2019 Melges 24 North American Championship at Grand Traverse Yacht Club - Overall

Congratulations are in full order for 2019 Melges 24 North American Champions: Travis Weisleder, tactician Mike Buckley, George Peet, Chewy Sanchez and John Bowden on Lucky Dog/Gill Race Team. A big round of congrats is also extended to 2019 Corinthian NAC Champs - Fraser McMillan at the helm of Sunnyvale with crew members Aiden Koster, Alexander Levkovskiy and Keegan Moynihan.

Born and raised on breeze, Canada's Fraser McMillan on Sunnyvale prevailed to win top Corinthian honors at the 2019 Melges 24 North American Championship - photo © Bill Crawford - Harbor Pictures Company

Richard Reid on Zingara had a tough day. After leading the event for the past two days, he finished Race Six in seventh place, putting him one point behind the new NAC Champions with throwouts going into effect. Kevin Welch's MiKEY with Jeff Madrigali at the helm came third, followed by Jack Jenning's Pied Piper in fourth, and 2019 NAC Corinthian winner Fraser McMillan completed the top five.

Teams headed out to the racecourse for the third and final day of competition at the 2019 Melges 24 North American Championship, hosted by the Grand Traverse Yacht Club (GTYC) on time and under sunny, yet breezy conditions anticipating two races. The breeze built fast and soon, the sun disappeared and heavy thunderstorms were on the horizon.

About one hour later, the Race Committee finally got a solid race course set and the fleet went racing in a wet and wild 18-20+ knots of breeze with Welch/Madrigali and Jack Jenning's Pied Piper battling into the first mark side-by-side. Once around, Welch/Madrigali launched into the lead. Jennings followed in second, and Wes Whitmyer's Slingshot in third. Tom 'Cash Money' Roop on Collusion, and Chris Jefferies Perky 2 were chasing in fourth and fifth. With the breeze still pumping, Whitmyer caught Jennings at the gate, then took the upwind lead to round the final top mark in first. Whitmyer took a quick penalty turn after rounding the offset opening up opportunity for Welch/Madrigali to ultimately take back the lead and win. Whitmyer had his best finish yet for the event in second, followed by Jennings in third.

At the completion of the North American Championship, Weisleder is now the current Series leader of the International Melges 24 Class Association's (IM24CA) North American Championship Series with two events completed. Only one final regatta remains - the Canadian Nationals in Ontario, Canada on September 13-15.

1st Place, 2019 Melges 24 North American Champions - Lucky Dog/Gill Race Team: Travis Weisleder, Mike Buckley, George Peet, John Bowden and Chewy Sanchez - 2019 Melges 24 North American Championship - photo © Bill Crawford - Harbor Pictures Company

On the U.S. Melges 24 Class' National Ranking Series, Welch still holds all the coins, seated in first overall, with Weisleder trailing by three points. Whitmyer and Reid had a great event in Traverse City, both moving up the leader board to sit third and fourth respectively. Bruce Ayres' Monsoon is fifth.

Special Thanks

Events of this size don't just happen by themselves. Countless hours and time are put into organizing and preparation. The Melges 24 Class is eternally grateful to all the members of the GTYC for welcoming the fleet into their amazing club. In particular, a big round of thanks to PRO Jeff Maier and his league of Race Committee volunteers, Scot and Liz Zimmerman, Tom Roop, Jim Sobie, Jordan Owen, just to name a few. And of course, a very special thanks to our sponsors who without their support, this event would not have been possible.

Up Next

There are tons more events ahead such as the forthcoming 2019 Melges 24 World Championship on October 5-12 in Villasimius, Italy preceded by the pre-Worlds at the same venue on September 20-22. In North America, the final leg of the West Coast Championship Series, the California Cup happens September 13-15 in Santa Cruz, CA, the 2019 Canadian Nationals in Ontario, Canada on September 19-22, the Atlantic/Gulf Coast Championship takes place on November 16-17 in Pensacola, Fla., then it's onward to the first event of the Bacardi Miami Winter Series on December 14-15. Check them all out, get signed up and go racing on your Melges 24!

Just Push Playback - See The Racing With Trac Trac

TracTrac supported the racing in Traverse City, Michigan at the North Americans. Watch the racing all over again here.

Overall Results: (top ten, 6 races, 1 discard)

1.) USA Travis Weisleder, Lucky Dog/Gill Race Team; 2-4-[16]-1-1-4 = 12pts
2.) CAN Richard Reid, Zingara; 1-2-2-4-4-[7] = 13pts
3.) USA Kevin Welch/Jeff Madrigali, MiKEY; 13-1-[14]-2-2-1 = 19pts
4.) USA Jack Jennings, Pied Piper/National Marine; 4-5-8-[22]-5-3 = 25pts
5.) CAN (C) Fraser McMillan, Sunnyvale; 9-7-[10]-3-3-5 = 27pts
6.) USA Wes Whitmyer, Slingshot; 16-[23]-6-9-7-2 = 40pts
7.) USA (C) Mike Dow, Flying Toaster; 7-6-1-[42/RET]-13-14 = 41pts
8.) USA (C) Marty Jensen, Zig Zag; [21]-16-5-20-6-10 = 57pts
9.) USA John Shockey, Wombmates Racing; 5-12-3-[26]-12-10 = 58pts
10.) USA (C) Scot Zimmerman, Bad Idea; 10-14-12-5-[42/RET]-18 = 59pts

Full results available here.

Corinthian Results: (top ten, 6 races, 1 discard)

1.) CAN Fraser McMillan, Sunnyvale; 9-7-[10]-3-3-5 = 27pts
2.) USA Mike Dow, Flying Toaster; 7-6-1-[42/RET]-13-14 = 41pts
3.) USA Marty Jensen, Zig Zag; [21]-16-5-20-6-10 = 57pts
4.) USA Scot Zimmerman, Bad Idea; 10-14-12-5-[42/RET]-18 = 59pts
5.) CAN Dan Berezin, Surprise; 23-3-[28]-7-20-11 = 64pts

Full Corinthian results available here.