Audi Melges 20 World Championship - Classic Garda conditions on day 2

by International Audi Melges 20 Class Association on 29 Aug 2014 Three additional races were added to the scoreboard on Thursday, day two of the 2014 Audi Melges 20 World Championship hosted by Fraglia Della Vela Riva. With a substantial 14-point lead, American John Kilroy on Samba Pa Ti is in first place overall.

Monaco's Guido Miani aboard Monaco Racing Fleet had a phenomenal day, winning two of the three daily races. 'We had a fantastic day - beautiful conditions. The lake is always amazing. Our tactician, Gabriele Benussi made some great calls. It was really tough racing against Samba and Section 16,' said Miani. 'This boat is just amazing. I've been around, sailing for more than 40 years and this is clearly the best fleet, with the best people and a lot of fun.'

Tied with points and seated in third on countback is current Audi Sailing Series leader Dario Levi on Fremito D'Arja. Achille Onorato's Mascalzone Latino Jr. is fourth, and overnight leader Alessandro Rombelli on STIG had a very disappointing day falling to fifth overall.

The first race of the day, Race Four got underway around 9 o'clock with overcast skies and a nice 10-12 knots of breeze, which slowly dissipated as the race completed. Fifty-seven teams rocked the starting line with Mianilaunching ahead to round the weathermark in first, followed by Mirko De Falco's Peccere, Denmark's Bo Boje Pedersen's UpUpUp and Levi, with Kilroy, Onorato and Richard Davies on Section 16 very close behind. With a course change at the gate, Miani continued to lead the fleet with Levi and Kilroy gaining positions to occupy second and third. Kilroy gained again upwind to follow Miani around the final top mark of the race in second place. On the final run to the finish, the top five boats put some distance between themselves and the rest of the fleet blasting downwind in the diminishing and shifty breeze. Miani took the win, Kilroy was second and Levi came third. Onorato finished fourth and Pedersen was fifth - his best finish ever since debuting in the fleet at the Worlds in Ocean Reef, FL.

The Race Committee was hoping for a quick reset of the course and getting Race Five started right away. However, the breeze was shifting 30 to 50 degrees at times prompting the AP Flag, hence sending teams back to the docks until better breeze appeared.

While on shore, teams enjoyed lunch in local cafe's and restaurants. The sun appeared and more breeze arrived just before 1 o'clock - perfect for two more races.

Stellar conditions were in store for the fleet in Races Five and Six. A beautiful 13-15 knots, a 2-3 foot chop and 57 breeze-hungry Audi Melges 20s enjoyed afternoon racing in Garda to the fullest. An over-anxious fleet resulted in the first general recall of the regatta in Race Five. Once back in order and off the line, it was a full on, outright battle between Miani (first) and Kilroy (second) and Paul Reilly's Red Sky Sailing Team (third) around the top mark. Miani passed through the gates with Kilroy chasing. Davies took advantage of great breeze to be third, followed by Reilly. For the final mark, Kilroy edged out Miani upwind. Once outfront Kilroy never looked back, taking the win. Davies took second with Miani accepting third.

The final race of the day was equally exciting and all smiles. This is what teams signed up for and Garda delivered - unsurpassed competition, premium racing and incredible downwind planing conditions. Miani punched out again to lead Race six, this time he established a nice lead leaving Kilroy, Reilly, Levi and Japan's Naofumi Kamei on Mamma Aiuto! to battle for position. At the gate, Kilroy advanced into second, followed by Kamei and Davies who worked the left side for pressure moving up several positions. Back upwind, Kilroy challenged but Miani was not about to relinquish his lead. Kamei, Davies, Levi, Franceso Farnetti on ITA-157 and Monaco's Corado Agusta on Customly charged forward. Miani easily took the win while the race was still very much on for the remaining top five positions. Right at the finish line, Kamei foiled the jibe allowing for Davies to take third, Agusta was fourth. Kamei came fifth.

Friday marks the third day of racing in Riva with a 1 o'clock start, which is perfect since teams will be enjoying a Championship dinner tonight.

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
		Audi Melges 20
		1.	313		USA 13131	Samba Pa Ti	Audi Melges 20	John Kilroy	13	4	4	2	1	2	[13]	13.0
		2.	333		MON 333	Monaco Racing Fleet	Audi Melges 20	Guido Miani	27	5	17	1	3	1	[27]	27.0
		3.	50		ITA 50	Fremito D'arja	Audi Melges 20	Dario Levi	6	17	8	3	4	6	[17]	27.0
		4.	23		ITA 23	Mascalzone Latino	Audi Melges 20	Achille Onorato	18	9	3	4	8	9	[18]	33.0
		5.	65		ITA 65	STIG	Audi Melges 20	Alessandro Rombelli	11	1	2	23	9	43	[43]	46.0
		6.	276		USA 276	Section 16	Audi Melges 20	Richard Davies	20	16	22	6	2	3	[22]	47.0
		7.	311		USA 311	Wildman	Audi Melges 20	Liam Kilroy	3	2	20	15	16	11	[20]	47.0
		8.	8		USA 008	Shimmer	Audi Melges 20	Russ Lucas	5	6	16	12	17	15	[17]	54.0
		9.	14		USA 14	Red Sky Sailing Team	Audi Melges 20	Paul Reilly	12	22	27	9	5	8	[27]	56.0
		10.	271		JPN 271	Mamma Aiuto!	Audi Melges 20	Naofumi Kamei	17	21	30	13	11	5	[30]	67.0
		11.	15		USA 1315	Ninkasi	Audi Melges 20	John Taylor	8	8	36	35	10	10	[36]	71.0
		12.	217		USA 217	Slingshot	Audi Melges 20	Wes Whitmyer Jr	45	24	9	14	12	13	[45]	72.0
		13.	112		ITA 112	Peccere'	Audi Melges 20	Mirko de Falco	44	13	5	7	28	20	[44]	73.0
		14.	47		RUS 047	Kotyara	Audi Melges 20	Oleg Evdokimenko	2	3	28	8	35	44	[44]	76.0
		15.	167		ITA 167	Maolca	Audi Melges 20	Manfredi Vianini Tolomei	7	20	21	18	30	14	[30]	80.0
		16.	107		ITA 107	Leviathan	Audi Melges 20	Davide Albertini Petroni	43	12	23	11	24	12	[43]	82.0
		17.	108		MON 108	Lucifer	Audi Melges 20	Matteo Marenghi Vaselli	16	10	27/SCP	33	13	17	[33]	83.0
		18.	157		ITA 157	ITA 157	Audi Melges 20	Francesco Farneti	22	33	18	32	7	7	[33]	86.0
		19.	149		ITA 149	CAMAY	Audi Melges 20	Lauro Bonora	21	18	13	30	6	58/DNF	[58]	88.0
		20.	106		ITA 106	Asante Sana Sailing Team	Audi Melges 20	Claudio Dutto	9	7	31	10	31	36	[36]	88.0
		21.	180		CZE 180	Aloha	Audi Melges 20	Jan Kuchar	25	11	7	24	23	28	[28]	90.0
		22.	205		ITA 205	3menda	Audi Melges 20	Federico Albano	4	15	32	19	58/DSQ	21	[58]	91.0
		23.	124		ITA 124	Audi G-Tron F.lli Giacomel	Audi Melges 20	Roberto Martinez	24	28	1	20	29	22	[29]	95.0
		24.	173		RUS 173	Ost Legal	Audi Melges 20	Vladimir Lipavsky	26	32	14	16	27	18	[32]	101.0
		25.	150		DEN 150	upupup	Audi Melges 20	Bo Boje Pedersen	28	37	12	5	58/SCP	32	[58]	114.0
		26.	81		MON 81	Customly	Audi Melges 20	Corrado Agusta	32	29	46	37	19	4	[46]	121.0
		27.	262		RUS 262	Fly or die	Audi Melges 20	Denis Lankin	23	25	24	21	34	31	[34]	124.0
		28.	27		ITA 027	Chimera (Corinthian)	Audi Melges 20	Marco Gambardella	10	34	6	45	42	33	[45]	125.0
		29.	204		GER 204	Maroi (Corinthian)	Audi Melges 20	Jan Kowalski	31	38	11	53	21	24	[53]	125.0
		30.	192		ITA 192	Mezza Luna	Audi Melges 20	Marco Franchini	19	41	51	36	14	16	[51]	126.0
		31.	189		ITA 189	Sailing Lab	Audi Melges 20	Andrea Bruschi	46	19	15	42	25	29	[46]	130.0
		32.	7		RUS 7	ANYWAYANYDAY	Audi Melges 20	Kirill Podolsky	42	26	19	29	33	26	[42]	133.0
		33.	136		ITA 136	Raffica	Audi Melges 20	Pasquale Orofino	49	27	25	27	15	40	[49]	134.0
		34.	199		ITA 199	Rush Diletta PRIMED	Audi Melges 20	Mauro Mocchegiani	34	30	34	43	20	19	[43]	137.0
		35.	713		MON 713	Synergy	Audi Melges 20	Valentine Zavadnikov	15	44	47	46	18	23	[47]	146.0
		36.	104		MON 104	Money Time	Audi Melges 20	Philippe Pizzichini	14	49	26	48	45	27	[49]	160.0
		37.	231		USA 231	Blind Squirrel (Corinthian)	Audi Melges 20	John Brown	29	42	52	28	38	30	[52]	167.0
		38.	44		RUS 44	Ottobre Rosso	Audi Melges 20	Artem Kuznetsov	37	31	38	26	37	38	[38]	169.0
		39.	13		CAN 170	Batteries 4 Bacio	Audi Melges 20	Rhonda Joyce	38	43	40	39	22	34	[43]	173.0
		40.	255		RUS 002	Pirogovo Sailing	Audi Melges 20	Alexandr Ezhkov	47	39	48	25	26	37	[48]	174.0
		41.	265		RUS 265	Russotrans	Audi Melges 20	Yuriy Morozov	1	36	43	38	58/DSQ	58/DNF	[58]	176.0
		42.	156		RUS 156	RUS 156 QUANTUM	Audi Melges 20	Marina Chubkina	33	14	37	50	48	46	[50]	178.0
		43.	135		GER 135	Fantastichina	Audi Melges 20	Fritz Homann	35	52	29	34	51	39	[52]	188.0
		44.	190		CAN 222	Wild Deuces (Corinthian)	Audi Melges 20	Paul Currie	52	47	39	31	36	41	[52]	194.0
		45.	233		JPN 233	Sokokumaru	Audi Melges 20	Sumio Shimoyama	40	48	33	52	39	35	[52]	195.0
		46.	154		ITA 154	Spirit of Nerina	Audi Melges 20	Mirko Bargolini / Francesco Scarselli	58/DNF	58/DNF	58/DNF	17	43	25	[58]	201.0
		47.	164		GER 164	Hellcat (Corinthian)	Audi Melges 20	Juergen Fuchs	30	45	56	44	32	52	[56]	203.0
		48.	25		RUS 25	Versya	Audi Melges 20	Anatoly Karachinskiy	50	23	44	55	46	42	[55]	205.0
		49.	125		ITA 125	T2R	Audi Melges 20	Tommaso Pavan	58/SCP	46	35	22	58/DNF	45	[58]	206.0
		50.	181		ITA 181	Hanneken (Corinthian)	Audi Melges 20	Simone Anichini	56	40	41	41	47	53	[56]	222.0
		51.	36		RUS 36	Anna	Audi Melges 20	Vladimir Silkin	53	54	45	40	40	48	[54]	226.0
		52.	158		ITA 158	Tomahawk	Audi Melges 20	Stefano Santucci	48	35	53	51	47/RDG	47/RDG	[53]	228.0
		53.	159		AUT 159	N.N.	Audi Melges 20	Klaus Schober	41	53	42	49	50	47	[53]	229.0
		54.	137		ITA 137	Tachicardia (Corinthian)	Audi Melges 20	Michele Dandolo	55	50	49	58/DNF	41	51	[58]	246.0
		55.	277		JPN 277	Contious	Audi Melges 20	Norikatsu Aizawa	39	56	55	56	49	54	[56]	253.0
		56.	220		ITA 220	Turnover	Audi Melges 20	Renato Vallivero	51	51	54	47	58/DNF	50	[58]	253.0
		57.	206		SUI 206	Cold Duck	Audi Melges 20	August Schram	54	55	50	54	52	49	[55]	259.0

2014 Audi Melges 20 World Championship Corinthian Teams - 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     Audi Melges 20     1. 27 ITA 027 Chimera Audi Melges 20 Marco Gambardella 10 34 6 45 42 33 [45] 125.0     2. 204 GER 204 Maroi Audi Melges 20 Jan Kowalski 31 38 11 53 21 24 [53] 125.0     3. 231 USA 231 Blind Squirrel Audi Melges 20 John Brown 29 42 52 28 38 30 [52] 167.0     4. 190 CAN 222 Wild Deuces Audi Melges 20 Paul Currie 52 47 39 31 36 41 [52] 194.0     5. 164 GER 164 Hellcat Audi Melges 20 Juergen Fuchs 30 45 56 44 32 52 [56] 203.0     6. 181 ITA 181 Hanneken Audi Melges 20 Simone Anichini 56 40 41 41 47 53 [56] 222.0     7. 137 ITA 137 Tachicardia Audi Melges 20 Michele Dandolo 55 50 49 58/DNF 41 51 [58] 246.0