overall A-Team Westaway came in 19th - a result they will be looking to improve on at the Worlds in a few weeks. Given that they are planning to sail five up instead of four they will be having a low calorie experience between now and the Worlds.

A-Team Westaway helm John Pollard

Miles Quentin picked up a new sponsor for his Mojo team in the form of Gul’s Code Zero waterproofs. ‘Mojo Code Zero’ was helmed for the first time by last year’s British SB3 National and European champion Geoff Carveth. After a series of up and down results during the Cagliari series Miles and his team finished the regatta strongly with an 11th and a 9th in the final two races. Carveth told us that he had enjoyed his first experience of helming the Melges 24. ‘It takes some getting used to but by the end of the series I was starting to feel more comfortable with things. I am looking forward to doing some more in Porto Cervo. it is a legendary venue and should be a fantastic championships.’

Simon Dobson made a welcome return to the helm of Comfortably Numb - a boat he co-owns with trimmer Andrew Dellow. Sailing with M24 veterans Adrian Peach and Sam North they finished 15th in the Corinthian (no pro sailors) competition and fortieth overall. Dobson and Dellow are looking forward to competing in the expected strong breezes of Porto Cervo.

All eyes now turn to the World Championships which will be taking place on the north of Sardinia at Porto Cervo in a few weeks time. The already white hot competition in the fleet will be boosted by US entries amongst which will be last year’s runner up Brian Porter and his Full Throttle team which includes Harry Melges calling tactics. The hundred boat plus entry means that the fleet will be split for two days of qualification heats to produce Gold and Silver fleet for the championships. Prior to that teams will be able to get acclimatised to the Porto Cervo conditions in a two day pre-worlds regatta.

Check back for updates on how the British teams fare in what promises to be an all time classic regatta.

RULE CLARIFICATION – D.3.1.4.

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:10:42 +0100

Following some confusion during measurement checks at recent events the IMCA has been asked to clarify the meaning of Class Rule D.3.1.4. which reads – “The fairing of the keel box area, or the keel box “delrins” shall be prohibited, excepted that they may be adjusted to fit flush with the hull underside.”

On behalf of the Executive Committee IMCA Technical Advisor David Chivers has issued the following clarification about the intent and application of this rule.

This rule was written to allow adjustment to fit the Delrins correctly but to prevent the whole area around the keel box being filled. In some cases the Delrins have been set into the hull a little too far and it is acceptable for these to be adjusted so that they fit flush with the hull. The Delrin can be bedded in on something such as silicone and within this process it is acceptable for the silicone to be wiped around the hull/Delrin join and into the screw heads. The point is that the Delrin should be clearly visible and not covered in any fairing. This is was the intention of this rule, not to permit filling across the whole area.

Important info for Corinthian Worlds entrants

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 16:08:57 +0100

The IMCA is constantly striving to ensure that Melges 24 events are run to the highest standards and to that end we have improved the entry and registration procedure for Corinthian Competitors at the forthcoming 2008 Volvo Melges 24 World Championship in Porto Cervo. If you intend to race in the Corinthian World Championship please note the following important information:

1. The absolute final entry deadline for Corinthian entries is 1st May. No late entries will be accepted.

2. Entries for the Corinthian Division must be accompanied by full crew listings including the ISAF ID number, Classification and Expiry Date for every crew member. Any entries which do not include this information for all crew members cannot be accepted into the Corinthian Division.

3. Mr Antony Matusch, Chairman of the ISAF Sailor Classification Committee, is working with the organisers of the 2008 Volvo Melges 24 World Championship to oversee the administration of the Corinthian entries. As part of his work Mr Matusch will be in attendance at the event and will be interviewing skippers and crew members from all Corinthian entries during the registration period. Details of the interview schedule will be published as part of the registration documentation and all Corthinian teams are reminded to make sure they check this schedule and ensure they have completed their interviews as required.

4. A time limit for protests relating to Classification issues will be set and further details of this will be published in due course.

5. If you have entered the Corinthian Division this will be indicated by a "Yes" in the last column of the Entry List displayed on www.melges24worlds2008.com. Please ensure that you are correctly listed and if you have any queries urgently contact the organisers on E-mail secretariat@yccs.it.

UK Melges 24 Team Xcellent take 3rd in Marseilles

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:02:40 +0000

From Christophe Barrue of the French Melges 24 Class - Before the start of this year's SNIM regatta we knew the Mistral should blow. 33 boats came to have fun provided the mistral would cooperate by leaving a window to sail during the four days of racing planned over the Easter Weekend. The best crews came to fight in the historic bay of Marseille. They dreamed about big waves and long surf.

First day, the mistral succeeded in keeping all teams at the harbour: 35 knots all the day and no way to try to sail even for practising! Waves were everywhere hight about 3 meters. Boats who were parked in the CMV couldn't cross the bay to park join the fleet in the historic harbour.

The next day, the mistral abated a little and offered the possibility for the organisation to set to sea and let the crews play. Fortunately, Race Officer Corinne Aubert and her team decided to bring the start forward to 09h30 to be sure to do the most they can to achieve racing. Four races for the schedule were been sailed.

The wind was very strong and conditions were on the edge of sailable with the race area split between two winds: on the left side of the course the winds were good, but the strong mistral often appeared on the right! In these tricky conditions, the local team on Marsail 1 was the best, they dominated the race till the end. Team Audi Giacomel and Altea were fighting for the rest.

At the second race the wind system was different. The wind was coming most regular on the left side. Blue Moon and Marchingenio suceeded in dominating the firsts places. They finished first and second respectively while Excellent finished third. They confirmed their good speed in this windy conditions.

With two races completed there was now tension in the air for races three and four. The mistral became more shifty in direction and speed. Sometime coming from the right side then from the left. We saw two Italians in the first places: UKA UKA in race three and Pilot Italia in race four, but never far from the lead was Blue Moon which assured good result finishing second and five. Excellent was also close from these teams.

At the end of the first day the overall ranking was:-

1 Blu Moon (Franco Rossini)
2 UKA UKA (Bressani Lorenzo)
3 Excellent (Pollard John)

Ultimately this result become the overall standing as during the two lasts days the mistral dominated the area and no Melges nor other boats could sail. Even the boats tryin to return the CMV harbour so that they could crane out their boats on the last day struggled to sail from the old harbour and it just wasn't possible to race in those conditions.

We can congratulate the organisation for not wasting time on the second day and thank Corinne Aubert and her team for an excellent job done as the Melges 24 class was the only one to sail four races and compete in relatively good conditions during this windy holiday.

UK teams at Volvo Cup Regatta 1 - Scarlino Italy

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 13:12:54 +0000

UK Melges 24 teams were in action again on the European circuit last weekend at the first of the 2008 Volvo Cup Series regatta in Scarlino, Italy.

A bumper sixty five boat entry was populated with the great and the good of European one design racing all keen to get up to speed before the 20008 World Championships to be held in Porto Cervo at the end of May.

The UK squad comprised three teams – Stuart Simpson’s Team Barbarians, Miles Quinton’s Mojo and Comfortably Numb jointly owned by Simon Dobson and Andrew Dellow.
Mojo crewmembers Rob Larke (helm) and Jim ‘Mr Melges’ Schwertz

Racing kicked off on Friday after a one hour delay and two races were sailed in an extremely light and variable breeze. Jamie Lea at the helm of Team Barbarians made the best of the conditions to record a third place in race one. Rob Larke and the Mojo team got buried on the first beat and were only able to claw back up to 31st. Meanwhile the Comfortably Numb crew had a particularly difficult time on the startline. Having infringed another boat they opted to take a penalty turn only to then hear their number called as being over the line too. Accordingly they headed off towards the pin boat to restart only to find that it was pulling up its anchor. Before they could get there it had set off downwind. With no alternative the Comfortably Numb team had to head for the committee boat instead – a long way in light airs. When they finally restarted it was some five minutes after the gun! A redress request eventually saw them awarded a five point improvement on their final place, moving them up to 50th.

In race two Mojo and Team Barbarians could only manage a 24th and 25th respectively. Things had improved dramatically aboard Comfortably Numb however. They started at the committee boat and were able to take full advantage of a large right hand shift to round the first mark in the top ten. They built on this good position over the race and finished in sixth place. At the end of day one Team Barbarians just made the top ten in ninth place.

Saturday proved to be totally windless and after a mind numbing five hours drifting about the fleet was sent home without a race being sailed.

Members of the UK squad waiting for wind on day 2. Left to right: Sam North, Andrew Dellow, Geoff Carveth and Adrian Peach.

Three races were sailed on the final day and the UK squad highlights were a seventh for Mojo in the penultimate race and another sixth for Rob Smith at the helm of Comfortably Numb in the final one. When the final scores were added up Team Barbarians came in 12th, Comfortably Numb 16th and Mojo 29th.

Crazeology Melges 24 program for 2008

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:57:19 +0000

Weymouth Melges 24 owners Helen & James Middleton-Stewart are taking their boat Crazeology on the regatta circuit in 2008 and have let us have their program as it stands so far. If you are interested in joining the Crazeology team with your Melges 24 then Helen can be reached via the Contact Page.

April 19/20 and 26/27 - Warsash Sportsboat Spring Championships,
These championships are run over two consecutive weekends in the Solent. There is mixed racing for any sportsboat class. A good opportunity to be seen by other classes and let them know what they are missing.

May 10/11/12 - French Championships in Dinard.
Last year this was a very enjoyable event, a small fleet but very friendly. We are intending to go again as is Tim Cunliffe and others are thinking about it too.

May 24/25/26 - Poole Regatta.
An enjoyable event and another opportunity to show off to other classes.

May 28 - June 7- Melges 24 Worlds in Sardinia.
A must do event for any Melges 24 owner.

July 12-19 Cork Week.
The world’s best regatta? Possibly. Crazeology will be racing as part of the mixed sports boat fleet.

Vintage Melges 24 North Sails spinnaker for sale

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:44:08 +0000

Former UK Melges 24 sailor Mike Cox has discovered a North Sails Melges 24 spinnaker in his garage. The sail is yellow and was last used at the Torquay Worlds in 1997.

Mike is open to offers from prospective purchasers who should contact him at m.cox@sss-support.co.uk

Special Ferry deal for 2008 Worlds in Porto Cervo

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:47:54 +0000

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda has announced that they have secured a very special ferry deal with Moby Lines for all 2008 Volvo Melges 24 Worlds competitors shipping from mainland Europe to Olbia.

The deal gives Worlds competitors a 30% discount off the standard ferry rates.

Full details of the deal and how to claim the discount are now posted on the event web site at www.melges24worlds2008.com

Andrew Dellow on Comfortably Numb flies the flag for UK at Primo Cup

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:57:15 +0000

Andrew Dellow’s Comfortably Numb was the only UK Melges 24 entrant at the 2008 edition of the legendary Primo Cup regatta in Monaco. With Melges 24 ace Rob Smith driving the boat in the absence of co-owner Simon Dobson the rest of the crew was made up of Torquay sailor Adrian Peach and Sam North.

Their regatta started off well with a fifth in the first race being followed by a win in the second. They faltered a little in the third race scoring only an eighth place but hit back with a 4th and were pleased to be placed 4th overall after four races.

However a couple of collisions in races two and three saw them huddled outside the protest room awaiting the verdict on the incident in the race which they won. Andrew explains ‘The first protest was for not keeping clear of a leeward boat on the start line and the other was an incident at the spreader mark’. Unfortunately the decision went against them on the first protest and their race win was converted to a DSQ. The guys didn’t bother attending the second protest which involved the same boat from the previous protest. Amusingly this one went their way despite their lack of representation and the other boat was disqualified. A bemused Rob Smith commented afterwards ‘Perhaps I should have tried not turning up for the first one too!’

The following day saw drifting conditions and with no cut off time posted for racing the Comfortably Numb team headed for the crane at 13.30 to give themselves time to catch flights back to the UK. Two races were eventually sailed with boats still coming ashore after six in the evening.

The next European Melges 24 regatta will be the first of the Italian Volvo Cup Series at Scarlino at the end of February. Expect to see UK entries from Comfortably Numb, Mojo Team Xcellent and Team Barbarians. Check back to this site to see how they get on.

UK Melges 24 teams perform well in Key West

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:22:34 +0000

Escaping the recent gales and downpours in Great Britain members of the UK Melges 24 Class have been active on the international circuit in January with several teams kicking off their campaigns leading up to the June 2008 Worlds in Sardinia.

There were five UK teams on the Key West Race Week entry list. John Pollard sailing with his wife Kate on board opened the regatta in fine style by being placed 2nd overall after the first three races. John confessed that their first day score could have been even better had they finished correctly in the race they had led from the start. ‘By the time we realised our mistake were down to 7th’ he admitted ruefully. More good results through the rest of the week kept them in contention for an overall podium place. A couple of seconds on the final day raised their hopes even further but unfortunately an uncharacteristic OCS in the other race of the day meant they finished 5th overall.

Miles Quinton has recruited 2007 Laser SB3 European champion Geoff Carveth to act as tactician aboard Mojo. He was looking forward to Key West having missed out on any big air sailing during his other Melges 24 outing in Hyeres last year. After a final day of racing in classic Key West conditions even an SB3 stalwart like Geoff had to confess that nothing can beat the M24s’ downwind performance. Miles and Geoff along with Rob Larke on the helm and ‘Mr Melges’ himself Jim Schwerdt had a good week in Key West clocking up five top ten results to give them a well earned 8th place overall. With the team clearly more stable than in 2007 we can expect great things from Mojo in 2008.

British M24 owner Simon Strauss lives and works in America these days but proudly sails under a GBR number. Simon drove the boat himself and with his American crew put together an impressive scoreline which included a 6,6,5,4 string and earned him 10th place overall.

Key West 08 saw the welcome return to Melges 24 racing of UK sailors Dave Clarke and Tony Wetherell who had last raced together some five years previously. According to Dave it was Tony who instigated their return from retirement. ‘I thought we had given all this up forever. I had bought a motor boat and everything! Then Tony calls up and suddenly we are chartering a boat in Key West.’ Despite his protestations Dave was clearly delighted to be back in the Melges class. Sailing with ex 49er legend Simon Hiscocks as part of the crew they soon remembered what to do and finished the regatta 15th in the 46 boat fleet. That is not the end of the story as the Yorkshire duo have plans for more M24 racing and perhaps even the purchase of their own boat. Watch this space.

The final GBR entrants at Key West 08 were also making a return to the fleet after a couple of years away. Martin Wedge and Neil Fulcher had last sailed Eric in at the 2006 US Nationals in Jacksonville. Neil had been forced out of sailing with a bad knee injury from skiing and Martin had been focusing on his 505 sailing. Whilst they failed to sparkle at Key West it was obvious that they were loving the sailing and glad to be back in the Melges 24.

Other British teams who are readying themselves for the worlds in Italy include Stuart Simpson’s Team Barbarians (who took a short diversion into the Melges 32 fleet in Key West), Simon Dobson’s Comfortably Numb and the two boat campaign from Eamonn O’Nolan and Michele Brachet aboard Wild Thing and High Maintenance.

Back in the UK efforts to reinvogorate the domestic Melges 24 scene have been redoubled. The official UK Class Association website has been revamped and relaunched and it is hoped to be able to announce the venue for the 2008 UK Nationals very shortly.

Temporary class rule suspension announcement

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:38:16 +0000

For the Urgent Attention of all Melges 24 owners and sailors. The following International Melges 24 Class Rules, which came into force on 1 January 2008, will be temporarily suspended with immediate effect from 16 January 2008 until further notice:-

Rule C.6.1.6
The mast shall be fitted with a securely fixed sail track stop as supplied by the licensed builders.

Rule C.6.2.5
The boom shall be fitted with a securely fixed sail track stop as supplied by the licensed builders.

Unfortunately the builders have not been able to make the necessary track stops available at the current time and competitors are strongly recommended NOT to fit alternative non-builder supplied track stops as these may cause serious damage to the rigs.

A further announcement will be made reinstating this rule at www.melges24.com as soon as the builder supplied track stops are available. This announcement will also include details of how you can order the necessary stops. Please note that these rules will be suspended for the duration of ACURA Key West Race Week 2008.

If you require any further information or have any questions regarding this rule suspension please contact IMCA Technical Advisor David Chivers on E-mail daveis@dial.pipex.com or Tel +44 (0)7860 106641 (UK time zone).

2008 rule amendments published

Mon, 7 Jan 2008 17:25:42 +0000

ISAF have now published the official 2008 Melges 24 rule changes giving details of all the rule changes that came into effect on 1st January 2008. They are also working on a complete new 2008 Class Rule book for us incorporating all the rule changes from the past two years into one new book and this should be available by the end of next week. To download a PDF of the amended rules go here.

The amended rules are as follows:

International World Rankings

Thu, 3 Jan 2008 14:17:31 +0000

At long last we are delighted to be able to publish the 2008 World, North American & European Ranking Results.

Britain’s John Pollard finished in second place overall in the 2008 World rankings. A fantastic achievement for John and his crew. Well done!

The Carloan.com North American Ranking is won by the mid-west's Brian Porter while the European Ranking goes to Italy's Furio Patrizio Monarco.

Full ranking results are here.

Count down to Key West 2008

Thu, 3 Jan 2008 13:25:45 +0000

There are just 17 days to go until ACURA Key West 2008, the first international Melges 24 regatta of the 2008 season. Already 46 Melges 24 from across the USA, Canada, Great Britian, Sweden, Norway, France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany are lined up to take part in this annual festival of racing and fun in the sun and as always we can expect some great competition and a hard fought series.

Reigning Melges 24 European Champion and 2001 World Champion Flavio Favini is thoroughly enjoying his return to the class after his stint at the America's Cup and with Franco Rossini's Swiss Blu Moon team will want to add another Key West win to his CV. Italy's Riccardo Simoneschi aboard F.lli Giacomel Audi is keen to reprise his 2007 Key West win while the UK's John Pollard will be equally detrmined to take his first Key West laurels.

The extremely strong US home fleet includes a number of possible victors headed up by reigning Melges 24 World Champion and all round sailing legend Dave Ullman aboard Pegasus 505 who is shipping in one Charlie Ogletree to help him find his way round the race track. Brian Porter's evergreen Full Throttle team are back yet again alongside the likes of Bruce Ayres, Argyle Campbell, Othmar Muller Von Blumencron and Alan Field.

All the latest news and results will be available from WWW.USMELGES24.COM and WWW.PREMIERE-RACING.COM

John Pollard wins UK National Championships

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:31:16 +0100

The 2007 Melges 24 UK Nationals attracted a small but high quality fleet to Weymouth for what turned out to be three days of intense one design keelboat racing. Weymouth Sailing Club supported in no small degree by the event sponsor Comer Homes organised and ran a near faultless regatta. The race committee delivered on their briefing commitments by being on station with a course laid early each morning and as a result a full series of ten races were sailed. Boats were launched and retrieved from the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy and the race area was located on the waters to be used for the Olympic Classes in 2012. The fleet was berthed each night in the centre of Weymouth neat to the Weymouth Yacht Club whose members went out of their way to make the visting sailors feel welcome.

Last year’s winner’s John Pollard’s Team Xcellent made their intention to retain their title clear by arriving in Weymouth several days early. Pollard who owns Westaway Sails successfully campaigns his Melges on the international circuit and his 2007 record included a win in the St Petersburg, Florida NOOD Regatta and a second place in the Italian Nationals. He had pulled out of the US Nationals the previous weekend top allow him and his team to acclimatise to the local conditions and hone their boat handling skills.

Whilst Team Xcellent were undoubtedly went into the regatta as championship favourites their path to victory could easily be blocked by some notable names from the sailing world. Joe Woods’ Blue was helmed by North Sails designer and serial 1720 Champion Ruairidh Scott. Alongside Scott would be match racer Nick Cherry as tactician. Class stalwart Adrian Peach had recruited legendary Melges 24 helm Jamie Lea to steer his entry Team Panasonic. Another team capable of winning races and stringing together a regatta winning series would be Eamonn O’Nolan’s Unlimited Sailing - Wild Thing with 2012 Olympic Trnado aspirants John Gimson and Stuart Bithell as helm and tactician respectively. Adding an international flavour to the event was Yannick Le Clech’s French entry Cotes D’Amor. Le Clech had a strong background in 505 and Mumm 30’s in his home country and his team had campaigned their Melges 24 on the highly competitive European circuit during 2007.

With practice time over with the fleet headed out into Weymouth Bay on day one to be greeted by a solid twenty knot northerly. The wind coming off the nearby cliffs resulted in particularly shifty conditions and making sense of this both upwind and down was key to success. The French team aboard Cotes D’Amor laid down the Gallic gauntlet by posting a comfortable win in the first race ahead of Joe Woods’ Blue and Adrian Peach’s Team Panasonic. In race two the OOD extened the course length from two to three rounds. Jamie Lea got the bit between his teeth and after a seeing off a challenge from Ruairidh Scott on Blue secured a comfortable victory. Eamonn O’ Nolan’s Unlimited Sailing - Wild Thing improved on a first race fifth to finish third. Wild Thing looked set for a comfortable win in race three when they led around the windward mark and extended their lead down the first run. However Blue and Team Xcellent ground the gap away on the next beat and took full advantage of some boat handling slip-ups aboard Wild Thing to overtake. On the final lap Scott did a horizon job on the fleet whilst O’Nolan’s day got worse as they parked up on the final run letting the grateful Lea and Le Clech through to take third and fourth. In the final race Team Xcellent and Blue battled for the lead with Blue finally prevailing. Team Panasonic took third with Nigel Grogan at the helm of Helmut Rises Again taking a well deserved fourth. At the end of day one Blue held the lead with 2,2,1,1 ahead of Team Panasonic with 3,1,3,3 and reigning champions Team Xcellent with 4,4,2,2.

Day two dawned differently with a light and variable breeze still from the North and the promise of rain. Racing got away on time and the French repeated their victory from day one ahead of John Gimson at the helm of Unlimited Sailing – Wild Thing. Despite holding on to second for much of the race John Pollard dropped back to third on the final run. Overnight leaders Blue came in fifth. With the breeze strengthening slightly but becoming more unpredictable the race officer got caught out by a windshift at the start of the next race which turned it into a procession. Pollard made the best of the first beat and led the resulting two lap ‘parade of sail’ to the finish. Ruairidh Scott brought Blue home in second with Jamie Lea in third. One of the good (or bad, depending on your viewpoint) things about racing in a small one design fleet is that there is usually a way back from a poor first mark rounding. This was particularly true in race seven where there were a number of significant place changes throughout the race. The team aboard Blue got on the wrong side of a shift on the second beat to drop out of contention. This shift also allowed Team Panasonic to overtake Team Xcellent and Simon Dobson and Andrew Dellow’s Comfortably Numb to lead at the final windward mark. Biggest gainer though was John Gimson who came from nowhere to slot into second behind Lea. The final lightwind run saw Wild Thing and Team Panasonic converging bow to bow at the leeward mark. Adrian Peach’s team on Panasonic made the best of the rounding and the short leg to the finish to take to win by a tiny margin. Comfortably Numb held off Pollard and Le Clech to secure third. In the final race of the day John Pollard kept his title challenge on track with a win ahead of biggest rival Scott on Blue. John Gimson rounded off a better day with a third. With the discard in force and only two more races to be sailed it was getting tighter at the top. Ruairidh Scott held a slender two point lead over John Pollard. One point behind Pollard and still very much in contention lay Jamie Lea.

As the fleet made its way out of the river for the final day of racing it was met by a seventeen knot westerly. The race officer posted course A - a three lap windward leeward and the penultimate race got away first time, under a black flag.

Pollard on Team Xcellent established the early advantage rounding the first windward mark a few boat lengths clear of Scott on Blue pursued by the pack. The top two positions remained unchanged until the last lap. With both boats choosing to sail their own race they split tacks going upwind with Pollard taking the left and Scott the right. When they converged at the top mark Scott had snatched control and established what appeared to be a comfortable lead. However there was more drama to come at the final leeward mark when Scott’s team failed to spot that the short ‘dog leg’ to the finish line had been laid low enough to hold a spinnaker. As they realised their mistake and struggled to rehoist their spinnaker Team Xcellent stormed over the top to take the win and keep their title hopes alive.

Mindful of the 12.30 cut off the PRO posted course B - a two lap windward leeward for the final showdown. With everything resting on the last race the tension aboard both boats was palpable as they jostled for position on the start line. At the fleet reached the top mark Blue rounded first ahead of John Gimson on Team Unlimited - Wild Thing in second. Pollard was a few boats back and immediately went for the early gybe out to the left of the run. Scott and Gimson carried on to the right for a few minutes before gybing. To the dismay of the team aboard Blue it was immediately apparent that Xcellent had been sailing in more pressure and made a huge gain pulling out a significant lead. At the bottom marks Xcellent rounded first followed by Blue and Team Unlimited Wild Thing. Scott worked the right of the beat looking for a shift to bring him back in touch with Pollard but it was not to be as the wind went left at the end of the beat dropping Blue back to third behind Wild Thing.

There were no further place changes on the final run meaning that a delighted John Pollard’s and his team aboard Xcellent had regained the title they won last year in Falmouth. A philosophical Ruairidh Scott and his team on Blue finished one point behind in second. Jamie Lea at the helm of Adrian Peach’s Team Panasonic took the final podium place. Eamonn O’Nolan’s Team Unlimited Wild Thing finished fourth and collected the prize for first Corinthian (no pro sailors) team. In fifth was the French team headed by Yannick Le Clech on Cotes D’Amor.

In his acceptance speech John Pollard thanked the organizers – Weymouth Sailing Club and the sponsors – Comer Homes for organizing what he described as ‘the best UK Nationals we have had for a long time’. He also acknowledged the closeness of the competition and thanked his crew Rob Smith, Charlie Hook and Aaron O’Grady for their hard work.

Plans are already being formulated for next year’s championship when it is hoped to be able to attract an Anglo/French entry of up to thirty boats.

6th overall in Santa Cruz Worlds for Team Barbarians

Thu, 24 May 2007 10:21:11 +0100

Sixty international teams including four past winners assembled in Santa Cruz, California in early May for the 2007 Fullpower Melges 24 World Championships. The strong US fleet was augmented by an equally impressive European contingent that included six UK entries. With a venue legendary for strong winds and big waves expectations were high for a memorable regatta. Both the fleet and the Monterrey Bay more than lived up to their billing and the 2007 championship will go down in Melges 24 history books as a true classic. The names on the leader board changed on a daily basis as the regatta built steadily to a last race showdown sailed in ferocious weather conditions that tested the fleet to breaking point.

Picking a winner after the four-race pre-worlds regatta was tricky. Current US National Champion and one-design legend Chris Larson finished the four race series on top, just one point ahead of team GBR Tornado helm John Gimson aboard Unlimited Sailing. Local boy Shark Kahn, the 2003 World Champion, took third spot. Curiously there was no podium place for any of the other pre regatta favourites such as last year’s runner up Francois Brenac, Pacific Coast Champion Brian Porter, European Champions Joe Fly, or defending World Champion Nico Celon. Going into the championship proper the overall title race was genuinely wide open.

The perceived wisdom was that the right hand side of the course up wind was massively favoured. In an effort to even out the racecourse PRO Hank Stewart adopted a strategy of setting increasingly more heavily pin biased start lines. Nevertheless the winning strategy for the week was to get on to port tack as quickly as possible after the start and head right as quickly as possible. The right hand side effect was most noticeable in the second half of the beat. Even boats that had taken full advantage of twenty degrees of pin end bias still found themselves stranded on the left.

The first day, in fifteen knots of breeze saw the continuation of the brutal battle between reigning World Champion Nico Celon aboard Bete Bossini and last year’s runner up Francois Brenac helming EFG/Group Partouche. Both teams scored a fourth and a second to tie for first place overnight. Two boats also shared third - Corinthian entry Bruce Ayres from Newport Beach who won the first race and Brian Porter’s heavily tipped Full Throttle team. Pacific coast yachting guru, Dave Ullman recovered from a poor first race to lead the fleet home in the second. European Champions Joe Fly’s hopes of a championship win were dealt a severe blow when two premature starts resulted in two mid fleet scores.

Wednesday turned out to be Groundhog Day as the fleet met with identical conditions to the previous day. Dave Ullman continued where he had left off by chalking up another win. Jamie Lea at the helm of UK entry Team Barbarians was handed a win in race two when Francois Brenac crossed the line first to a sickening silence having been called OCS at the start. A picture of consistency Brian Porter moved into first overall with two more top five results. Despite having had a good day on the water Nico Celon slipped to second place.

The wind was stronger on day three, peaking at around twenty-two knots and generating glorious Melges 24 conditions. After a cat and mouse battle with Dave Ullman, Stuart Simpson’s Team Barbarians had to settle for second place in race one. Giovanni Maspero’s Joe Fly finally found their form and won the second race. After six races Ullman topped the leader board ahead of Full Throttle, Bete Bossini and EFG/Group Partouche who were now able to discard their OCS.

Friday produced yet another day of sunshine and strong winds and Dave Ullman delivered yet another race win. Italy’s Joe Fly helmed by Italian 470 Olympic ace Gabrio Zandona was the undisputed boat of the day with a stunning one two scoreline which moved them firmly into the upper echelon. However their poor start to the series meant they stood no realistic chance of winning the overall title.

With eight of the possible ten races sailed Dave Ullman now held a tenuous two-point lead over Brian Porter. Both teams knew the pain of having a World Championship title challenge evaporate on the final day. With a big breeze forecast for Saturday’s racing the scene was perfectly set for a showdown some were cruelly calling the ‘battle of the bridesmaids’.

As the first boats reached the starting area it was clear that the already strong breeze would continue to build and the fleet was in for a ‘big’ day on the water. Helmsmen and tacticians struggled to check line bias in the mounting seas and drenched bowmen could be seen winding on more and more shroud tension to try to optimise their rigs for the extreme conditions ahead.

The fleet got away first time and it was Team Barbarians who hit the right hand side first. Nailing the starboard layline from a quarter of a mile out they crossed the fleet to round the windward mark in the lead. With the breeze now at around thirty knots and the seas building all the time the downwind conditions were very challenging. As boats hurtled off one wave and buried themselves into the back of the next all the crews could do was hang on, try to enjoy the ride and pray that their carbon masts could take the punishment.

Starting the final run Brian Porter aboard Full Throttle appeared to have gained the upper hand in the overall title battle. He lay second on the water with Dave Ullman several places further back. Predictably there was a final twist. With Full Throttle only a few hundred yards from the finish a massive gust tore down the racecourse flattening boats and snapping rigs as it went. As it hit the leading pack it blew the tackline on Full Throttle out of its cleat. Their spinnaker skied in an instant slamming the boat flat on its side. As they struggled to regain control they could do nothing to stop Ullman as he screamed past snatching the World Championship from their grasp. Knowing now that all he now had to do was finish the race to take the title Ullman smartly dropped his spinnaker and coasted across the line in fourth. A shell shocked and disappointed Full Throttle crew finally crossed the line in twentieth place.

Later at the prizegiving an elated and relieved Ullman finally lifted the trophy he must have thought had eluded him once again. In a modest acceptance speech he attributed the victory to this crew Bill Hardesty, Brent Ruhne, Andy Estcourt and Shana Phelan. The new Melges 24 World Champions also announced their intention to compete at this summer’s European Championship in Germany.

Overall results:

1st Pegasus 505 Dave Ullman USA
2nd Full Throttle Brian Porter USA
3rd EFG/Group Partouche Benjamin Cohen FRA
4th Joe Fly Giovanni Maspero ITA
5th Bete Bossini Amadorio Ezio ITA
6th Team Barbarians Stuart Simpson GBR
7th Pegasus 575 Mark Christensen USA
8th Altea Andrea Rachelli ITA
9th Gannet Othmar Muller von Blumencron USA
10th West Marine Rigging Scott Holmgren USA

John Pollard 2nd at Miami Race Week

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 17:30:58 +0000

The final results tally in the Melges 24 fleet at this year’s Acura Miami Race Week bore witness to the truly international nature of the class. The top six places were made up of entries from Italy, United Kingdom, USA and Germany. All twenty five boats entered enjoyed classic champagne racing conditions on all three days of the regatta with bright sunshine, temperatures in the 80’s and most importantly – plenty of breeze.

Race one was sailed in a rock steady 12 to 15 knots and was won by Argyle Campbell and his team aboard Rock n Roll ahead of Bent Dietrich’s anglo/German squad on Kleine Rainbow. Last year’s winner Italian entry Giacomel Audi owned and steered by Riccardo Simoneschi took third. In race two Simoneschi and his team found the fast pedal, leading from then start and taking the race convincingly. Eamon Nolan’s UK chartered entry Wild Thing steered by 470 helm John Gimson lived up to the potential they showed last month in Monaco by taking a second ahead of Rock n Roll. In race three Giacomel Audi once again took the pin and the race to top the leaderboard at the end of day one. John Pollard and his Xcellent team finished a disappointing day on a positive note with a second. Argyle Campbell kept up a consistent performance with a third to slide into second overall ahead of Bent Dietrich.

Day two dawned hot and sunny with 15 to 18 knots of breeze. The Italians made it clear to everyone that they intended to retain their title for another year by winning all three of the day’s races. Team Xcellent pushed Simoneschi’s team hard at times but had to settle for a string of second places which boosted them up into second overall. Rock n Roll faltered slightly having had to restart in the third race of the day but they held on to a podium position, one point adrift of Pollard.

People have taken eight point leads into the final day of regattas before now only to squander them away on poor starts or in the protest room. No such thoughts entered the heads of the Giacomel Audi crew. They simply continued where they had left off the previous day. They rounded the first windward mark of race one in second place, hot on the heels of Stuart Simpson at the helm of Team Barbarians before using their blistering downwind pace to take the lead. After that the real race was for second place between Pollard and Campbell who were trading gybes down both runs. At the finish it was the American team who were smiling having beaten the Brits into third place. In the final race Simoneschi did it again leading from start to finish to take his seventh straight bullet of the regatta and winning the Melges 24 class for the second consecutive year. John Pollard held his nerve to take a comfortable second place ahead of Chicago’s Donald Wilson on Convexity in third. Team Barbarians rounded off a satisfying day in fourth ahead of Argyle Campbell finishing fifth who secured a well deserved third overall.

Overall results:

1st Giancomel Audi R Ricardo Simoneschi Genova, Italy 7pts
2nd Xcellent John Pollard Torquay, UK 18pts
3rd Rock n Roll Argyle Campbell Newport Beach, USA 21pts
4th Kleine Rainbow Bent Dietrich Hamburg, Germany 34pts
5th Wild Thing Eamonn O’Nolan Hamble, UK 40pts

Key Largo 2005 World Championship report

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 17:22:40 +0000

Widely regarded as the year’s ‘must do’ regatta, the 2005 Corum Melges 24 World Championships hosted in December at the prestigious Ocean Reef Club in Florida’s Key Largo more than lived up to its billing. The hundred and two boat entry list read like a who’s who of yacht racing. Joining the numerous former Olympic and World Champions competing were Americas Cup legends Russell Coutts and James Spithill. The entry list also included twenty-seven ‘Corinthian’ (no professionals aboard) teams who were keen to take a few big name scalps.

Day One
The fleet was greeted by a light, fickle land breeze. With such a huge startline choosing the correct end was critical. In race one current US Melges 24 National Champion and ex Olympic medalist Morgan Reeser on Mfatic finished second to Ale Ali steered by Italian Nicola Celon. Don Jesburg’s team aboard Ego led for much of the race and finished third. In race two the breeze ratcheted up into the 10-12 knot range. After a number of general recalls the fleet finally got away. Russell Coutts calling tactics aboard Philippe Kahn’s Pegasus 575 made sense of the shifting breeze rounding in second place behind German Corinthian entry Eddy Eich’s Courage X. At the finish Italian entry Marrachech Express steered by pro sailor Gabriele Benussi took the bullet followed by a member of the Melges ‘royalty’, Brian Porter on Full Throttle. Third place went to past Melges World Champion Shark Kahn on Pegasus 492. After two races Morgan Reeser was leading with Philippe Kahn in second and event favourite James Spithill in third. From the UK John Pollard’s Xcellent team, including ex Laser world champion Lawrence Crispin calling tactics, slotted into sixth.

Day 2
Ten knots of breeze from the northeast produced a light chop and after a single general recall the fleet got away. A windshift during the recall process wrong footed almost the entire fleet except for Norwegian Kristoffer Spone who was all alone at the pin. A third of the way up the beat he tacked and crossed the entire fleet. At the finish overnight leader Morgan Resser took the bullet followed by Gabriele Benussi and Shark Kahn.
Race two saw the wind clock further right and a better behaved fleet got away first time. Gabriele Benussi held onto an early lead before sailmaker Dave Ullman on Pegasus 505 gave the fleet a masterclass in boatspeed and tactics pulling out a significant lead at the finish. Benussi held onto second while last year’s World Champions Philippe Ligot’s French entry Partner & Partners were third.
After four races Morgan Reeser had extended his lead and John Pollard had moved up into third. The talk of the regatta however was the performance of second placed Benussi. After a poor result in race one the Italian team had gone on to clock up a 1,3,2, scoreline. This was all the more impressive when it was revealed that Benussi and his three crew had never sailed together before this regatta.

Day 3
The breeze was up to around eighteen knots resulting in planning conditions downwind. James Spithill reminded the fleet why he was regarded as the pre regatta favourite by winning both races comprehensively. Sailing under the Italian America’s Cup campaign Luna Rossa mantle, Australian Spithill’s team sported an impressive array of talent including the Olympian McKee brothers from Seattle and Italian 49er sailor Manuel Modena. Remarkably their fifth crewmember was eleven-year-old Mac Agnese from Fort Lauderdale. Mac, an Optimist sailor, as well as bringing the team up to weight, trimmed the main traveller. The rest of the crew described him as the Luna Rossa ‘secret weapon’. “Mac is just as committed and involved as the rest of us,” said Spithill. “I think we are learning more from him than he is from us”.
Despite winning both the day’s races Spithill and his squad had to settle for third place overall As the discards kicked in the consistency of Benussi and Ullman earned them first and second place respectively.

Day 4
With half the scheduled races now sailed the watching press pack were now focusing their attention on the top three. The hot money still predicted a Luna Rossa victory but they would have to claw their way past both Dave Ullman and Gabriele Benussi first. Race seven finally got away after two general recalls and around thirty Z flag penalties. Italian boat Lizard helmed by Sandro Montefusco led the race from start to finish ahead of UK boat Team Barbarains helmed by Jamie Lea in second and leading Corinthian team New Wave steered by Marty Kullman in third. Benussi kept up the pressure by edging Spithill into eighth place while Ullman could only manage a twenty-eighth.
In race eight Spithill seized the overall advantage with a comprehensive win ahead of the current European Champions Joe Fly helmed by Gabrio Zandona in second, Full Throttle in third and UK entry Red helmed by current J80 World Champion Ruairidh Scott in fourth.
With two more days of racing to go Luna Rossa had squeaked into the overall lead by just one point from Benussi’s Marrachech Express. The Ullman charge seemed to have faltered with two results outside of the top ten and whilst they hung on to their third place overall they were some forty five points adrift.

Day 5
Perhaps stung by their previous day’s performance Dave Ullman and his crew emphatically reaffirmed their challenge for the World title. On the windiest day of the championship so far they delivered a blistering performance, winning both races to move them up to second overall. It was Benussi’s turn to falter turning in a fifteenth and a twenty fourth dropping them to third overall. Despite blowing out a spinnaker in race ten Spithill held his nerve scoring a second and a sixth to extend his lead over the fleet to twenty points.

Day 6
Despite their points lead the professional crew aboard Luna Rossa had little room for complacency on the final day. With two races scheduled and the breeze peaking at six knots there was always the potential for disaster. After a two hour delay the fleet got away at the first time of asking. Unsurprisingly Spithill kept close to his nearest rival Ullman up the first beat. This allowed Benussi to sail his own race out on the starboard side of the course and when the breeze shifted thirty degrees to the right he was able to capitalise. He led round the first mark and went on to win the race convincingly. Spithill and Ullman had rounded the top mark in the forties and had to work hard to close the gap between themselves and Benussi in case the race committee were able to run a second race. This was not to be the case however and despite finishing in twenty sixth place the elated team aboard Luna Rossa claimed the Melges 24 World Championship title. Benussi’s win leapfrogged him ahead of Dave Ullman in the overall standings. Owner Vladimiro Mrvcic was delighted with his team’s second place. “We were hoping for a top ten result but to be second in this company has made us very happy!” Dave Ullman a multiple world champion summed up the feelings of all the competitors: “This was by far the best Melges Worlds ever sailed. Great organisation on the water. The guys on Luna Rossa did a really nice job and were always pretty much in control.”

Overall Results after eleven races:

1st USA 515 Luna Rossa James Spithill 68 points
2nd ITA 636 Marrachech Express Gabriele Benussi 76 points
3rd USA 505 Pegasus 505 David Ullman 92 points
4th USA 566 mFatic Morgan Reeser 102 points
5th ITA 633 Joe Fly Gabrio Zandona 108 points

Corinthian Results:

1st USA 544 New Wave Martin Kullman 45 points
2nd USA 540 Monsoon Bruce Ayres 47 points
3rd GER 582 Courage X Alba Batzill 50 points

GBR Results:

13th GBR 592 Team Gill Mark Mansfield 183 points
14th GBR 593 Xcellent John Pollard 218 points
15th GBR 569 Team Barbarains Jamie Lea 223 points
26th GBR 431 Gill Stuart Rix 275 points
33rd GBR 616 Red Ruairidh Scott 326 points
49th GBR 620 Eric Martin Wedge 458 points
64th GBR 589 Badger Paul Lovejoy 610 points
82nd GBR 548 Silver Adrian Peach 729 points
86th GBR 554 Black Seal John O’Driscoll 771 points
98th GBR 618 Jambalaya on Tour Andrew Bird 920 points

Ocean BMW Melges 24 Europeans 2005

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 17:13:20 +0100

During the penultimate week of September the cream of European one design racing descended on England’s south coast for the Ocean BMW Melges 24 2005 European Championships. The Royal Torbay Yacht Club was delighted to welcome an international Melges fleet back to Torquay for the fist time since hosting the 1998 World Championships. This year eleven nations were represented in the fifty boat fleet, including strong squads from Great Britain and France. Disappointingly, despite being widely recognised as the European hotspot for Melges 24 racing, Italy produced only three entries. It was to prove to be a case of quality over quantity however as Italian boats filled two of the top three places in the overall standings.

With the current European Champions (Italy’s Joe Fly) and reigning World Champions (Partner & Partner from France) along with the 2005 national champions from France (Dyneema-Liros), UK (Gill) and Germany (Swedish boat Zero Two/e-brokerline.com) in attendance it was impossible to predict who would prevail by the end of the week. In the days preceding the regatta the wind was notable by its absence giving little chance for the visiting crews to familiarise themselves with the idiosyncrasies of Torbay. Sunday’s practice race was abandoned after one aborted start saw the fleet drifting on the tide.

Day One

Monday morning dawned to reveal glassy waters across the whole of Torbay. With a postponement fully expected the fleet were somewhat wrong footed when race officer Peter Rumblelow and his team confidently put to sea. The race committee’s faith in their weather forecast was rewarded when after a short delay the first race got under way in a fitful six knot breeze. Jamie Lea, making a welcome return to the European Melges circuit aboard Stuart Simpson’s Team Barbarians made the best of a good start and first beat to lead the fleet around the windward mark a couple of boat lengths ahead of Francois Brenac on Partner and Partners. These two boats stretched away from the pack on the run and were locked together up the following beat. Spotting Team Barbarians hit a patch of chop generated by a spectator boat Brenac took his chance to break cover, tacked away and took the lead. At the finish it was Partner and Partners from Team Barbarians followed by Italian Zandona Gabrio steering Joe Fly.

Race two started in slightly more breeze and Germany’s Alba Batzill on No Woman No Cry rounded mark one ahead of Team Barbarians and fellow Brit Tim Collins on Easy Tiger. Staying in the pressure was the name of the game throughout the three lap contest which Batzill managed masterfully to take the win from Italian Andrea Racchelli on Altea. Jamie Lea’s third place rounded off an excellent first day and secured boat of the day prize for Team Barbarians.

Day One overall standings:

1st GBR406 Team Barbarians 5 points
2nd ITA438 Altea 6 points
3rd FRA470 Cotes D’Amor Sail de Mer 10 points

Day Two

The front which was forecast to move into the Torbay area from southern Ireland failed to arrive and weather wise it was Groundhog Day for the fleet. With three races planned the PRO reduced the number of laps to two and after some provocation from an over enthusiastic fleet was forced to unleash the black flag for the first and sadly not last time during the week. Frenchman Antoine Albaret on Cotes d’Amor Perros Guirec sailed an excellent race to take the gun from Joe Fly. Third was another French boat Jerome Aubert aboard Au Planning with Mike Henning aboard March Hare upholding the British honour slotting in a credible fourth. In race two No Woman No Cry proved that their race win the previous day had been no flash in the pan when they crossed the line ahead of Cotes D’Amor helmed by Vincent Biarnes. Current UK National Champion Stuart Rix helming Gill continued to build an excellent series scoring a third - his fourth top ten result. Things got even better for Gill when they won the final race of the day to secure the boat of the day position. Second in that race was the Swiss entry PoiZon Rouge and Italy’s Andrea Racchelli aboard Altea completed a good day with a third. Overnight leaders Team Barbarians recovered their poise after two mid fleet results earlier in the day with a fourth ahead of a similarly inconsistent Joe Fly in fifth.

As the fleet came ashore it became apparent that the day was not yet quite over for Giovanni Maspro’s Joe Fly team. Their Protector support rib, a familiar sight at the major Melges 24 regattas, had been reported to the Jury by the race committee for infringing the strict rules laid down in the sailing instructions relating to the behaviour of support boats on the racecourse. Following a lengthy hearing the protest committee imposed a 20% penalty to on Joe Fly for the result of race two. Significantly the committee also declared that this result (15 points) could not be discarded in the overall calculations.

Day Two overall standings:

1st GBR431 Gill 25 points
2nd ITA438 Altea 28 points
3rd FRA571 Partner & Partners 39 points

Day Three

With five races sailed it was becoming clear that consistency rather that flashes of brilliance was going to be the key winning the championship. Gill and Altea had managed to keep all of their scores inside the top eleven so far and were beginning to stretch away from the rest. Day three’s weather followed a familiar pattern with light breeze early in the day building to around ten to twelve knots by the afternoon. Joe Fly no doubt stinging from their penalty the previous night produced the best possible response by winning the day with a 1,4,2 score line. Their masterful display also leapfrogged them from fourth to first overall. Gill who faltered slightly with a nineteenth and twelfth in the first two races but came back strongly to finish third in race three, dropped to second overall. Altea continued to impress with three more top ten scores to consolidate third overall.
From a points perspective it couldn’t have been tighter at the top with Joe Fly and Gill locked together on forty points with Altea and Partner & Partners nipping at their heels on forty one and forty two points respectively. Back in fifth and already counting two bullets, Eddy Eich’s team aboard No Woman No Cry were left rueing their poor results earlier in the week, when they clocked up another win in the final race of the day. Happily they could take some consolation in the fact that they now headed the Corinthian division by ten points overall from Antoine Albert on Cotes d’Amor Perros Guirec.

Day Three overall standings:

1st ITA550 Joe Fly 40 points
2nd GBR431 Gill 40 points
3rd ITA438 Altea 41 points

Day Four

The British squad acquitted themselves well on day four with GBR boats winning all three races. In race one Mike Henning aboard March Hare took the gun to secure their third top ten result of the week. In race two Stuart Simpson’s Team Barbarians took the pin end from fellow Brits Gill and went on to win the race despite having to survive a vicious gybing battle with Gill in the last hundred yards of the final run. After planning a mid line start in race three Gill were fortunate to find themselves winning the pin. They went on to take the gun comfortably from No Woman No Cry. This second place for the Germans completed a day winning 2,4,2 scorecard which moved them up to fourth overall. Despite a nineteenth in the first race of the day Gill stayed in the top three just behind the inimitable Joe Fly who continued to clock up good scores with a card of 5,5,6 for the day. Andrea Rachelli’s Altea finally took a well earned one point championship lead following a 4,7,3 string of results. With a forecast of strong winds for the following day the scene was set for an epic climax to this excellent championship.

Day Four overall standings:

1st ITA438 Altea 55 points
2nd ITA550 Joe Fly 56 points
3rd GBR431 Gill 62 points

Day Five

An early eighteen knot breeze seemed to be subdued by a rain shower which doused the competitors as they readied their boats on the pontoon before the final race of the series. However by the time the fleet headed for the starting area the breeze had built again to produce marginal planning conditions and many teams used the run out to assess whether it was going to be faster to soak or sail hot downwind. The race committee signalled a three lap course and happily the fleet got away at the first time of asking. It was Gill who came out from the pin end to lead the fleet over to the favoured left side. With the offshore wind building steadily and in flat sea conditions Gill made the most of their starting advantage to lead around the first mark from Tim Collins’ Easy Tiger with Paul Brotherton helming Highland Heritage into third to complete a GBR one-two-three. Back in the pack the big news was that championship leader Altea had started poorly and was languishing in twentieth place. Just as significantly second placed overall Joe Fly had rounded the top mark in eleventh. If Gill could hang on to their lead and Joe Fly finished seventh or lower then the championship would go to the British team.

With the breeze now up at twenty knots and very streaky, places were changing rapidly on the downwind legs. The leeward gate was a war zone with boats converging at breakneck speed as their crews fought to pull off high speed gybe-drops. The normally impeccable crew work aboard Joe Fly faltered briefly as their spinnaker found its way under their boat for a few seconds on the final leeward mark rounding. Despite this set back by the final windward mark they were up to seventh and now tied on points with Gill who were still leading. If this status quo were maintained to the finish Gill would be crowned European Champions by merit of the count back system.

In an effort to seize the initiative Joe Fly threw in an early gybe and headed out to the left in search of more pressure. The breeze however was stronger down the right and they were not able to take any places. Meanwhile a few hundred yards ahead another drama was unfolding. Local helm John Pollard aboard Xcellent had moved up to second and was now mounting an all out assault for the lead. Sensing the danger Stuart Rix put in a covering gybe in the final few hundred yards of the leg. To the horror of the Gill team they could only watch as a huge gust carried Xcellent past them to take the race and effectively hand the championship to the Italian team aboard Joe Fly who crossed the line in seventh place. Back in the pack Altea had moved up to sixteenth to secure third place overall. A sixth for the German team on No Woman No Cry earned them a satisfying fourth place and first overall Corinthian prize. Current World Champions Partner & Partners had to be content with fifth overall.

At the prize giving ceremony that night Henri Samuel on behalf of the Melges 24 class thanked event organiser Adrian Peach, the race committee, the international jury and all the Royal Torbay yacht Club volunteers for staging an excellent event. Having just received the Melges 24 Championship Trophy for the second consecutive time Joe Fly owner Giovanni Maspro explained that this win was all the sweeter for his team because they had been forced to overcome the setback of having their original boat and tow truck destroyed on the way to Torbay when a sleeping lorry driver ran them down on the hard shoulder. Giovanni also went on to pay tribute to second placed Quentin Strauss and his team on Gill whom he graciously described as being “the true champions”.

Overall Results:

1st ITA550 Joe Fly 63 points
2nd GBR431 Gill 64 points
3rd ITA438 Altea 66 points
4th GER582 No Woman No Cry 78 points (1st Corinthian)
5th FRA571 Partner & Partners 91 points

The Ocean BMW Melges 24 European Championships was also generously sponsored by WKD Original Vodka Blue, Devotti Sailing, North Sails UK Ltd, Westaway Sails and Musto Ltd.

The focus for the Melges 24 class now switches to the USA for the 2005 World Championship which will take place at the Ocean Reef Club, Key Largo, Florida from 11th to the 16th of December where many of the top European teams will do battle against the best of the American Melges fleet.

One of my better decisions

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 17:31:01 +0100

It is human nature to dwell on the poor decisions we make during our lives and we rarely take the time to congratulate ourselves on our smarter choices. At the end of 2003 I showed excellent judgement when I accepted an offer to join a Melges 24 crew. Like most people I had long been an admirer of the boat’s seductive looks and glamorous regatta programme and so grabbed the opportunity with both hands. As I look back over my first full season and forward to the coming 2005 campaign I am struck by how fortunate I was not to pass up that chance.

Rookie
Being honest I have not always felt so positive about my decision. My first regatta, SNIM in Marseille was a baptism of fire. The French race committees take no prisoners. Sixty boats, 25 knots, big seas and four races a day. By the end of the regatta my body and my confidence had taken a severe beating. My primary problem was the apparent loss of any inherent sense of balance I may once have possessed. I lumbered around the boat like a bull elephant with its back legs roped. In fact more than once during a tack I actually did manage to wrap the jib sheet around both legs and fall, pathetic and whimpering, to the cockpit floor.

The deck was like a war zone to me. My backside was covered in bruises the perfect shape of Harken cleats and my abdomen bore a permanent imprint of the hiking pads. The hostile environment also extended outside of the boat. In this fleet no quarter is asked or given – even in huge seas and high winds. At times seemed like the rest of the fleet were out to get us. In reality it is nothing personal. Port tackers who cross your bow with inches to spare don’t even waste a glance in your direction. On the Melges racetrack the tactical picture is constantly changing. This is where 3D chess meets Formula One. Boats that seconds ago looked to not be a threat can surge back into play on only a few degrees of windshift. With boat speeds so evenly matched a single successful cross on the first beat can mean the difference between glory or obscurity at the windward mark. For experienced crew judging the speed and distance of your competitors whilst hanging upside down from the guardrail needs to be an innate skill.

In contrast to the pain and suffering on the beats, the runs in Marseille were pure delight. 25 knots and big waves are surely what the Melges 24 was designed for. Hurtling downwind on the edge of control amongst such a huge fleet was the Melges adrenaline rush I had dreamt of. But even when travelling at full tilt, tactics are still to the fore and if the wind shifts and you need to gybe then the fact that you are about to make the jump to hyperspace is irrelevant – you’re gybing and you are gybing now. Crews crammed in the back few feet of the cockpit, four feet of bow completely clear of the water, boats on opposite gybes converge at closing speeds over thirty knots. No place here for the faint hearted – this is death or glory. That’s what gets talked about in the bar afterwards, the stuff you remember after the regatta, not the pain, not the trepidation, just the natural high. No other keelboat delivers that sort of exhilaration It’s what makes the Melges 24 class legendary and keeps us all coming back for more.

Vive la difference
Happily I was invited back for more and during a busy season have been fortunate to race at Melges regattas in the UK, Europe and the US. I have noticed some subtle differences between European and US events. At Key West this year the race committee catering for a 58 boat fleet managed to start all races without a single general recall. Not even the threat of the dreaded Black Flag. All early starters were announced on the radio within seconds of the start gun by the midline and pin-end boats. It can’t be easy to accomplish but it does eliminate the frustration of the multiple false starts which we commonly experience in Europe. Incidentally the KW Committee even managed to get it right when they got it wrong. We filed a protest when we were recorded as OCS on a start we knew we were well behind the line. The protest committee were sceptical and when our bow number could be clearly heard on the OOD’s tape things looked bleak. Fortunately for us it turned out we were listening to the J105 start sequence! Reinstatement for us and presumably disappointment for our J sistership.

Another difference between the US and Europe regattas becomes apparent when it comes to craning out at the end of the regatta. The European approach often deteriorates into a heated free for all of bumping and barging as boats vie to be nearest the crane. Contrastingly at a recent US event as crews struggled manfully to adhere to the rota in a docking area half the size required there were no raised voices. Despite the tangible tension the only comment we heard was a sardonic “Well this is a less than ideal situation.”

March sees two significant Melges events – Miami’s SORC and Marseille’s SNIM. Both regattas will no doubt engender large fleets and tight competition. Those lucky enough to be attending both will have an excellent opportunity to compare and contrast the US and European regatta styles along with enjoying great weather, racing and parties. Further confirmation if any were needed what an excellent choice we all made when we joined the Melges 24 fleet.

Justin Chisholm
March 2005