Porter at Full Throttle on day 2 of Melges 24 US Nationals

by Event media on 23 Sep 2007 Typically shifty Lake St Clair conditions suited new Melges 24 overall leader Brian Porter, who is undoubtedly used to these conditions, as Full Throttle’s home port of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is known for some of the most unpredictable wind in the nation. Porter, with tactician Harry Melges III, scored two first place finishes on their way to a 5-point lead.

The 8-12 knots of unpredictable wind on day two of the Audi Melges 24 US National Championship frustrated many teams, and with lighter breeze forecasted for Sunday there is little doubt that a tough final day is in store for the fleet.

Porter, with tactician Harry Melges III, scored two first place finishes on their way to a 5-point lead. World Champion Dave Ullman aboard Rosebud couldn’t keep up with the shifts as well as Porter, with scores of 7, 10, and 2 on the day.

Long time Corinthian competitor, Othmar Von Blumencron’s Gannet, sits one point behind Ullman. Gannet has had the help of professional French sailor Thomas Allin – formerly of Partner & Partners, one of the top Melges 24 programs in the world.

'This is a great place to sail' said Allin, who is visiting the Great Lakes for the first time. 'I like the wind to be a bit more predictable, though.'

First day leader, Lightwave Nano, had a hard day today with an 11,11,6 score line. Tactician Brian Hutchinson explained: 'We had one start where we didn’t get up to speed for about a minute, and by then we just couldn’t find a route to the side we wanted. Then we picked decent sides instead of great ones in the other races.'

Melges 24 - Leading score after day 2

1 USA 649 Full Throttle Brian Porter 23 1 1 1 15 1 [23] 19pts
2 USA 631 Rosebud Scott Holmgren 16 2 3 7 10 2 [16] 24
3 USA 679 Gannet Othmar Blumencron 3 7 16 2 2 11 [16] 25
4 USA 513 Lightwave Nano David Ford 2 5 2 11 11 6 [11] 26
5 USA 587 WTF Alan Field 1 6 4 26 6 17 [26] 34
6 USA 655 Lightwave Micro David Ford 4 8 7 8 18 16 [18] 43
7 USA 615 Hoodlum (C) Paul Hulsey 15 3 26 10 5 18 [26] 51
8 GBR 593 Marianne Peter Shumaker 12 11 18 30 9 3 [30] 53
9 USA 613 Flying Toaster (C) Mike Dow 10 22 6 18 4 15 [22] 53
10 USA 511 USA 511 John Podmajersky 8 9 23 29 1 13 [29] 54
11 USA 674 Bulls Eye Shawn Grisham 6 14 8 16 16 10 [16] 54
12 USA 677 Sweaty Betty (C) Alex Shafer 7 16 24 9 17 8 [24] 57
13 USA 489 Blur Steven Kopf 13 31 9 6 8 24 [31] 60
14 USA 660 Flyer (C) Chuck Holzman 43 17 15 4 23 4 [43] 63
15 USA 700 Fu (C) Marc Hollerbach 33 25 10 14 13 7 [33] 69
16 USA 630 Rock N' Roll Argyle Campbell 24 10 14 23 38 5 [38] 76
17 GBR 618 DIVDAT Racing Andy Robinson 27 4 17 28 26 14 [28] 88
18 USA 160 I'm with Stupid Shane Vowels 9 21 19 20 21 40 [40] 90
19 USA 659 Pied Piper Jack Jennings 5 20 27 17 35 26 [35] 95
20 USA 565 Lamorak Mike Krantz 25 42 39 5 3 25 [42] 97
21 USA 675 12happythoughts David Brede 17 18 22 27 20 21 [27] 98
22 USA 708 Tramp Thomas Ritter 30 29 12 15 45 20 [45] 106
23 USA 031 moXie Marty Jensen 49 24 21 33 7 22 [49] 107
24 GBR 592 Team Gill (C) Simon Strauss 39 26/RDG 5 46 30 9 [46] 109
25 USA 88 2 Th' Max Gary Martin 31 34 43 3 25 19 [43] 112