2017 Melges 24 U.S. National Championship - Day 2 - Crushin' It
by Melges 24 on 9 Apr 2017
Brian Porter's 'Full Throttle' verges on capturing a record-breaking seventh Melges 24 U.S. National title JOY / USM24CA
Wow, what a difference a day can make. This was the theme of Day Two (April 8) of the 2017 U.S. Melges 24 National Championship hosted by the Charleston Yacht Club (ChYC). More sunshine, cool temps, and a lot less breeze settled the fleet in well for round two of Melges 24 racing.
Three races were conducted with six-time Melges 24 U.S. National Champion Brian Porter (1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015) on Full Throttle (USA-849) winning all three heats. With a ten point advantage over second place finisher John Brown on Blind Squirrel (USA-547), it is highly likely that 2017 will see Porter collect a record-breaking, seventh National Championship title. Kevin Welch's Mikey (USA-838) with Jason Rhodes at the helm, is now in third.
PRO Hal Smith got the racing started on time, despite the possibility that with a stiff, outbound current and a very shifty breeze, Race Four may not come easy. A first attempt ended in abandonment, leaving the fleet to wait for almost two hours before having another chance to start a race.
Around 2 o'clock, Smith and his ChYC Race Committee set the course and the fleet went racing. Thankfully, the breeze came in early allowing for not only one race, but three for a total of six complete, activating a discard of each boat's worst score.
Indeed Porter had a flawless day, but others managed to bask in the spotlight too such as relatively new fleet member Michael Goldfarb on Warcanoe (USA-825) scoring a second place finish in Race Five, while Corinthian George Haynie on Firewater (USA-687) also found some speed to place third. Southeast District Governor Gary Schwarting on Obsession (USA-578) grabbed a top ten finish in Race Six, as did Tom Babel at the helm of Thomas Roop's Le Coq (USA-121).
Don't Tread On Me
While Porter dominated today's overall division, the fleet was under siege in the Corinthian category. Atlanta-based teams Brent McKenzie at the helm of Ex-Kahn (USA-575) and K.C. Shannon's Shaka (USA-801) chose to 'go to the mattresses.' After a light, shifty and very tricky day of sailing, only one point separates these two teams with Shannon taking over the lead from Friday leader McKenzie. 'We're gonna take'em out', said Reid Collins, long-time Melges 24 sailor and crew member aboard McKenzie's Ex-Kahn. 'Like an 'Ex-Kahn' would!' he furthered in friendly banter. The perseverance of these two teams paid off nicely today as they now find themselves also in the top ten overall standings.
Stuart Simpson's Team Barbarians (GBR-691) struggled a bit sliding back one space to round out the podium in third. Zane Yoder's FNG/Eelsnot (USA-9) is fourth, and Lake Geneva's, 76-year old Frank Davenport on Wild Goose (USA-736) emerged to round out the top five Corinthian standings.
Sunday is the final day of scheduled racing, where the fleet will attempt two more final races.
Top Ten Results (Preliminary - After Six Races, One Discard)
1.) Brian Porter, Full Throttle: 1-4-2-1-1-1 = 6
2.) John Brown, Blind Squirrel; 3-2-7-2-6-3 = 16
3.) Kevin Welch/Jason Rhodes, Mikey; 2-7-5-5-5-4 = 21
4.) Bruce Ayres, Monsoon; 5-1-6-5-18-4-6 = 22
5.) Michael Goldfarb, Warcanoe; 8-5-10-6-2-7 = 28
6.) Peter Duncan, Jigs In Space; 12-6-3-7-21-2 = 30
7.) Wes Whitmyer, Jr.; SlingSHOT; 7-8-4-4-9-10 = 32
8.) Travis Weisleder, Lucky Dog/Gill Race Team; 25/RET-3-1-20-10-5 = 39
9.) (C) KC Shannon, Shaka; 17-14-9-3-8-18 = 51
10.) (C) Brent McKenzie, EX-KAHN; 9-9-12-8-14-19 = 52
Top Five Corinthian Results (Preliminary - After Six Races, One Discard)
1.) KC Shannon, Shaka = 51 pts.
2.) Brent McKenzie, EX-KAHN = 52 pts.
3.) Stuart Simpson, Team Barbarians = 56 pts.
4.) Zane Yoder, FNG Eelsnot = 68 pts.
5.) Frank Davenport, Wild Goose = 70 pts.
2017 Melges 24 U.S. National Championship - Preliminary Cumulative Results
|
|
|
|
Bow |
Sail Number |
Yacht Name |
Yacht Design |
Owner/Skipper |
Race
1 |
Race
2 |
Race
3 |
Race
4 |
Race
5 |
Race
6 |
T
O |
Total |
U.S. National Championship Racing |
|
One Design Division |
|
|
Melges 24 |
|
|
1. |
49 |
USA 849 |
Full Throttle |
Melges 24 |
Brian Porter |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
[4] |
6.0 |
|
|
2. |
547 |
USA 547 |
Blind Squirrel |
Melges 24 |
John Brown |
3 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
[7] |
16.0 |
|
|
3. |
838 |
USA 838 |
MiKEY |
Melges 24 |
Kevin Welch |
2 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
[7] |
21.0 |
|
|
4. |
851 |
USA 851 |
Monsoon |
Melges 24 |
Bruce Ayres |
5 |
1 |
6 |
18 |
4 |
6 |
[18] |
22.0 |
|
|
5. |
825 |
USA 825 |
Warcanoe |
Melges 24 |
Michael Goldfarb |
8 |
5 |
10 |
6 |
2 |
7 |
[10] |
28.0 |
|
|
6. |
515 |
USA 515 |
Jigs in Space |
Melges 24 |
Peter Duncan |
12 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
21 |
2 |
[21] |
30.0 |
|
|
7. |
747 |
USA 747 |
SlingSHOT |
Melges 24 |
Wes Whitmyer Jr |
7 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
9 |
10 |
[10] |
32.0 |
|
|
8. |
848 |
USA 848 |
Lucky Dog / Gill Race Team |
Melges 24 |
Travis Weisleder |
25/RET |
3 |
1 |
20 |
10 |
5 |
[25] |
39.0 |
|
|
9. |
801 |
USA 801 |
Shaka (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
KC Shannon |
17 |
14 |
9 |
3 |
8 |
18 |
[18] |
51.0 |
|
|
10. |
575 |
USA 575 |
EX-KAHN (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
Brent McKenzie |
9 |
9 |
12 |
8 |
14 |
19 |
[19] |
52.0 |
|
|
11. |
691 |
GBR 691 |
Team Barbarians (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
Stuart Simpson |
13 |
13 |
8 |
11 |
17 |
11 |
[17] |
56.0 |
|
|
12. |
526 |
USA 526 |
3 1/2 men |
Melges 24 |
Steve Suddath |
4 |
16 |
16 |
14 |
11 |
12 |
[16] |
57.0 |
|
|
13. |
121 |
USA 121 |
Le Coq |
Melges 24 |
Thomas Roop |
11 |
17 |
14 |
16 |
20 |
8 |
[20] |
66.0 |
|
|
14. |
9 |
USA 9 |
FNG/Eelsnot (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
Zane Yoder |
6 |
15 |
19 |
12 |
16 |
23 |
[23] |
68.0 |
|
|
15. |
736 |
USA 736 |
Wild Goose (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
Frank Davenport |
14 |
19 |
22 |
13 |
7 |
17 |
[22] |
70.0 |
|
|
16. |
491 |
USA 491 |
Old School (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
Jay Greenfield |
19 |
11 |
13 |
9 |
18 |
21 |
[21] |
70.0 |
|
|
17. |
201 |
USA 201 |
JACK Mormon Coffee |
Melges 24 |
Mossman/ Hutchinson |
10 |
10 |
11 |
24 |
23 |
16 |
[24] |
70.0 |
|
|
18. |
905 |
USA 805 |
Decorum (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
Hunter Ratliff |
25/OCS |
12 |
15 |
17 |
12 |
15 |
[25] |
71.0 |
|
|
19. |
687 |
USA 687 |
Firewater (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
George Haynie |
25/DNC |
25/DNC |
20 |
15 |
3 |
14 |
[25] |
77.0 |
|
|
20. |
587 |
USA 587 |
OBSESSION |
Melges 24 |
Gary Schwarting |
15/RDG |
25/DNS |
25/DNS |
21 |
15 |
9 |
[25] |
85.0 |
|
|
21. |
419 |
USA 419 |
Apex |
Melges 24 |
Kent Picknell |
16 |
21 |
21 |
19 |
13 |
22 |
[22] |
90.0 |
|
|
22. |
738 |
USA 738 |
Dark Energy (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
Laura Grondin |
18 |
20 |
18 |
23 |
22 |
13 |
[23] |
91.0 |
|
|
23. |
24 |
USA 34 |
Bad Idea |
Melges 24 |
Scot Zimmerman |
15 |
18 |
17 |
22 |
24 |
24 |
[24] |
96.0 |
|
|
24. |
77 |
USA 77 |
Bones (Corinthian) |
Melges 24 |
Robert Harf |
25/DNF |
25/DNS |
25/DNS |
10 |
19 |
20 |
[25] |
99.0 |
|
|
2017 Melges 24 U.S. National Championship - Corinthian Teams - Preliminary Cumulative Results
|
|
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/152928