Melges 24 North Americans - Adam Burns leads after day one

by IM24CA on 24 Sep 2010 Melges 24 North American Championship 2010 being hosted by the Rochester Yacht Club on Lake Ontario got off to a flying start with an opening day featuring clear blue skies, hot sunshine and a warm easterly wind that gradually built from six knots to around 17 knots through the day.

When the boats first got to the race area the wind was sub-six knots but after an 85 minute postponement race one was underway on a one mile windward leeward course with six knots from 170 degrees.

The wind remained stable in direction but throughout the day it steadily increased and the committee extended the leg length for each race going to 1.2 miles for race two, 1.5 miles for race three and then 1.7 miles for race four, ensuring each race lasted a little over an hour. By the final race of the day the wind was up to 17 knots with some nice waves rolling down the course giving great surfing conditions.

Boat of the day was without doubt USA378 Presto sailed by owners Adam and Lori Burns with tactician James Barnash and crew John Goller and Jason Suitor from the Youngstown Yacht Club, NY. With four second places under their belt this Corinthian team now lead both the Overall and Corinthian, all-amateur fleets.

A relative newcomer to the Melges 24 having only joined the fleet this season, Adam Burns has a strong track record in multiple classes including the Melges 32 and Farr 40, but his move into the Melges 24 has given him the chance to helm for the first time at grand-prix level.

We caught up with him after racing to find out about his day, 'The game plan going out was to sail consistently and keep out of trouble and I think I owe it to the crew that we managed to do that today.'

On coping with today's constantly changing conditions he commented 'Being a dinghy sailor and getting a feel for the boat over the last few regattas [helps] as gears do change on this boat so its really key to keep up on it as speed really does matter and if you are one setting above your competitor you can really notice.'

On the subject of his closest competitors Burns was full of praise. 'It's a pleasure to be up near him [Alan Field] just to be able to gauge our speed against him and I just feel fortunate to be on the same race course against him and just everyone in this fleet because this is the cream of the crop right now and this is the cream of the crop class so we just feel fortunate to be here.'

One point behind Burns is Alan Field from Los Angeles, CA, sailing USA811 WTF with Steve Hunt, John Hayes, Erik Shampain and Sarah Curran. Field won the first and last races and took a third in race two and a fourth in race three. In third place overall and second Corinthian is Henry Filter of Annapolis, MA aboard USA721 Wild Child with Ben Cesare, Ian Coleman and Todd Hiller. Filter took a conservative approach to his day and a 5, 4, 5, 3 score line puts him eight points behind Field and just one point ahead of Nick Amendola from North Bradford, CT, in USA566 Entourage Racing.

One of the hot favourites for this year's title is USMCA President Steve Kopf from Sullivan's Island, SC, sailing USA773 Blur-Pacific Energy. Despite winning the second and third races and finishing sixth in race four he finds himself in fifth overall, one point behind Amendola, largely thanks to an eleventh in race one.

Speaking after racing Kopf's tactician Michael Miller explained their poor result in race one was all down to a bad start 'It was pretty simple really. We started on the right, hand end of the line and our start wasn't great, then the breeze went left and the dye was cast. In those lighter conditions and with a fleet of this calibre when everyone has good speed you have to get a good start and if you don't there are very few chances to pass.'

Pusser's Rum is once again generously supporting the Melges 24 North Americans and as a result we have a Pusser's Wipeout Of The Day Award to present each evening. Today's the winner of this award, who receives a Pusser's Rum Survival Kit, is the crew of Planet Claire - John Koten, Marisa Koten, Stephen Yip, Ralph Godkin and Brigite Prudhomme. These guys completed not one but two great wipe outs, much to the enjoyment of the assembled photographers, making them standout winners!

This evening the crews are assembled on the club's waterside deck enjoying a sunset pasta dinner, Pusser's Painkillers and Lake Beverage Corp beer sponsored by Latis Yachting Solutions plus music by Marty Roberts.

Tomorrow's forecast is for wind and lots of it from the southwest. PRO Hank Stuart was pleased to have completed four races today as tomorrow's forecast means that racing may not be possible during the second half of the day with over 30 knots threatened. 'We're hoping to get two or three races in before it gets too crazy tomorrow. We've up to ten races scheduled and we need a minimum of five races to complete the series so we're in good shape at this stage.' The Championship continues until Sunday 26 September.

Overall Top Ten
1. Presto - Adam & Lori Burns - 8 pts
2. WTF - Alan Field - 9 pts
3. Wild Child - Henry Filter - 17 pts
4. Entourage Racing - Nick Amendola - 18 pts
5. Blur-Pacific Energy - Steve Kopf - 19 pts
6. The Djinn - Ken Gray - 28 pts
7. High Voltage - August Hernandez - 30 pts
8. Bellatrix -Kevin Morgan - 39 pts
9. PNW Rocks - Dan Kaseler - 41 pts
10. Matador - Pete Cucci - 41 pts

Corinthian Top Five
1. Presto - Adam & Lori Burns - 4 pts
2. Wild Child - Henry Filter - 8 pts
2. High Voltage - August Hernandez - 16 pts
3. Bellatrix - Kevin Morgan - 20 pts
4. Funtech Racing - Charlie Hess - 23 pts

For more information, please click http://www.myyc.org/site/2010melges24NA!here.