Melges 32 U.S. National Championship – DeVos claims title

by International Melges 32 Class Association on 2 Aug 2010 Melges 32 U.S. National Championship, hosted by Little Traverse Yacht Club. Ideal racing conditions just weren't meant to be on the final day of scheduled races at the event, although initially it did appear early on to be promising.

'When we saw it wasn't filling in like we had hoped by 12:30 p.m., it was just silly to make those guys sit out there and wait.' said PRO Bruce Golison. 'So, we sent everyone ashore. There was no indication as to how long it would take for the breeze fill like we wanted it to, and with a two o'clock cut-off we were pretty limited.'

Congratulations to Ryan DeVos (Harbor Springs, Mich.) on Volpe as he is the 2010 U.S. National Champion. DeVos, alongside of his father Dick, tactician Ed Baird, and crew consisting of Scott Nixon, Brian Janney, Mike Hill, Drew Weirda and Marty Kullman, he produced an impressive 4-2-2-1-1 result winning by a remarkable 16 points.

'I would have loved to have got some more racing in.' said DeVos in celebration of winning his very first major Melges 32 title. 'With the conditions we saw this weekend, there was no easy way around. This was really tough racing.'

2010 Melges 32 Key West Race Week Champion John Kilroy, Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif.) on Samba Pa Ti offered up some great competition yet settled for second place with Stu Bannatyne on tactics and Sam Rogers, Morgan Reeser, Eric Dorman, Kimberly Arnstson, Alan Nakanishi and Justin Smart as crew.

John Porter (Winnetka, Ill.) on Full Throttle claimed third with the help of tactician Charlie McKee and team — Andy Burdick, Fritz Langzinger, Vincent Porter, Corbett Porter, Matthew Woodsworth and Kelly McKenna.

Thank you
A very special thanks to all the teams that joined the class in Harbor Springs for this premiere event. Many traveled great distances, including Joe Woods (Torquay, UK) on Red, and all the way from New Zealand, Stefan Goldwater on Tirade. The championship would not have been the same without you!

Championships of this magnitude do not happen successfully without a team of dedicated individuals — within the class, yacht club and on the race committee working hard, almost around the clock to make everything smooth. The International Melges 32 Class Association wishes to recognize the great efforts of Tom Geisler (who put in plenty of overtime on the details), Melges Performance Sailboats, Laura Melges and team, Regatta Chair Rich Lehmann, Kathy Breightner and Donna Weber, most especially to Dick and Doug DeVos for the cordial hospitality.

A very special thanks to 2010 Melges 32 U.S. National Championship regatta supporters Sail22 and Line Honors-Performance Sailing Supply.

On the radar
The Melges 32 is in full ramp-up mode for the 2010 Melges 32 World Championship taking place on September 20-25 in San Francisco, Calif., hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club. Everyone is encouraged to Register Online as soon as possible.

Two additional events serve as warm-ups. The 2010 California Cup on August 20-22, hosted by the San Francisco Yacht Club and the Rolex Big Boat Series, which also will serve as Pre-Worlds. Teams are reminded that these events are non-sanctioned class events, meaning no weigh-in or race documentation will be required prior to competition.

Specific details regarding the 2010 Melges 32 World Championship will be forthcoming shortly in the form of competitor releases. All Owners and Team Captains need to be on the lookout for such communications.

Top Ten Results (Final)
1.) Ryan Devos/Ed Baird, Volpe; 4-2-2-1-1 = 10
2.) John Kilroy/Stu Bannatyne, Samba Pa Ti; 5-4-1-7-9 = 26
3.) John Porter/Charlie McKee, Full Throttle; 3-5-9-6-5 = 28
4.) Joe Woods/Paul Goodison, Red; 1-1-8-10-13 = 33
5.) Rod Jabin/Chris Larson, Ramrod; 2-3-12-12-4 = 33
6.) Jason Carroll/John Baxter, Argo; 8-7-7-8-6 = 36
7.) Robert Hughes/Steve Hunt, Heartbreaker; 11-10-3-5-8 = 37
8.) Jeff Ecklund/Bill Hardesty, STAR; 13-6-10-2-7 = 38
9.) John Taylor/Andrew Campbell, Ninkasi; 7-8-13-3-12 = 43
10.) Kip Meadows/Andy Horton, roXanne; 14-9-6-4-10 = 43

For more information, please go to: www.melges32.com