2014 Audi Melges 20 World Championship - It's go time in Garda

2014 Audi Melges 20 World Championship Joy Dunigan

2014 Audi Melges 20 World Championship © Joy Dunigan

The weather pattern in Garda over the last few days has been a bit on the light and rainy side. Even today, teams waited for several hours before leaving the docks to practice due to no breeze. They tinkered with the boats, walked the docks, had lunch at some of Riva's beautiful outdoor cafe's, while others relaxed in the Audi hospitality area and caught-up up on sleep due to jetlag. The breeze came up around 3 p.m. and teams rushed off the docks to practice. Unfortunately, no practice race was held as a storm developed with incredible wind forcing everyone back to shore.

2014 Audi Melges 20 World Championship © Joy Dunigan

The entry list is star-studded, not to mention loaded from top to bottom with some of the very best amatuer drivers in the world.

'It is impossible to predict what will happen on Lake Garda over the next few days and with 57 teams on the line it will surely will be a spectacular event,' said International Audi Melges 20 Class Chairman, Manfredi Vianini Tolomei. 'So much work has gone into making the next four days unforgettable. From the Melges organization, to the International Class Association as well as the regional fleets, everyone has worked very hard to make it the greatest regatta ever. We are happy to have so many entries and among them, two lady helms as well as three youth sailors - one of them also a helm.'

2014 Audi Melges 20 World Championship © Joy Dunigan

'The Audi Melges 20 is fitting for sailors of every age, gender and level of experience. I am very proud to chair this class and think that on Lake Garda, our owners will race hard with great sportsmanship, honesty and through many friendships,' concluded Vianini Tolomei.

Racing commences at 12:30 p.m. with a maximum of three races scheduled.

 2014 Audi Melges 20 World Championship Current Entries:

Sail Number Yacht Name Owner's Name Home Port Yacht Type Length 1. ITA 205 3menda Federico Albano La Spezia, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 2. CZE 180 Aloha Jan Kuchar Prague, Czech rep, CZE Audi Melges 20 20 3. RUS 36 Anna Vladimir Silkin Moscow, RUS Audi Melges 20 20 4. RUS 7 ANYWAYANYDAY Kirill Podolsky RUS Audi Melges 20 20 5. ITA 106 Asante Sana Sailing Team Claudio Dutto Riva del Garda, Trento, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 6. ITA 124 Audi G-Tron F.lli Giacomel Roberto Martinez Milano, MI, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 7. CAN 170 Batteries 4 Bacio Rhonda Joyce Toronto, Ont, CAN Audi Melges 20 20 8. USA 231 Blind Squirrel John Brown Philadelphia, PA, USA Audi Melges 20 20 9. ITA 149 CAMAY Lauro Bonora Ferrara, Ferrara, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 10. ITA 027 Chimera Marco Gambarella Palermo, Palermo, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 11. SUI 206 Cold Duck August Schram Bad Goisern, Öberösterreich, AUS Audi Melges 20 20 12. JPN 277 Contious Norikatsu Aizawa Fujisawa, Kanagawa, JPN Audi Melges 20 20 13. MON 81 Customly Corrado Agusta Monaco, MON Audi Melges 20 20 14. GER 135 Fantastichina Fritz Homann München, BY, GER Audi Melges 20 20 15. RUS 262 Fly or die Denis Lankin RUS Audi Melges 20 20 16. ITA 50 Fremito D'arja Dario Levi London, GBR Audi Melges 20 20 17. ITA 181 Hanneken Simone Anichini Florence, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 18. GER 164 Hellcat Juergen Fuchs Munich, Bavaria, GER Audi Melges 20 20 19. ITA 157 ITA 157 Francesco Farneti Rimini, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 20. RUS 047 Kotyara Oleg Evdokimenko Moscow, RUS Audi Melges 20 20 21. ITA 107 Leviathan Davide Albertini Petroni Milano, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 22. MON 108 Lucifer Matteo Marenghi Vaselli Fontvieille, MON Audi Melges 20 20 23. JPN 271 Mamma Aiuto! Naofumi Kamei Tokio, Baleares, JPN Audi Melges 20 20 24. ITA 167 Maolca Manfredi Vianini Tolomei Milan, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 25. GER 204 Maroi Jan Kowalski München, BY, GER Audi Melges 20 20 26. ITA 23 Mascalzone Latino Achille Onorato Milano, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 27. ITA 192 Mezza Luna Marco Franchini ITA Audi Melges 20 20 28. MON 333 Monaco Racing Fleet Guido Miani Monaco, MON Audi Melges 20 20 29. MON 104 Money Time Philippe Pizzichini Monaco, MON Audi Melges 20 20 30. AUT 159 N.N. Klaus Schober Zell am See, AUT Audi Melges 20 20 31. USA 1315 Ninkasi John Taylor Jupiter, FL, USA Audi Melges 20 20 32. RUS 173 Ost Legal Vladimir Lipavsky Moscow, RUS Audi Melges 20 20 33. RUS 44 Ottobre Rosso Artem Kuznetsov RUS Audi Melges 20 20 34. ITA 112 Peccere' Mirko de Falco Napoli, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 35. RUS 002 Pirogovo Sailing Alexandr Ezhkov Moscow, RUS Audi Melges 20 20 36. ITA 136 Raffica Pasquale Orofino Naples, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 37. USA 14 Red Sky Sailing Team Paul Reilly Chicago, IL, USA Audi Melges 20 20 38. RUS 156 RUS 156 QUANTUM Marina Chubkina RUS Audi Melges 20 20 39. ITA 199 Rush Diletta PRIMED Mauro Mocchegiani ITA Audi Melges 20 20 40. RUS 265 Russotrans Yuriy Morozov Moscow, RUS Audi Melges 20 20 41. ITA 189 Sailing Lab Andrea Bruschi Codogno, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 42. USA 13131 Samba Pa Ti John Kilroy Los Angeles, CA, USA Audi Melges 20 20 43. USA 276 Section 16 richard Davies Winnetka, IL, USA Audi Melges 20 20 44. USA 008 Shimmer Russ Lucas Bay Head, NJ, USA Audi Melges 20 20 45. USA 217 Slingshot Wes Whitmyer Jr Stamford, CT, USA Audi Melges 20 20 46. JPN 233 Sokokumaru Sumio Shimoyama Tokyo, JPN Audi Melges 20 20 47. ITA 154 Spirit of Nerina Mirko Bargolini / Francesco Scarselli Albavilla, Como, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 48. ITA 65 STIG Alessandro Rombelli Milano, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 49. MON 713 Synergy Valentine Zavadnikov Moscow, RUS Audi Melges 20 20 50. ITA 125 T2R Tommaso Pavan Vicenza, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 51. ITA 137 Tachicardia Michele Dandolo Napoli, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 52. ITA 158 Tomahawk Stefano Santucci Roma, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 53. ITA 220 Turnover Renato Vallivero Mongrando, Biella, ITA Audi Melges 20 20 54. DEN 150 upupup Bo Boje Pedersen Copenhagen, DEN Audi Melges 20 20 55. RUS 25 Versya Anatoly Karachinskiy Moscow, RUS Audi Melges 20 20 56. CAN 222 Wild Deuces Paul Currie Toronto, Ont, CAN Audi Melges 20 20 57. USA 311 Wildman Liam Kilroy San Francisco, CA, USA Audi Melges 20 20