North American Championship - Kilroy secures title on final day

by Melges 20 on 7 Oct 2014

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship International Audi Melges 20 Class Association

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship - Continuing with the trend of making bold, accurate calls throughout the weekend, PRO Bruce Golison sent the Audi Melges 20 fleet out for a noon start with two races scheduled to determine the 2014 North American Champion, along with the top ten that was anything but settled.

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship © Leslie Reicher

As if on cue, once to the starting area in the Berkeley Circle, the breeze built from 270 degrees and allowed for another perfect day of sailing with nine - fourteen knots of wind. Audi Melges 20s really come into their own in this condition with settled upwind sailing, and easy, fast planing downwind. It is tough to put into words how perfect the conditions were, and with the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Angel Island as the backdrop it made for some truly memorable racing.

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship © Leslie Reicher

With only Cesar Gomes Neto's Portobello and Michael Kiss' Bacio having a shot to displace John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti from winning the event, it did not take long for Kilroy and his team to squash any hopes of last day drama as they went out and finished second in the first race, sealing the win with a race to spare. Finishing second overall never felt so good as the bullet went to the younger Kilroy, Liam on Wildman who won his first ever Audi Melges 20 race and had a shot to get fourth in the event.

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship © 2014 JOY | IAM20CA

Kilroy was able to sail a victory lap in the last race, but there was still plenty of drama in the middle of the fleet as essentially every finishing spot was still up for grabs in the final standings. Jim Wilson's Oleander team needed to have a solid last race to fend off a push from the Liam Kilroy and Richard Davies' Section 16, while both Kiss and Gomes Neto had to avoid tough races to hang onto their podium finishes.

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship © Leslie Reicher

In the end, the two would tie and have their places determined by a count back, while Wilson was able to take a second in the last race and solidify his fourth place overall finish. Taking second place on the day and sliding into fifth overall was Liam Kilroy and a very excited Wildman team.

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship © Leslie Reicher

Hailing from San Francisco, Doug Wilhem and his Wilco team improved a ton over the weekend and took home the Corinthian honors and will be a team to watch as the Corinthian World Championship title will be decided on these same waters in October of 2015. From here, the Audi Melges 20 fleet takes a small break from its World Tour to regroup and set the stage for what will be a heated winter series in Biscayne Bay. With years of experience of hosting the winter series, the Coconut Grove Yacht Club is teed up again for another successful season of winter sailing.

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship © Erik Simonson

Top Ten Results

(Final - After Eight Races, One Discard)

1.) John Kilroy/Paul Goodison/Jeff Reynolds, Samba Pa Ti; 1-1-2-2-1-[4]-2-1 = 10
2.) Michael Kiss/Michael Buckley/Wille McBride, Bacio; 8-2-3-1-[10]-1-7-3 = 25
3.) Cesar Gomes Neto/Scott Nixon/John Bowden, Portobello; 7-4-1-3-[7]-3-3-4 = 25
4.) James Wilson/Jeremy Wilmot/Sam Rogers, Oleander; 5-5-[8]-8-2-5-5-2 = 32
5.) Liam Kilroy/Steve Hunt/Erik Shampain/Stephanie Roble, Wildman; 6-[15]-12-6-6-2-1-5 = 38
6.) Richard Davies/Charlie McKee/Matt Pistay, Section 16; 4-[13]-9-4-3-7-8-6 = 41
7.) Alexis Michas/Mark Mendleblatt/Brian Ledbetter, Midnight Blue; 2-3-5-[15]-5-14-10-7 = 46
8.) Marc Hollerbach/Jonathan McKee/Ben Allen, Fu; 9-6-[11]-5-9-10-4-10 = 53
9.) Andrea Pozzi/Lorenzo Bressani, Bombarda Racing; 10-9-4-12-8-[22/DNF]-6-12 = 61
10.) Rob Wilber/Anthony Kotoun/Dave Hughes, Cinghiale; 3-10-10-9-[12]-9-15-13 = 66

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship © Erik Simonson

2014 Audi Melges 20 North American Championship - Final Cumulative Results:

			Bow	Sail Number	Yacht Name	Yacht Design	Owner/Skipper	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	T O	Total
North American Championship Racing
	One Design Division
		Audi Melges 20
		1.	313	USA 13131	Samba Pa Ti	Audi Melges 20	John Kilroy	1	1	2	2	1	4	2	1	[4]	10.0
		2.	13	USA 13	Bacio	Audi Melges 20	Michael Kiss	8	2	3	1	10	1	7	3	[10]	25.0
		3.	245	BRA 245	Portobello	Audi Melges 20	Cesar Gomes Neto	7	4	1	3	7	3	3	4	[7]	25.0
		4.	250	USA 250	oleander	Audi Melges 20	James Wilson	5	5	8	8	2	5	5	2	[8]	32.0
		5.	311	USA 311	Wildman	Audi Melges 20	Liam Kilroy	6	15	12	6	6	2	1	5	[15]	38.0
		6.	16	USA 226	Section 16	Audi Melges 20	Richard Davies	4	13	9	4	3	7	8	6	[13]	41.0
		7.	228	USA 228	Midnight Blue	Audi Melges 20	Alexis Michas	2	3	5	15	5	14	10	7	[15]	46.0
		8.	21	USA 21	Fu	Audi Melges 20	Marc Hollerbach	9	6	11	5	9	10	4	10	[11]	53.0
		9.	424	ITA 042	Bombarda racing	Audi Melges 20	Andrea Pozzi	10	9	4	12	8	22/DNF	6	12	[22]	61.0
		10.	414	USA 414	Cinghiale	Audi Melges 20	Robert Wilber	3	10	10	9	12	9	15	13	[15]	66.0
		11.	211	USA 211	Makaira	Audi Melges 20	Skip Shapiro	12	11	16	7	4	12	12	17	[17]	74.0
		12.	133	USA 133	Funner	Audi Melges 20	Sid Gorham	15	17	7	13	13	8	11	8	[17]	75.0
		13.	213	USA 213	Flannel	Audi Melges 20	Mike Keefe	11	8	13	16	18	13	9	11	[18]	81.0
		14.	76	USA 7676	Kuai	Audi Melges 20	Daniel Thielman	13	14	6	11	15	17	13	14	[17]	86.0
		15.	225	USA 225	Flygfisk	Audi Melges 20	Tom Kassberg	14	7	15	14	11	11	20	15	[20]	87.0
		16.	217	USA 217	Slingshot	Audi Melges 20	Wes Whitmyer Jr	16	19	18	10	14	6	16	9	[19]	89.0
		17.	131	USA 131	Le Rescator	Audi Melges 20	Erwan le Gall	20	12	17	18	16	19	17	20	[20]	119.0
		18.	114	USA 114	Wilco (Corinthian)	Audi Melges 20	Doug Wilhelm	17	18	19	17	19	15	18	18	[19]	122.0
		19.	227	USA 227	Manatea 20	Audi Melges 20	Bob Hayward	19	20	20	19	20	16	14	16	[20]	124.0
		20.	134	USA 134	Problem Child	Audi Melges 20	Elliott James	18	16	20/SCP	20	17	18	19	19	[20]	127.0
		21.		USA 224	BLAST!	Audi Melges 20	Roland Vandermeer	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	22/DNC	[22]	154.0