Melges 32 World Champs - Snakes and Ladders, new tricks for Trapani

by Melges 32 on 30 Aug 2015 Any sailor thinking they were going to have a shorter day after an on-shore postponement on the fourth day at the 2015 Melges 32 Worlds Championships in Trapani were sorely mistaken. The plan was to delay the start, wait for the breeze to build and bang off three quality races, but instead a weak northerly wind tricked and teased the twenty-two boat fleet, eventually completing two races under a setting sun that shook up the standings for a second day in a row.

Once assembled at the race area around 2:30 pm, PRO Anderson Reggio set a course for 300 degrees, presenting the sailors with a direction not previously seen ultimately setting forth new challenges. After a general recall and another Z-flag start, the fleet quickly spread out with those still thinking the right was the place to be, while a pack started at the pin and raced to the left corner in the search of fresh wind.

With the fleet looking even halfway up the beat, it was Alec Cutler's Hedgehog who headed to the left side, and took advantage of more pressure at the top left and rounded in first. After gybing early however, Cutler would fall victim to those who extended to the right corner downwind and were able to lead into the gates. Holding on to take the win in impressive fashion was Andrea Ferrari on Spirit of Nerina, followed by Andrea Lacorte on Vitamina and Roberto Tomasini Grinover on Robertissima.

After another lengthy delay for the breeze to settle in between races, Race Eight began with another general recall and Z-flag. With the breeze attempting to clock to the comfortable 030 direction putting the right corner back into play, the boat once again was a popular place to be. With a clean start, Yukihiro Ishida's Yasha Samurai got off clean at the boat and led to the right corner, followed by overnight leader Alessandro Rombelli's STIG and the fashionable Filippo Pacinotti on Bronotolo HH. Gybe setting at the top mark, it looked like Ishida might have a chink in their armour with a ripped panel on their spinnaker, but they fended off Rombelli all the way around the track to take a well-deserved and much gratifying win.

Two races remain and Rombelli appears to have a solid grip on the Championship lead after Jason Carroll on Argo stumbled posting two disappointing scores. While only a few teams have a mathematical chance to clinch the title, the ball seems to be in Rombelli's court. If they are able to post a top-three finish in the Race Nine, it would move the World Championship trophy and title a little closer to their grasp.

Sunday's forecast is slightly more positive, however there is plenty of opportunity for anyone to post a deep score and take a tumble down the standings.

Top Ten Results (Preliminary - After Eight Races, One Discard)

1.) Alessandro Rombelli/Francesco Bruni, STIG; 2-2-4-3-1-[18]-4-2 = 18
2.) Jason Carroll/Cameron Appleton, Argo; 4-3-1-2-4-4-[21]-15 = 33
3.) Ryan DeVos/Mark Mendelblatt, Volpe; 3-4-8-14-9-2-[19]-5 = 45
4.) Roberto Tomasini Grinover/Vasco Vascotto, Robertissima; 1-[21]-2-13-12-9-3-6 = 46
5.) Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio/Branko Brcin, G-SPOT; 12-10-5-1-7-1-15-[18] = 51
6.) Andrea Ferrari/Roberto Spata, Spirit of Nerina; 7-7-[16]-11-11-10-1-4 = 51
7.) Yukihiro Ishida/Hamish Pepper, Yasha Samurai; 11-6-3-16-[20]-3-17-1 = 57
8.) Keisuke Suzuki/Nicolai Sehested, Swing; 14-8-6-5-6-7-12-[20] = 58
9.) Dalton DeVos/Jonathan McKee, Delta; 13-5-19-4-3-[20]-9-7 = 60
10.) Filippo Pacinotti/Gabrio Zandona, Brontolo HH; 9-[20]-13-12-2-12-14-3 = 65

2015 Melges 32 World Championship - Audi Tron Sailing Series - Preliminary 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 World Championship Racing One Design Division Melges 32 1. 65 ITA 65 Stig Melges 32 Alessandro Rombelli 2 2 4 3 1 18 4 2 [18] 18.0 2. 128 USA 128 Argo Melges 32 Jason Carroll 4 3 1 2 4 4 21 15 [21] 33.0 3. 18 USA 180 Volpe Melges 32 Ryan DeVos 3 4 8 14 9 2 19 5 [19] 45.0 4. 1 MON 1 Robertissima Melges 32 Roberto Tomasini 1 21 2 13 12 9 3 6 [21] 46.0 5. 181 MON 181 G-Spot Melges 32 Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio 12 10 5 1 7 1 15 18 [18] 51.0 6. 173 ITA 173 Spirit of Nerina Melges 32 Andrea Ferrari 7 7 16 11 11 10 1 4 [16] 51.0 7. 203 JPN 203 Yasha Samuray Melges 32 Ishida Yukihiro 11 6 3 16 20 3 17 1 [20] 57.0 8. 233 JPN 233 Swing Melges 32 Keisuke Suzuki 14 8 6 5 6 7 12 20 [20] 58.0 9. 12 USA 1215 Delta Melges 32 Dalton DeVos 13 5 19 4 3 20 9 7 [20] 60.0 10. 667 ITA 667 Brontolo HH Melges 32 Filippo Pacinotti 9 20 13 12 2 12 14 3 [20] 65.0 11. 321 SWE 321 Inga from Sweden Melges 32 Richard Goransson 19 9 10 9 5 5 10 22 [22] 67.0 12. 77 RUS 13 Synergy Melges 32 Valentin Zavadnikov 16 11 12 18 21/ZFP 6 6 8 [21] 77.0 13. 212 GER 212 Wilma Melges 32 Fritz Homann 5 14 21 7 14/ZFP 21 8 9 [21] 78.0 14. 176 ITA 176 Margherita Melges 32 Roberto Mazzucato 10 1 9 15 16 16 16 12 [16] 79.0 15. 487 ITA 487 Torpyone Melges 32 Lorenzo Lupi 6 12 11 20 17/ZFP 11 11 11 [20] 79.0 16. 111 BER 1 Hedgehog Melges 32 Alec Cutler 17 13 7 10 19 19 5 10 [19] 81.0 17. 194 ITA 194 Vitamina Melges 32 Andrea Lacorte 15 18 17 6 22/ZFP 17 2 13 [22] 88.0 18. 223 RUS 223 Tavatuy-Water Way Melges 32 Pavel Kuznetsov 8 15 15 19 8 14 13 21 [21] 92.0 19. 958 ITA 191 Fra Martina Melges 32 Edoardo Pavesio 21 19 14 8 14 15 7 16 [21] 93.0 20. 187 ITA 187 Audi E-Tron F.lli Giacomel Melges 32 Mauro Mocchegiani 18 16 18 17 15 8 22 14 [22] 106.0 21. 159 TUR 159 EKER Melges 32 Ahmet Eker 20 17 20 22 23/ZFP 13 18 17 [23] 127.0 22. 185 ITA 185 LEA Melges 32 Marco Calì 22 22 22 21 22 22 20 19 [22] 148.0