Edoardo Lupi and Massimo Pessina clinch 2017 Melges 32 European title

by International Melges 32 Class Association on 22 Jul 2017 Congratulations to Edoardo Lupi and Massimo Pessina, along side of tactician Lorenzo Bressani and crew members Alberto Bolzan, Javier De La Plaza, Jas Farneti, Matteo Mason and Carlo Zermini - they are the new Melges 32 European Champions!

The success for Lupi/Pessina is one that is long overdue. This championship gives them their best ever result in the Melges 32 Class.

'Today is a special day, a big day for the entire Torpyone family. After many seasons and a second place finish in Miami at the 2014 Worlds, we celebrate today our best ever result. We are European Champions in the Melges 32 Class, a class we've always been deeply in love with,' said a very, very happy Lupi. 'I have to thank my brother-in-law, Massimo Pessina, always on board with me and all my crew. Today was tough, and we had to reboot after the fourth test. But we had the merit, thanks to our tactician Lorenzo Bressani, who never gives up and is always try to solve and/or recover from complicated situations. Everyone aboard Torpyone was just perfect!'

'I'm really in seventh heaven! Massimo Pessina and Edoardo Lupi have been together for many years, always with excellent results, having won several stages of the Circuit, and they were runner-up at the 2014 Miami Worlds,' said Torpyone tactician Lorenzo Bressani. 'But, even with all this, we still missed the icing on the cake. This is the success of a whole team that has always worked very hard to reach the ultimate goal. We celebrate today, but we will soon be concentrating on why we want to try again in less than a month, at the Melges 32 World Championship to be held at Cala Galera.'

In addition to being the last opportunity for Lupi and Pessina's toughest opponents to remove them from atop the podium, it was a high voltage day on the water with the wind continuously oscillating out of the south-southwest at around 18-20 knots. Three more races were held with the first race of the day, Race Four going to Andrea Ferrari aboard SPIRIT OF NERINA, which momentarily removed Lupi/Pessina from the top slot. This forced Lupi/Pessina to regroup and react, putting the pressure on high for the last two races.

With a steady, yet cool, calm and collected approach, Lupi/Pessina went on to raise their arms in triumph at the finish line of the final race, leaving their adversaries to fight and struggle for the remaining podium positions.

Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio's G-SPOT with tactician Branko Brcin fought hard submitting a excellent 2-1-2 daily score to overtake Richard Goransson's INGA and come in second place overall. Goransson settled for third, Andrea Lacorte's VITAMINA AMERIKANA was fourth, and Ferrari rounded out the top five.

Another huge round of congratulations is also extended to 2017 Melges 32 Corinthian European Champions Martin Reintjes on CAIPIRINHA with Enrico Fonda as tactician, and crew members Alessandro Agostinelli, Lorenzo Azzi, Pierluigi Omboni, Michele Pavoni, Nicola Pavoni and Francesco Rubagotti.

In one month's time, the Melges 32 World League returns to the fantastic destination of Cala Galera, Italy on August 22-27 for the Melges 32 World Championship.

A very special thanks to all the participating teams, and most especially to all of our Croatian friends and D-Marin for their perfect support.

The Melges 32 World League European Division is supported by Helly Hansen, Garmin Marine Italia, Toremar, Lavazza, Barracuda Communication, North Sails, D-Marin and Dogus Tourism.

Top Five Results (FINAL - After Six Races, One Discard)
1.) Edoardo Lupi-Massimo Pessina/Lorenzo Bressani, TORPYONE; 2-2-2-[9]-4-3 = 13
2.) Giangiacomo Serena Di Lapigio/Branko Brcin, G-SPOT; 3-[12]-9-2-1-2 = 17
3.) Richard Goransson, Vasco Vascotto, INGA; 4-3-3-[12]-3-4 = 17
4.) Andrea Lacorte/Gabriele Benussi, VITAMINA AMERIKANA; [11]-1-1-10-7-5 = 24
5.) Andrea Ferrari/Pietro Piero Sibello, SPIRIT OF NERINA; 1-9-4-1-10-[17/DNF] = 25

Top Five Results (2017 Melges 32 World League, Three Events Complete)
1.) Matteo Balestrero, GIOGI = 56 pts.
2.) Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio, G-SPOT = 52 pts.
3.) Edoardo Lupi/Massimo Pessina, TORPYONE = 48 pts.
4.) Pavel Kuznetsov, TAVATUY; 48 pts.
3.) Andrea Lacorte, VITAMINA AMERIKANA = 48 pts.