Change of pace at Melges 20 World Championship

by Melges 20 on 7 Oct 2017 After two days of perfect Southwest Newport breeze, Day Three of the Melges 20 World Championship dawned sunny skies and warm temps, but no wind. As sailors arrived at Sail Newport to begin their preparations, the glassy water was tempting for water skiing. At 09.00, PRO Peter 'Luigi' Reggio announced that the AP would be hoisted and the next announcement would be at 11:30, giving Melges 20 sailors a relaxing morning to check out Newport's best coffee shops.

With the best chance for fair racing being on the outside course due to the light-filling seabreeze and a strong ebb tide, the fleet once again congregated at Course Alpha for a 2:00 p.m. start. The light air was a big change of pace with the World Championship title hanging in the balance, and Day Three proved pivotal in the overall standings. Drew Freides' Pacific Yankee entered the day with a nine-point lead over two-time World Champion John Kilroy on Samba PA TI, while several other contenders remained ready to pounce on the smallest opportunity to advance. In essence, Freides and his Pacific Yankees were marked men.

Once to the racing area, Reggio took advantage of the wind on the race course, dropped marks and got the sequence under way. With a port favored line, the pin end was crowded and those that were able to get off the line clean and tack onto port found solid pressure in the middle of the course and made some nice gains. The left looked promising early, but it turned out to be fool's gold as the left side eventually caved hard and the boats on the middle right led at the top mark.

Jason Michas and his Midnight Blue team nailed the start close to the pin, flopped onto port and never looked back leading wire-to-wire in challenging, light conditions. Race Six winner Alessandro Rombelli on STIG challenged for the lead and took second, while Vladimir Prosikhin at the helm of NIKA sailed well to grab third in his brand new Melges 20. Michas' win marked the seventh different race winner, showing the depth and balance of the fleet at this World Championship.

Michas commented after his race win, 'We tend to like the light stuff, we were able to get off the line nicely and managed to have a couple good upwinds and held our own downwind.'

With the win, Michas moved from eleventh overall to seventh, and the fight for the top ten is intense with just 30 points separating fifth from fifteenth. The forecast for the final day is looking raceable and with a 2:00 p.m. final race cut off it will be important to start on time to get in three races for a full series.

Canadian Corinthian Domination - Continuing his strong performance in the Corinthian division and overall, Justin Quigg's Character 2.0 collected another bottle of champagne and looks to close out his Corinthian World title on Saturday. A great Thanksgiving indeed for these Canadian Sailors.

Top Five World Championship Results (Preliminary - After Seven Races, One Discard)

1.) (USA) Drew Freides, PACIFIC YANKEE; 1-2-2-[7]-6-7-5 = 23
2.) (RUS) Vladimir Prosikhin, NIKA; 5-6-[39/DNF]-4-4-12-3 = 34
3.) (USA) Daniel Thielman, KUAI; 9-4-4-1-15-[39/DNF]-6 = 39
4.) (USA) John Kilroy Jr., SAMBA PA TI; 11-3-6-6-1-13-[24] = 40
5.) (ITA) Alessandro Rombelli, STIG; 10-9-11-[12]-9-1-2 = 42

2017 Five Melges 20 World League Results (After 12 Events Complete)

1.) (RUS) Igor Rytov, RUSSIAN BOGATYRS = 136 pts.
2.) (RUS) Vladimir Prosikhin, NIKA = 95 pts.
3.) (ITA) Achille Onorato, MASCALZONE LATINO JR. = 82 pts.
4.) (USA) Drew Freides, PACIFIC YANKEE = 77 pts.
5.) (RUS) Alexander Ezhkov, PIROGOVO = 73 pts.

2017 Melges 20 World 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 Race 7 T O Total World Championship Racing One Design Division Melges 20 1. 1   USA 300 Pacific Yankee Melges 20 Drew Freides 1 2 2 7 6 7 5 [7] 23.0 2. 309   RUS 309 Nika Melges 20 Vladimir Prosikhin 5 6 39/DNF 4 4 12 3 [39] 34.0 3. 76   USA 7676 Kuai Melges 20 Daniel Thielman 9 4 4 1 15 39/DNF 6 [39] 39.0 4. 313   USA 13131 Samba Pa Ti Melges 20 John Kilroy 11 3 6 6 1 13 24 [24] 40.0 5. 65   ITA 65 Stig Melges 20 Alessandro Rombelli 10 9 11 12 9 1 2 [12] 42.0 6. 250   USA 250 Oleander Melges 20 James Wilson 4 1 5 2 20 17 32 [32] 49.0 7. 228   USA 228 Midnight Blue Melges 20 Jason Michas 28 8 9 13 10 11 1 [28] 52.0 8. 311   USA 311 Wildman Melges 20 Liam Kilroy 7 5 12 8 3 18 23 [23] 53.0 9. 301   MON 301 Raya Melges 20 Matteo Marenghi Vaselli 8 11 15 9 8 6 29 [29] 57.0 10. 414   USA 414 Cinghiale Melges 20 Rob Wilber 3 28 1 26 22 3 4 [28] 59.0 11. 8   USA 8 Shimmer Melges 20 Russell Lucas 20 13 7 14 7 9 10 [20] 60.0 12. 898   RUS 898 Russian Bogatyrs Melges 20 Igor Rytov 2 19 3 23 2 28 13 [28] 62.0 13. 217   USA 217 Slingshot Melges 20 Wes Whitmyer Jr 6 7 8 10 18 21 18 [21] 67.0 14. 213   USA 213 Moby Melges 20 Caleb Armstrong 24 31 16 3 13 4 9 [31] 69.0 15. 14   USA 14 Red Sky Sailing Team Melges 20 Paul Reilly 16 17 13 15 11 5 12 [17] 72.0 16. 305   USA 305 Midnight Sun Melges 20 Alexis Michas 21 33 20 16 5 2 16 [33] 80.0 17. 50   ITA 50 Fremito d'Arja Melges 20 Dario Levi 22 20 19 5 32 8 8 [32] 82.0 18. 229   CAN 229 Character 2.0 (Corinthian) Melges 20 Justin Quigg 18 15 18 18 21 15 11 [21] 95.0 19. 306   USA 306 Talisman Melges 20 John Bailey 15 18 21 17 19 16 14 [21] 99.0 20. 23   ITA 23 Mascalzone Latino Jr Melges 20 Achille Onorato 19 12 23 11 16 25 33 [33] 106.0 21. 304   USA 304 Merga Melges 20 Drew Wierda 14 10 10 24 34 34 17 [34] 109.0 22. 47   RUS 47 Kotyara Melges 20 Oleg Evdokimenko 12 14 22 20 17 31 28 [31] 113.0 23. 88   USA 88 Heartbreaker Melges 20 Robert Hughes 39/DNF 39/DNS 17 19 12 14 19 [39] 120.0 24. 214   CAN 214 Grinning Streak Melges 20 Rhonda Joyce 25 25 14 21 29 26 15 [29] 126.0 25. 200   BRA 200 Portobello (Corinthian) Melges 20 Cesar Gomes Neto 17 16 29 27 23 19 37 [37] 131.0 26. 294   RUS 294 RUS 294 Melges 20 Leonid Altukhov 27 27 28 32 26 24 7 [32] 139.0 27. 265   RUS 265 Russotrans Melges 20 Yurii Morozov 13 21 26 30 25 32 26 [32] 141.0 28. 15   ISV 1315 Buds to Blossoms Melges 20 August Schram 30 23 33 34 14 27 21 [34] 148.0 29. 225   USA 225 Flygfisk Melges 20 Tom Kassberg 23 24 31 22 27 22 30 [31] 148.0 30. 308   AUS 308 Dark Star Melges 20 John Bacon 29 29 30 31 31 10 22 [31] 151.0 31. 280   USA 280 Bobsled Melges 20 Bob Moran 34 30 25 33 24 23 20 [34] 155.0 32. 4   SWE 202 Intermezzo (Corinthian) Melges 20 Johannes Lind-Widestam 35 26 32 28 30 20 25 [35] 161.0 33. 210   AUS 13 Angophora Melges 20 Guido Belgiorno-Nettis 26 22 24 29 36 29 34 [36] 164.0 34. 25   MON 25 Path Melges 20 Anatoly Karachinsky 31 39/DNS 39/DNS 25 28 30 27 [39] 180.0 35. 227   USA 227 Kinetic Melges 20 Bob Hayward 32 32 27 36 37 35 35 [37] 197.0 36. 196   USA 196 Sinful Opportunity (Corinthian) Melges 20 Ben Wilkinson 39/DNF 34 34 35 33 36 31 [39] 203.0 37. 17   USA 17 Solas (Corinthian) Melges 20 John Murphy 39/DNF 39/DNS 39/DNS 37 35 33 36 [39] 219.0 38. 303   BRA 303 Onda Melges 20 Eduardo Souza Ramos 33 39/RET 39/DNF 39/DNC 39/DNC 39/DNC 39/DNC [39] 228.0    2017 Melges 20 World Championship - Corinthian Teams - Preliminary Cumulative Results Bow Sail Number Yacht Name Yacht Design Owner/Skipper Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 T O Total World Championship Racing One Design Division Melges 20 1. 229   CAN 229 Character 2.0 Melges 20 Justin Quigg 18 15 18 18 21 15 11 [21] 95.0 2. 200   BRA 200 Portobello Melges 20 Cesar Gomes Neto 17 16 29 27 23 19 37 [37] 131.0 3. 4   SWE 202 Intermezzo Melges 20 Johannes Lind-Widestam 35 26 32 28 30 20 25 [35] 161.0 4. 196   USA 196 Sinful Opportunity Melges 20 Ben Wilkinson 39/DNF 34 34 35 33 36 31 [39] 203.0 5. 17   USA 17 Solas Melges 20 John Murphy 39/DNF 39/DNS 39/DNS 37 35 33 36 [39] 219.0