2015 Melges 24 World Championships preview
by Mick Anderson - SailingPIX.dk on 29 Jun 2015
96 boats and around 500 sailors participate - 2015 Melges 24 World Championship Mick Anderson / Sailingpix.dk
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2015 Melges 24 World Championships – 96 boats are set up to fight for gold medals in Middelfart, Denmark. Weather forecast looks great with medium wind and temperatures in the 30's.
Denmark and Middelfart are showing themselves from their sides if the weather guys are to be believed. The forecast is promising 10-15 knots of wind and temperatures in the high 20's and low 30's. Ideal conditions for the Melges fleet.
All boats are now measured in, and at 1 pm the Practice Race will give the 96 crews from 18 different countries a chance to measure up with the top pro athletes.
On shore more than 100 volunteers have setup a tent village on the sea wall with bars, coffee bars and gear shops for the sailors to use when on land and the fans and families to use while waiting for the sailors to come ashore.
Event coordinator, Soren Laugesen from Match Racing Denmark, is looking forward to get the racing going:
- We've worked intensely on this event since November of 2013. It took quite some time to find the best place in the racing calendar, so it would fit in just after Kiel Race Week. And on top of that, we had to mingle dates around to fit into the women's match racing schedule. But all details have fallen into place, and in just a few hours the event takes off with the Practice Race, Laugesen says.
On the water, attention is drawn to the top names of the class: Gulari, McKee, Simoneschi, Lindberg to name a few. A look at the competitors list reveals many names usually featured on rosters of America's Cup, Extreme Sailing Series, and Olympic Sailing teams.
Follow the racing online and live
The World Championships are covered with live TV, taped interview shows, online tracking and on social medias.
Danish broadcasting company SportsXstream will use their custom-build TV-catamaran to cover the racing with additional cameras placed on the race course. This will be mixed live with tracking devices on the boats to make it possible to follow the racing - even for the people who need to be at work.
The opening ceremony takes place Monday evening on Hindsgavl Castle, where the galla dinner also is served on Saturday.
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