2019 Melges 24 North American Championship gets serious
by International Melges 24 Class Association 15 Aug 2019 00:24 HKT
15-18 August 2019
Melges 24 fleet in Grand Traverse, Michigan - Melges 24 North American Championship © Grand Traverse Yacht Club
The International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA) is just hours away from the start of its North American Championship (NAC), and forty-two, super-tough Melges 24 teams are over-the-top excited about the highly-competitive, big-fleet racing action that lies ahead.
Loaded to the gills with some of sailing's biggest industry sponsors and partners, the NAC is destined to be the finest Melges 24 regatta on the North American continent in 2019.
Shoreside, the Grand Traverse Yacht Club (GTYC) is fully prepped and already welcoming Melges 24 teams that anticipate a couple of days advance warm-up racing and boat tuning. Registration and measurement start on Wednesday, August 14. Practice racing happens Thursday followed by the first of several afternoon post-sailing debriefs with Quantum Sails' Scott Nixon. Championship racing officially gets under way on Friday, August 16, continues on Saturday, and concludes on Sunday, August 18.
For many the stakes are high, and at the top of the food chain is U.S. Melges 24 National Ranking Series leader Kevin Welch aboard MiKEY with the famed Jeff Madrigali on the helm, and runner-up Travis Weisleder's Lucky Dog/Gill Race Team among the top contenders. With America's Cupper Mike Buckley as tactician, Weisleder will attempt to regain the overall National Ranking Series lead. Canada's Richard Reid racing Zingara and Wes Whitmyer's Slingshot are also top ten teams with a lot to gain, and much more to lose with only two more events past the NAC to complete the 2019 Series.
Great racing is in store for a fresh crop of all-amateur Melges 24 competitors. A perfect mix of mega-Midwest based teams and some of the very best from Canada are in attendance. Sixteen Melges 24s have qualified for the Corinthian division and among those are Hound Dog Regatta winner Mike Dow on Flying Toaster, Ugotta Regatta Champion Steve Pirie at the helm of Rumbunctious, Jeff Bodie's Esperanza, Scot Zimmerman's Bad Idea, George Haynie's Firewater, Robert Wigny and Kevin Brown on Notorious, Frasier McMillian's Sunnyvale/West Coast Sailing Team and Dan Berezin's Surprise.
Quantum Sails Super Series opportunity - time is running out to bid for the ride of a lifetime
Through the generosity of Quantum Sails, the 2019 Melges 24 North American Championship is pleased to offer via an online auction, an opportunity to race aboard Quantum Racing in the 52 Super Series. Anyone can place a bid. Do it now here.
The auction ends Thursday, August 15 at 9 pm EST. Don't miss your chance to win big!
For more information visit the 2019 Melges 24 NAC YachtScoring website.