Melges 32 U.S. National Championship 2011 - Argo continues to lead

by Joy Dunigan on 12 Jun 2011 Melges 32 U.S. National Championship 2011, hosted by the American Yacht Club (AYC) in Rye, New York, is being held 10th to 12th June. The second day racing was quite exciting.

Jason Carroll aboard Argo continues to lead the Championship by a substantial margin. He took all three races conducted on Saturday and turned in a flawless 1-1-1 score line. Takashi Okura on Sled is second and Mark Plaxton's Intac is now seated in third.

Saturday's conditions were the polar opposite of Friday's sunshine, warmth and lack of breeze. The big breeze made for ideal planing conditions, and for some owners, it was the first time they had gone 20+ downwind. A nice 22-23 knots blew solid all day, coupled with sizable waves and very cool temperatures. Never once did the breeze let-up, and it seemed to increase ever so slightly as the day went on and the waves grew larger as well.

Carroll turned in a championship-winning performance, unmatched by any other team in attendance. He nailed the starts and punched the acceleration extending every leg on each race finishing well ahead of his fellow competitors. With two more races to go on Sunday, Carroll proudly leads by an impressive eleven points overall.

Thrills and Spills
At the start of race one, Okura managed to lose his tactician overboard due to a failed lifeline, putting to a halt what was an awesome start for the one and only Japanese boat at Nationals. Eiichiro Hamazaki, was quickly pulled from the water, smiling and unharmed.

Other teams that had a pretty decent race or two was newbie Benjamin Schwartz on Pisces turning in a second place finish in the first race of the day. Steve Rhyne's Mojo crept into the top three for an awesome third place finish in race two. John Taylor's Ninkasi grabbed a beautiful second place finish on the final race of the day.

Sunday's forecast is not calling for much in the way of breeze. More showers and a high chance of thunderstorms are predicted.

Top Five Results (After six races)
1.) Argo, Jason Carroll/Cameron Appleton; 1-[2]-1-1-1-1 = 5
2.) SLED, Takashi Okura/Eiichiro Hamazaki; 2-1-6-[8]-2-3 = 14
3.) INTAC, Mark Plaxton/Anthony Kotoun; 5-7-2=3-4-[9] = 21
4.) Ramrod, Rod Jabin/Chris Larson; 6-3-5-[10]-5-4 = 23
3.) Dark N' Stormy, Ed Tillinghast/Allan Terhune; 3-5-44-8-[12 DNF] = Full View the full crew list
Melges 32 Championship Website