Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series Portoferraio victory for Peccere

by Francesca Pitacco on 4 Jun 2012 The second leg of the Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series ended with the great victory for Pecceré, the hull of Mirko De Falco, Guglielmo Giordano and Piero Vigo (today 3-6) after the crew successfully defended their overnight lead.

The two races completed on Sunday allowed PRO Fabio Barrasso to deliver all scheduled races making the final day quite exciting.

Renato Vallivero’s Turnover finished second, thanks to two victories. After his overall first place finish in Loano, Vallivero confirmed his team is in a good place. He is now the official leader of the 2012 Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series 2012.

'Yesterday Chicco Fonda was fantastic. If we ended the day in fourth place, we owe it to him' commented Marco Perazzo. 'Today, everything went the right way, as it did in Loano, and we are really happy for the result.'

Portoferraio provided a positive debut for Mascalzone Latino, helmed by Vincenzo Onorato. Thanks to the excellent partials of today, Vincenzo Onorato's crew of Nathan Wilmot and Matteo Savelli finished third, one point ahead of Alessio Marinelli's Candida Sailing Team with tactician Branko Brcin in fourth. Mascalzone Latino Jr. with Achille Onorato, Lorenzo Bressani and Federico Michetti onboard rounded out the top five.

'It has been a beautiful weekend of sailing,' said Vincenzo Onorato. 'The weather, after struggling last weekend, this beautiful island has redeemed itself. As for us, we are more than satisfied. The overall result of the team is great, considering that both my son and I had never sailed on this brilliant one design prior to this event. My focus remains with the Melges 32 program, while Achille will continue in the remaining legs of the Audi Melges 20 that will culminate with the World Cup in Naples. I am happy that my son has my same passion for this sport and I think that supported by professional sailors such as Lorenzo Bressani and Federico Michetti, he will have a lot of satisfaction.'

Fifteenth overall, and first of the Corinthian, was Claudio Dutto's Asante Sana.

Next appointment for the fleet is the Audi Melges 20 German Open that will take place in Starnberg See on June 23-24, 2012.

The Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series will restart in Malcesine on July 13-15.

Top Ten (Provisional, After 6 Races, 1 Discard)

1. Mirko De Falco/Guglielmo Giordano, Pecceré; (9)-2-3-7-3-6 = 21
2. Renato Vallivero/Marco Perazzo/Enrico Fonda, Turnover; (16(ZFP)-4-1-3-13-1 = 22
3. Vincenzo Onorato/Nathan Wilmot, Mascalzone Latino; 1-(12)-6-11-1-4 = 23
4. Alessio Marinelli/Branko Brcin, Candida Sailing Team; 11-1-4-(17)-6-2 = 24
5. Achille Onorato/ Lorenzo Bressani, Mascalzone Latino Jr.; (18)-3-2-4-9-8 = 26
6. Guido Miani/Gabriele Benussi, Audi Out of Reach; 7-5-12-1-(17)-3 = 28
7. Giancarlo Capolino/Francesco Ivaldi, Legionario; 12-7-11-2-8-(DNS) = 40
8. Robert Wilber/Chris Rast, Cinghiale; 6-15-8-9-4-(16) = 42
9. Federico Albano/Giulio Desiderato/Andrea Trani, 3menda; 8-14-7-8-(18)-5 = 42
10. Dario Levi/Andrea Casale, Fremito d’Arja; 10-6-10-6-10-(12) = 42

Full results
Melges 20 website

The second leg of Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series was sponsored by the city of Portoferraio and organized by B-Plan Sports & Events in collaboration with Melges Europe, the Lega Navale Italiana of Portoferraio and Comitato Circoli Velici Elbani.