Melges 32 Miami Championship - Classic Miami conditions

by Melges 32 Class Association on 3 Mar 2012 012 Melges 32 Miami Championship day 1 delivered classic Miami conditions. A steady stream of plentiful sunshine and warmth, set the stage for three amazing races.

Leading the overnight charge is Japan's Keisuke Suzuki on Swing. Jason Carroll's Argo is seated second and John Porter on Full Throttle is third.

With his 'Good Winds' banner flying high above the course, Roberto Tomasini Grinover on Robertissima lashed out at the competition in the first race of the day, taking the right side upwind to round the weathermark in first. Carroll came on strong to round second, just ahead of Suzuki in third. As the three passed through the gate, they held position. For the final mark rounding, Grinover remained firmly in the lead, with Suzuki overtaking for second while Carroll slipped back to third. Mark Plaxton's INTAC rounded in fourth and Pieter Taselaar aboard Bliksem was fifth. Downwind, Suzuki remained determined to conquer the lead. Coming in strong and fast from the right, Suzuki snatched the victory rug right out from under Grinover a boat length ahead of the line to win. Grinover settled for second, Carroll came third.

The second race of the day proved to be a great success for Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino as he launched off the starting line to round the top mark in first with a substantial lead. Never once did he look back nor worry with contention from start to finish. Suzuki rounded in second, followed by Ryan DeVos' Volpe in third. Downwind, Onorato held on to the lead with Suzuki trying to chase him down. DeVos slipped to fourth giving up third to John Porter on Full Throttle at the gate. With Onorato extending his lead, Suzuki managed to hold onto second with DeVos reclaiming third. It wasn't long before the young DeVos put the ultimate moves on Suzuki grabbing second only moments from the finish.

After one general recall and a solid start, PRO Hank Stuart fired off the third and final race of the day. Alec Cutler on Hedgehog took immediate command of the fleet at the top mark with Michael Dominguez's Bronco in second, and John Taylor's Ninkasi in third. Alex Jackson's Leenabarca was fourth, Porter rounded fifth, and Suzuki lurked in sixth. Downwind Cutler held the lead, with Dominguez rounding almost dead even through the gate. At the final mark, they held position with Suzuki moving up for third. It was a fight to the finish, with Suzuki coming from behind to take the lead from Cutler to win. Cutler settled for second and Dominguez took third.

Three additional races are planned for Saturday.

			1.	233	JPN 233	Swing	Melges 32	Keisuke Suzuki	1	3	1			5.0
			2.	28	USA 128	Argo	Melges 32	Jason Carroll	3	7	5			15.0
			3.	49	USA 49	Full Throttle	Melges 32	John Porter	11	4	4			19.0
			4.	700	IVB 007	INTAC	Melges 32	Mark Plaxton	4	6	10			20.0
			5.	74	USA 174	Leenabarca	Melges 32	Alex Jackson	8	9	6			23.0
			6.	1	BER 1	Hedgehog	Melges 32	Alec Cutler	17	5	2			24.0
			7.	13	USA 13131	Samba Pa Ti	Melges 32	JOHN Kilroy	10	8	7			25.0
			8.	134	USA 134	Catapult	Melges 32	Joel Ronning	7	10	13			30.0
			9.	21	ITA 2121	Mascalzone Latino	Melges 32	Vincenzo Onorato	14	1	16			31.0
			10.	603	USA 32917	Warpath	Melges 32	Stephen Howe	6	13	14			33.0
			11.	18	USA 180	Volpe	melges 32	Ryan DeVos	15	2	18			35.0
			12.	0	USA 184	Bronco	Melges 32	Michael Dominguez	21	12	3			36.0
			13.	12	USA 1215	Delta	Melges 32	Dalton DeVos	9	20	9			38.0
			14.	111	AUT 1	Robertissima 1	Melges 32	Roberto Tomasini Grinover	2	16	22			40.0
			15.	15	USA 1315	Ninkasi	Melges 32	John Taylor	16	14	12			42.0
			16.	206	USA 206	Ramrod	Melges 32	Rodrick Jabin	18	11	21			50.0
			17.	2	ITA 212	Fantastica	Melges 32	Lanfranco Cirillo	20	19	15			54.0
			18.	57	USA 157	Mojo	Melges 32	Steve Rhyne	24	23	8			55.0
			19.	33	USA 201	Heartbreaker	Melges 32	Robert Hughes	19	25	11			55.0
			20.	208	USA 208	Celeritas	Melges 32	Malcolm Gefter	13	18	24			55.0
			21.	11	USA 211	Arethusa	Melges 32	Phil Lotz	12	21	23			56.0
			22.	66	GBR 275	Red	Melges 32	Joe Woods	25	15	17			57.0
			23.	4	USA 169	Bliksem	Melges 32	Pieter Taselaar	5	27/DNS	27/DNC			59.0
			24.	126	USA 126	Flat Stanley	Melges 32	T. Sheehan / T. McSweeney	22	17	20			59.0
			25.	77	USA 77	Uno	Melges 32	Hasip Gencer	23	24	19			66.0
			26.	130	USA 130	Element	Melges 32	Jim Grundy	26	22	25			73.0

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