Melges 24 European Sailing Series - Teams arrive in Torbole

by Fiona Brown on 25 Jul 2013 The International Melges 24 fleet is gathering in Torbole, Italy, in preparation for the third leg of the 2013 Melges 24 European Sailing Series which will be hosted by the Circolo Vela Torbole from 26-28 July 2013.28 teams from 13 nations and as far afield as Japan and Turkey will compete on the legendary waters of Lake Garda which are a favourite with the Melges 24 crews.

European Sailing Series leader Riccardo Simoneschi, sailing ITA819 Audi Ultra, will be hoping to make it three wins out of three and retain his overall series lead, but there are plenty of teams determined to try and prevent that happening. Leading the challenging pack are Italy's Matteo Balastrero aboard ITA639 Giogi who arrives at this regatta as reigning Italian Champion and Denmark's Rene Bruun, DEN664 BNI, who is currently lying second in the series and would love to get another good regatta under his belt. Double Olympian Chris Rast aboard SUI654 EFG Bank, Estonia's Ants Haavel in EST826 Freddy, and Germany's Kicker Schafer sailing GER582 No Woman No Cry, head up the exceptionally strong fleet of contenders who will be hard on their heels.

With the Magic Marine Melges 24 European Championship being held in just a few weeks time in Medemblik from 15-23 August, this weekend's regatta will also be a useful indicator of form for that event and a great opportunity for the teams to put in some extra training.

Registration for Torbole Melges 24 Week will open on Thursday 25 July with racing running from Friday 26 to Sunday 28 July 2013. Eight races are scheduled for the series and up to four races can be sailed each day with a discard being introduced once six races have been completed.

Further information including the full entry list is available from the Torbole website