2015 Melges 32 World Championship - Sicilian shake-up

by Melges 32 on 29 Aug 2015 A high pressure system hung over Sicily for the start of the third day of racing at the 2015 Melges 32 World Championship organized by B.Plan Sport and Events (BPSE) in cooperation with Melges Europe. Another weak northeast gradient lingered producing a six - eight knot northerly wind, with the breeze dipping below class minimums on occasion. PRO Anderson Reggio exercised patience, eventually firing off two quality races.

The starting sequence for Race Five witnessed several general recalls and a postponement due to lack of wind. The first start eventually got underway with a Z-flag in effect. It was a tough start for some as several teams were OCS and ended up having to take a harsh 20% penalty.

The boat end of the line was a popular spot to be and those who got off clean (and for some late), onto port tack early, headed for the right corner were able to take advantage of the stronger breeze funneling the Trapani city front. Melges 32 veteran Filippo Pacinotti and his fashionable Brontolo HH team took an early lead. Pacinotti lead a full lap but eventually succumbed to advances made by Alessandro Rombelli's STIG. Rombelli proved the strength of his team by taking the win, Pacinotti settled for second. Dalton DeVos' Delta showed solid determination after a brutal start, picking their way around the fleet to finish and impressive third.

Race Six produced yet another challenging start featuring more general recall action and yet another Z-Flag start. With no boats OCS, the fleet was all clear and racing was as if it was on repeat - go from the boat to the right corner was the play of the day. Ryan DeVos' Volpe started late at the boat, lead to the right and approached the top in good form. But it was Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio's G-SPOT who started slightly down from the boat end and blazed upwind on port tack, rounding first just in front of DeVos.

'Our plan was to start clean near the boat and get to the right corner. We did not think the current was as big of an advantage on the right side today, but the breeze did seem to be stronger,' commented crafty tactician Branko Brcin aboard G-SPOT. 'We also had some nice speed upwind too which certainly helped with battling boats around the race course.'

It was di Lapigio's superior boat speed that ultimately granted him the win in Race Six. DeVos finished second, followed by Japan's Yukihiro Ishida's Yasha Samurai in third.

Winning the lone race on Day Two and the final race today enabled di Lapigio to get a better grip on third place overall and reel in top leaders Rombelli and Jason Carroll on Argo just a little bit closer.

Despite posting an incredible all top-five finishes, Carroll dropped from first to second place now two points behind Rombelli. The skeleton in the closet is the eighteenth place finish that the STIG team posted in Race Six and now must maintain scoring perfection for the final four World Championship races.

The forecast for Saturday looks to be more promising. The fleet has its fingers crossed hoping for similar conditions to opening day.

2015 Melges 32 World Championship racing continues tomorrow for a fourth consecutive day in Trapani with a one o'clock start time (ET) and if the forecast holds, it will be a three race day.

Top Ten Results (Preliminary - After Six Races, One Discard)

1.) Alessandro Rombelli/Francesco Bruni, STIG; 2-2-4-3-1-[18] = 12
2.) Jason Carroll/Cameron Appleton, Argo; [4]-3-1-2-4-4 = 14
3.) Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio/Branko Brcin, G-SPOT; [12]-10-5-1-7-1 = 24
4.) Ryan DeVos/Mark Mendelblatt, Volpe; 3-4-8-[14]-9-2 = 26
5.) Keisuke Suzuki/Nicolai Sehested, Swing; [14]-8-6-5-6-7 = 32
6.) Roberto Tomasini Grinover/Vasco Vascotto, Robertissima; 1-[21]-2-13-12-9 = 37
7.) Richard Goransson/Mike Buckley, Inga From Sweden; [19]-9-10-9-5-5 = 38
8.) Yukihiro Ishida/Hamish Pepper, Yasha Samurai; 11-6-3-16-[20]-3 = 39
9.) Dalton DeVos/Jonathan McKee, Delta; 13-5-19-4-3-[20] = 44
10.) Andrea Ferrari/Roberto Spata, Spirit of Nerina; 7-7-[16]-11-11-10 = 46

2015 Melges 32 World Championship - Audi Tron Sailing Series - 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 World Championship Racing One Design Division Melges 32 1. 65 ITA 65 Stig Melges 32 Alessandro Rombelli 2 2 4 3 1 18 [18] 12.0 2. 128 USA 128 Argo Melges 32 Jason Carroll 4 3 1 2 4 4 [4] 14.0 3. 181 MON 181 G-Spot Melges 32 Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio 12 10 5 1 7 1 [12] 24.0 4. 18 USA 180 Volpe Melges 32 Ryan DeVos 3 4 8 14 9 2 [14] 26.0 5. 233 JPN 233 Swing Melges 32 Keisuke Suzuki 14 8 6 5 6 7 [14] 32.0 6. 1 MON 1 Robertissima Melges 32 Roberto Tomasini 1 21 2 13 12 9 [21] 37.0 7. 321 SWE 321 Inga from Sweden Melges 32 Richard Goransson 19 9 10 9 5 5 [19] 38.0 8. 203 JPN 203 Yasha Samuray Melges 32 Ishida Yukihiro 11 6 3 16 20 3 [20] 39.0 9. 12 USA 1215 Delta Melges 32 Dalton DeVos 13 5 19 4 3 20 [20] 44.0 10. 173 ITA 173 Spirit of Nerina Melges 32 Andrea Ferrari 7 7 16 11 11 10 [16] 46.0 11. 667 ITA 667 Brontolo HH Melges 32 Filippo Pacinotti 9 20 13 12 2 12 [20] 48.0 12. 176 ITA 176 Margherita Melges 32 Roberto Mazzucato 10 1 9 15 16 16 [16] 51.0 13. 487 ITA 487 Torpyone Melges 32 Lorenzo Lupi 6 12 11 20 17/ZFP 11 [20] 57.0 14. 223 RUS 223 Tavatuy-Water Way Melges 32 Pavel Kuznetsov 8 15 15 19 8 14 [19] 60.0 15. 212 GER 212 Wilma Melges 32 Fritz Homann 5 14 21 7 14/ZFP 21 [21] 61.0 16. 77 RUS 13 Synergy Melges 32 Valentin Zavadnikov 16 11 12 18 21/ZFP 6 [21] 63.0 17. 111 BER 1 Hedgehog Melges 32 Alec Cutler 17 13 7 10 19 19 [19] 66.0 18. 958 ITA 191 Fra Martina Melges 32 Edoardo Pavesio 21 19 14 8 14 15 [21] 70.0 19. 194 ITA 194 Vitamina Melges 32 Andrea Lacorte 15 18 17 6 22/ZFP 17 [22] 73.0 20. 187 ITA 187 Audi E-Tron F.lli Giacomel Melges 32 Mauro Mocchegiani 18 16 18 17 15 8 [18] 74.0 21. 159 TUR 159 EKER Melges 32 Ahmet Eker 20 17 20 22 23/ZFP 13 [23] 92.0 22. 185 ITA 185 LEA Melges 32 Marco Calì 22 22 22 21 22 22 [22] 109.0