Audi Melges 20 U.S. National Championship 2009

by Joy Dunigan - Melges 20 on 23 Aug 2009
Audi Melges 20 U.S. National Championship and Pieter Taselaar aboard Bliksem with Michael Coxon and Williem Van Waay have the overall lead. Trailing by three points, in second place is Marc Hollerbach on Blackjack with his sons Ian and Adam as crew. In third is Eric Wynsma on Superfly with Wally Cross and JP de Solar.

Saturday delivered beautiful racing conditions at the Audi Melges 20 U.S. National Championship, hosted by the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club. Unlike Friday, there was just the right amount of breeze, big waves and perfect planing conditions - especially downwind on beautiful Lake Michigan as it served up some great surfing opportunities!

After three high-powered races, comments such as 'Melges hit a home run with this boat' specifically commented by Chuck Holzman sailing Flyer could be heard up and down the dock. Today's racing was, no doubt, a grand slam as this all-new Melges sportboat is expected to grow and flourish over the coming years. The more it sails in the U.S.A. and Europe, the Audi Melges 20 will be a really hot ticket.

Who was hot today? Hollerbach battled the very Italian team and current Audi European Sailing Series leader Benedetto Giallongo on Value Team. Hollerbach rounded the first mark of the championship with a massive lead. He never looked back as he stretched his advantage, across the finish line for the first bullet of the day. Taselaar was second, Dave Hammett from Annapolis on Simplified Sophistication was third. Comeback of the race goes to Wynsma. His difficult start put his team to the test only to work their way back up to finish fourth.

A full recovery was made by Wynsma in race two as he grabbed the bullet ahead of Taselaar right at the finish. John Arendshorst on Blink had a nice race placing third.

Another all American finish was the result of race three - Taselaar finally got a taste of first place as he crossed the line ahead of Hammett in second and Hollerbach in third.

The wind was pumping a healthy 10-20 all day with big waves so it was necessary to vang sheet and keep the boat rolling upwind. The legs in hiking really contributed to everyone's enjoyment. That's right - no hiking in the Audi Melges 20! Post race, teams were still fresh and ready for another fantastic party.

Downwind, the mains were trimmed in and the crew weight shifted aft, perfect for planing in the Audi Melges 20. Some reported speeds of 17 knots!
On Sunday, racing concludes where up to three races will be sailed to decide the championship.

Special thanks to title sponsor Audi and Official Footwear Sponsor Sebago as they helped make the party on Friday night as well as the entire event great fun.

Top Ten Results (After three races)

1.) Pieter Taselaar - 2-2-1 = 5
2.) Marc Hollerbach - 1-4-3 = 8
3.) Eric Wynsma - 4-1-5 = 10
4.) Dave Hammett - 3-9-2 = 14
5.) Chuck Holzman - 7-5-6 = 18
6.) Benedetto Giallongo - 5-10-4 = 19
7.) Michael Kiss - 6-6-7 = 19
8.) John Arendshorst - 12-3-9 = 24
9.) Joe Williams - 9-7-8 = 24
10.) Marco Morina - 8-8-15/DNF = 31

Audi Melges 20 U.S. National Championship 2009

Macatawa Bay Yacht Club

Sailed:3, Discards:0, To count:3, Entries:14, Scoring system:My scoring system

Bow	Nat	Sail #	Yacht Name	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	Total Pts	Final w/ TO
29	USA	169	Bliksem	Pieter Taselaar	Michael Coxon Willem VanWaay	2.0	2.0	1.0	5.0	5.0
42	USA	21	Blackjack	Marc Hollerbach	Adam Hollerbach Ian Hollerbach	1.0	4.0	3.0	8.0	8.0
16	USA	116	Superfly	Eric Wynsma	Wally Cross JP del Solar	4.0	1.0	5.0	10.0	10.0
19	USA	119	Simplified Sophistication	Dave Hammett	Jim Gluek Jay Mitchell	3.0	9.0	2.0	14.0	14.0
27	USA	127	Flyer	Chuck Holzman	George Peet Pat Drummond	7.0	5.0	6.0	18.0	18.0
02	ITA	112	Value Team	Benedetto Giallongo	Giulio Desiderato Fransesco Scarselli	5.0	10.0	4.0	19.0	19.0
13	USA	13	Bacio	Michael Kiss	Steve Sisson, Mitchell Kiss	6.0	6.0	7.0	19.0	19.0
17	USA	17	Blink	John Arendshorst	Eric Ash Danielle Gamache	12.0	3.0	9.0	24.0	24.0
40	USA	132	Habit	Joe Williams	David Sligh, Seadon Wijsen	9.0	7.0	8.0	24.0	24.0
03	ITA	144	Sei Tu 20	Marco Morina	Lorenzo del Rio Iacopo Bargoni	8.0	8.0	15.0 DNF	31.0	31.0
30	USA	130	Macatawa Post Office	Erik Post	Alex Post Tony Tabb Graham Post	13.0	11.0	10.0	34.0	34.0
21	USA			Amy Todd	Alex Stscherban Dell Todd	11.0	12.0	15.0 DNS	38.0	38.0
41	CAN	141		John Sherlock	Katie Mullen Mike Wolfs	10.0	15.0 DNF	15.0 DNS	40.0	40.0
20	USA	103	Mojo	Dan Cheresh	Tac Boston Eric Vigrass	15.0 DNF	15.0 DNF	15.0 DNS	45.0	45.0

Results: http://melges20.com