Melges 32 Gold Cup - Wild and windy day 1 in Ft. Lauderdale

by Joy Dunigan on 2 Dec 2012 The first day of competition for the Melges 32 Gold Cup, hosted by the Lauderdale Yacht Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was ushered in by a steady 15-20 knots of breeze and monster seas. Italy's Roberto Tomasini Grinover's Robertissima 1 with Vasco Vascotto on tactics holds the overall championship lead after aquiring an impressive daily 2-2-3 scoreline. Eleven points behind and in second place, is Jason Carroll's Argo and tactician Cameron Appleton. Andrea Pozzi's Bombarda with Lorenzo Bressani as tactician complete the top three, one slim point behind Carroll.

Three races were completed with wind speeds not so much an issue as was the sea states. Big waves of 5-7 and occasional nine footers across the course made for challenging conditions and great downwind rides.

Race one winner, Joel Ronning on Catapult stunned the competition by taking the lead at the first top mark, then extending for the win. Tomasini Grinover grabbed a close second, while Carroll settled for third.

Lanfranco Cirillo's Fantastica came on strong to win race two, with Tomasini Grinover in second and Joe Woods' Red in third.

The last and final heat of the day seemed to come easy to Tomasini Grinover as he stood steadfast and strong to win. Steve Howe's Warpath finished second and Pozzi came third.

Weather forecasts call for much of the same on Saturday where three more races will be conducted.

2012 Melges 32 Gold Cup Preliminary Cumulative Results

Bow Sail Number Yacht Name Yacht Design Owner/Skipper Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total Gold Cup Racing   One Design Division     Melges 32     1. 111 SUI 1 Robertissima 1 Melges 32 Roberto Tomasini Grinover 2 2 1 5.0         2. 128 USA 128 ARGO Melges 32 Jason Carroll 3 7 4 14.0         3. 42 ITA 229 Bombarda Melges 32 Andrea Pozzi 8 4 3 15.0         4. 12 USA 1215 Delta Melges 32 Dalton DeVos 4 6 5 15.0         5. 2 ITA 212 Fantastica Melges 32 Lanfranco Cirillo 9 1 6 16.0         6. 603 USA 32917 Warpath Melges 32 Stephen Howe 10 5 2 17.0         7. 88 USA 2 Goombay Smash Melges 32 William Douglass 7 10 8 25.0         8. 66 GBR 275 Red Melges 32 Joe Woods 15/DNS 3 9 27.0         9. 77 RUS 13 Synergy GT Melges 32 Valentin Zavadnikov 12 8 7 27.0         10. 15 USA 1315 Ninkasi Melges 32 John Taylor 6 12 10 28.0         11. 321 SWE 321 Inga From Sweden 3 Melges 32 Richard Goransson 5 13 12 30.0         12. 134 USA 134 Catapult Melges 32 Joel Ronning 1 15/DNF 15/DNS 31.0         13. 11 USA 211 Arethusa Melges 32 Philip Lotz 13 9 11 33.0         14. 74 USA 174 Leenabarca Melges 32 Alex Jackson 11 11 15/DNF 37.0

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