Melges 24 National Championship - Field leads

by Joy Dunigan on 27 Jun 2010 Melges 24 National Championship.

The brilliant and bold WTF owned by Alan Field currently leads the Melges 24 fleet at the 2010 Layline Oakcliff National Championship, hosted by Sail Newport. In second overall is Geoff Ewenson at the helm of JC Raby’s Evil Donut and in third, Charleston’s David Dabney on Conejo Racing-Ocean Sailing Academy.

'This is really hard. Last year, when we did the Gold Cup in Traverse City, that was tough. The Gulf Coast Championship was tough. The Charleston guys are really good,' commented Field after racing. 'We came here to race, so with only two points separating us and Ewenson, this should be good.'

Conditions started out light, 5-7 knots and built to a pleasant 10-12 knots for the final race of the day, exceeding everyone's expectations.

Light air prevailed at the start with many of the event leaders having an intense race. Field closed the overall gap in race one with a win. Second place was hard fought between Ewenson, Guy Mossman on Battle Rhythm and Dabney. In the end, Field made out with a substantial lead leaving Kevin Dooley on Oakcliff Sailing Club and Ewenson to battle for second. Dooley won the heat, Ewenson settled for third.

The start of race two brought a little more breeze, this time with Dooley getting a slice of the winning pie. Dabney exceled as did Corinthian Henry Filter on Wild Child. Filter actually lead the fleet around the mark in first, but in such a competitive fleet, it was tough to hold off the likes of Dabney, Jennifer Wilson on Convexity and Simon Strauss on Simplicity. With Dooley in the winner’s chair, Dabney took second, Ewenson was third.

For the final race of the day, another Charlestonian got in on the action. David O’Reilly on ARDOR/C.R.E.A.M. came on strong for an incredible win. With the breeze in the range of 10-12 knots, the fast and fun factor was firmly in place. Dabney found his way to another second place finish taking his overall score into the top five. Ewenson was third again, Field finished a tough fourth and Corinthian Sean Scarborough on Rhino took an nice fifth.

After racing, beer and snacks were waiting for the teams arrival, prepping them for the Melges Rocks Party at Riptide!

Top Five Results (After 6 Races and 1 Discard)
1.) Alan Field, WTF; 2-[6]-2-1-3-4 = 12
2.) Geoff Ewenson/J.C. Raby, Evil Donut; 1-3-4-3-[10]-3 = 14
3.) David Dabney, Conejo Racing - Ocean Sailing Academy; [14]-1-6-5-2-2 = 16
4.) Henry Filter, Wild Child; 6-4-1-7-6-[8] = 24
5.) Jennifer Wilson, Convexity; 3-5-5-[14]-4-7 = 24

Full Results http://www.sailnewport.org/npt/c/cnt/down/2010m24.pdf

Event website click here