Miami Sailing Week Melges 24 - Great regatta for Favini

by Melges 24 Class Association on 11 Mar 2012 The 2012 Melges 24 Bacardi Miami Sailing Week Champions are Flavio Favini (helm), Matteo Ivaldi (tactician) and crew Tiziano Nava, Stefano Rizzi and Nicholas Del Ferro, onboard Franco Rossini’s Blu Moon.

Riccardo Simoneschi’s Audi finished second overall. Embarr with Nathan Wilmot was at the helm for Conor Clarke, was third.

With a seven point advantage, Favini won the final race of the event on Sunday. 'To put it plainly, we just had a great regatta,' said Favini post racing. 'Day one conditions were beautiful. Fantastic. Yesterday was a tricky day. Today, because of the light air, it was tricky as well, however the conditions made for great sailing too. The race committee did a great job yesterday getting in four races.'

In addition to the quite heated overall division, seven teams vied for the spot of top Corinthian in Miami. Newly appointed Southeast District Governor Rob Britts on Hot Mess claimed the top spot. Chicago’s Augie Hernandez aboard High Voltage finished second and Scott Gregory on Betty rounded out the top three finishers.

Top Ten (after eight races)
1. Flavio Favini/Franco Rossini, Blu Moon; 2-1-1-2-[4]-2-2-1 = 11
2. Riccardo Simoneschi, Audi; 3-5-2-1-1-5-1-[11] = 18
3. Nathan Wilmot/Conor Clarke, Embarr; 1-2-4-[6]-2-6-4-5 = 24
4. Kristen Lane, Brickhouse 812; 5-3-3-[14]-3-4-5-10 = 33
5. Alan Field, WTF; 4-[11]-5-10-7-3-6-2 = 37
6. Bruce Ayres, Monsoon; 7-7-7-3-8-[14]-8-8 = 48
7. Argyle Campbell, Rock n' Roll; 6-9-8-8-[12]-8-3-9 = 51
8. Derek Ratterray/Richard Thompson, Black Seal; 12-4-6-4-10-[15]-9-12 = 57
9. Don Wilson, Convexity; 9-[12]-9-9-5-9-12-4 = 57
10. Rob Britts, Hot Mess; [17]-13-14-5-11-7-11-3 = 64

Full results here

Corinthian results (after eight races)
1. Rob Britts, Hot Mess
2. Augie Hernandez, High Voltage
3. Scott Gregory, Betty
4. Scott Foxman, Relentless
5. George Haynie, Firewater
6. Gary Schwarting, Obsession
7. Steven Boho, Shockwave

Florida Cup Series
The inaugural Melges 24 Florida Cup Series is now four events of five complete. Britts leads the charge ahead of Catherine Evans’ Mojito in second and Bob Kroetch in third on Rogue. The Series will conclude in Naples, Florida at the 2012 Atlantic Coast Championship on March 24-25.

'We are working very hard to get the class numbers at regattas back to where they were ten years ago,' said Britts. 'We have some great enthusiasm and some new owners in the class, hence why we started the Florida Cup Series, to try and get a solid five-regatta circuit. We are all looking forward to seeing more teams travel.'

'There are several teams that have committed to Naples and we hope to see more,' continued Britts. 'It would be great to see 40 boats in Charleston. It is our Gold Cup in 2012 and will be Nationals in 2013. We already have 29 registered and more than a month to go before the event. Charleston is a great city with fantastic dining, rich in history. The racing is awesome — consistent breeze and great beach parties are to be expected.'

Florida Cup Series standings here

Melges 24 website