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See also: 2001/2002 Regatta reports
Report by Eric Hood
The first year we had nine and just a very short list of boats were invited. Not to exclude anyone but simply to test the waters at this huge very nice private sport fishing resort. It worked very well on year one. Dick and Karen after that experience decided to raise the entry list cap or ceiling to 30 boats. At one time we had 22 commitments but ended up with 15 teams. Still a very nice number. If you ever have any questions about coming to Ocean Reef for a Melges 24 event or just to vacation you should contact anyone one of the owners below. I know all the answers and information that comes back to you will be very positive. Plans are under way for the 3rd annual event already and there is now very serious talk about putting a bid in for the World Championship. For our European friends please check in with Quentin Strauss and Nigel Young to get feedback on their experience. Jeff Jones of the U.S. Class, Karen Gottwald, Dick Jennings, PRO Hank Stuart and the management of Ocean Reef have already started discussions. The sailing is as good as Key West or better. You are inside the reef though so no Gulf Stream worries and smoother water. This would make the venue fair for all teams and certainly a lot more fun to have a balanced and fair sailing area without any big secrets. Now on to the racing this past weekend. While a smaller regatta there was absolutely no lack of talent and serious teams. We also had some new boats and new members to the class. One of the most important things we can do as class members is to welcome the new teams to our group. This week we had a couple of new teams sailing in their first event. Jack Jennings of Chicago who recently purchased M24 510 from Team Pegasus sailed in his first event and had some moments up towards the front. Welcome to the class Jack. Some tough teams and teams prepping for Key West Race Week made up the rest of the group. 2002 World Champions Jeff Ecklund and Harry Melges reversed roles with Jeff steering his first M24 event. Sheldon Ecklund who has been sailing with our class for a year now had some of his regulars that included Hans Melges and Judd Hirschberg plus Morgan Reeser. Neil Sullivan sailing his boat for the last time until he acquires his next boat had a very good team that included Doug Clark. Jeff Jones had Doug Fisher and his regular team aboard. Some veterans from other classes sailed here this week and they included Perry Lewis who sailed with Brian Torresen. Kate Mullins and John Sherlock had their very good team and also aboard was Max Skelly. Scott Gregory who is playing a key role in the M24 S.E. Circuit growth really had a good team this week and should be very tough at Key West. The neat thing was that the group was really tight sailing on the course. A couple of boats were off the pace but were physically sailing their boats well. With this group using older blown out sails really puts you behind the 8 ball quickly. PRO Hank Stuart and his entire team really did a great job. If you are ever looking for 1st Class PRO then contact Hank. He sails out of Rochester, N.Y. and all contact information can be found through U.S.Sailing. Hank is one of us when it comes to one design sailing and really understands what we are looking for. The first four races were all W4s and the last race was a W2. We had one mile legs for all legs of the five races except the fourth leg of the 2nd race which was shortened slightly to beat a dying afternoon breeze. Hank intentionally set up the windward offset so that you were close reaching for 5 boat lengths then you had the quick left turn and the set. Starts were very balanced and equal which was nice. Like last year Dick Jennings and Hank Stuart promptly called co-chair Karen Gottwald, his son Jack Jennings and one other boat on the first race just to let everyone know it was a level playing field J . Maybe 5 or 6 boats got busted by the line cops during the five races so that was nice to know current was not a factor and we were obviously given good lines to start with. Sets were a premium because for the most part we had right hand courses all weekend when going upwind which put a premium on gybing to port quickly when going downwind. Also the port gybe was much faster on the wave set. All of the runs were favored center to center left going down. Gates were fun. Lots of excitement but no protests or collisions to speak of. The PRO gave us a gate width that was 1/3rd the starting line length for the 15 boats and that worked very well. The waters off Key Largo inside the reef are much like Key West and relatively shallow so quick changes on marks are very easy for the PRO and his teams. The competition was really good like I mentioned earlier. I feel a number of different teams could have won this event if just a few little things here and there might have been different. The Quentin Strauss team from Great Britain in the end survived and ended up with a very nice victory. His team mates included members from”Black Seal” and team “Gill”. The Ecklund brothers in their first head to head meeting as Melges 24 skippers had some fun with each other on the course with Jeff just edging out Sheldon for 2nd and 3rd. Nice job to all three teams. We had five different race winners which was really neat to see. That alone shows the balance among the group. One of the exciting wins for sure was seeing Karen Gottwald win the last race. Karen and her “Cagey” team rounded sixth at the last weather mark just behind fifth place Jeff Ecklund on “Star”. “Cagey” gybed to port first, then “Star” this proved to be the move. Things were lining up for a very close finish. “Star” had just worked out about a boat length on “Cagey” as they were approaching the downwind finish on starboard but it would be very close if they tried to gybe and cross “Cagey” to win at the finish. Instead a tactical error by “Star” rounding a gate buoy just upwind of the finish sealed the victory for “Cagey”. Enough thanks cannot be given to Karen Gottwald, Dick Jennings, Hank Stuart, the Ocean Reef Club which included Leesa Crayne and Bob Ecuyer plus all of their teams. Leesa and Bob really made you feel comfortable, welcome and made sure that you always had everything you needed. The folks at Allied Marine were great with the launching and retrieving. Check out www.oceanreefclub.com for more information on this great site.
Report by Andy Burdick
Day 2: HARRY MELGES STILL LEADS AFTER FOUR RACES IN SAN FRANCISCO
Racing was delayed until midday to allow the breeze to build and the fleet started on the last of the flood tide with some individual recalls in 8-10 knots from 210 degrees. The right hand end of the line was definitely favourite and the wind clocked about 15 degrees up the first beat. Shark Kahn lead round the first mark from Bruce Ayres, Egidio Babbi and Kenneth Kaan. Behind them a number of boats misjudged the strength of tide and understood the mark. Benoit Charon just managed to shoot the mark for fifth but Kerry Poe, along with a number of others, was forced to bail out and was left battling for a way back in through the starboard tack wall. By the first leeward mark Shark had opened up a 30 second lead from the pack whilst Kaan had pulled up to second from Babbi. Paul Brotherton sailed a very smart run to come from the teens up to fourth whilst Ayres dropped to fifth in front of Harry Melges who'd also pulled up from the teens. Shark pulled out his lead to a minute and ten seconds on the second
beat whilst Babbi moved up to second with Melges third, Kaan fourth,
Brotherton fifth and Ayres sixth. Shark covered to the finish whilst
behind him Melges By race four the wind was up to 14-16 knots and the tide had turned
bringing up the chop. The fleet got underway at the second attempt
and again they like the right hand end of the line. Shark Kahn yet
again got the measure Santella and Shark Kahn had a humdinger of a battle down the first run with Santella just in the lead by the bottom mark. Both of them opted for the right gate with Melges following in at the head of the pack. First to opt for the left was Dave Ullman who'd come from tenth to fourth down the run. Weitz had pulled up to fifth with Porter sixth, Rob Greenhalgh seventh and Brotherton ninth. Up the second beat Santella opened up 30 seconds on Shark while Porter moved up to third. Melges had a lousy beat and dropped back to tenth leaving Weitz in fourth, Greenhalgh fifth, Ullman sixth and Ayres seventh. The final lap saw no change in the top three but Melges showed that
he might be down but he sure wasn't out and managed to pull back up
to fourth with Ullman fifth and Weitz sixth. Greenhalgh had to be content
with seventh Overall Harry Melges, Shark Kahn and Luca Santella remain in the top three slots, while Brian Porter has moved up to fourth. After racing Porter's crew member Vince Brun, who already holds two Melges 24 World titles as helmsman, commented on his new role as trimmer "I'm really enjoying the sailing but it's very hard work to be trimming instead of helming. I think I'm getting to old!" A disapointing 17, 13 score line was still enough to leave Philippe
Kahn, father of the fourteen year old Shark, in fourth place with Ullman
sixth, Greenhalgh seventh, Babbi eighth and Ayres ninth. Local boy
Seadon Wijsen With his 1, 2 score line Shark Kahn, the teenage surprise from Hawaii,
was definitely today's most consistent performer. After racing Shark
acknowledged that his crew of Richard Clark (Illbruck Volvo Race, three
times Canadian Olympic Finn representative), Mark Christensen (multiple
Volvo race veteran), Brian Hutchenson (Melges 24 sailing guru) and
Brian Lee (Shark's 20 year old cousin) are playing a vital role in
his success at this With good weather forcast again tomorrow the sixty eight strong fleet from ten nations is looking forward to two more good races. Ten races total are scheduled with the Championship closing on Friday. Day 4: KAHN AND MELGES SEPARATED BY ONE POINT AT AUDI MELGES 24 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Today's two races brought thrills and spills as Melges and Kahn both found themselves down in the cheap seats for a change. After yesterday's shifts the wind was rock steady at 225 and racing got underway at lunch time in 6 knots, which increased to around 16 knots by the end of race eight. The first start was fraught and Harry Melges ended up wallowing in
the third row as the fleet, and his main rival, sped off up the beat.
After a first mark rounding at 29th Melges spent the race playing catch
up to eventually finish 11th. Kahn meanwhile was once again showing
that he is not to be trifled with and took second place on the first
lap behind Paul Brotherton, helming for Ian Cleaver. By the second
windward mark Kahn had the lead and In race eight it was Kahn's turn to find himself out in the cold. Having put in a respectable beat he looked set for a top ten first rounding as he approached on port. Unfortunately the starboard layline was full to bursting and couldn't find a slot until the low 20s. If his older and more experienced rivals hoped this would leave the youngster dazed and confused they were to be sadly disappointed and Kahn simply dug in and worked his tail off, finally finishing sixteeth. Up ahead Melges was fairing only a little better, his first mark rounding of tenth seemed solid enough and with his legendary speed the spectators fully expected him to storm his way to the front. By the second windward mark he was up to seventh but he lost again on the second run and found himself back in tenth, eventually just pipping Sebastian Col on the finish line for eight. At the front of the fleet reigning Melges 24 European Champion Luca Santella, helming Giovani Maspero's Joe Fly Team, took the tape for only the second time this regatta winning the race by a over a minute. Brian Porter eventually took second after some fun and games with Dave Ullman. Don Jesberg was fourth while Sheldon Ecklund and local hero Seadon Wijsen struggled over fifth with Ecklund finally getting it. Rob Greenhalgh, helming for Paul Lovejoy, came in seventh just ahead of Melges. Going into the final day Shark Kahn now leads on 17 points with Harry
Melges just one point behind him. Brian Porter (42 points) and Luca
Santella (47 points) are set for an equally tight battle for third
place. Since Cedric The leaders were not the only ones to have an eventful day. The most
serious incident was a leeward mark collision in race eight between
Keith Grzelak and Denise Surtees which left Grzelak with a large hole
in the port Two final races are schedule for tomorrow, although the fact that
racing is already postponed until noon and no races can be started
after two pm will make for a tight programme. Full results are available from www.melges24.com. For further information please contact Fiona Brown, e-mail fiona.brown@melges24.com, Tel +44 7711 718470 or visit www.melges24.com. Founded in 1927, St. Francis Yacht Club, within view of the Golden
Gate Bridge, is a year-round host to over 30 regattas on San Francisco
Bay. For over 75 years the club members have supported the founding
premise of
Report and photos courtesy Dan Dickison / Scott Bartley - Regatta Chairman / Hal Smith - Principal Race Officer
Saturday’s initial contest got underway in a waning ebb tide and southwest winds that rarely surpassed eight knots. As the top three boats converged on the weather mark, the wind gods took a powder and the Charleston Harbor Challenge momentarily became a driftathon, with the fleet enduring a nearly complete inversion. “In about four minutes we went from third to third to last,” said Steve Jones, who along with his partner Eric Andrews had driven all night from Tennessee for the festivities. Almost as quickly as the wind had gone limp, a marginal breeze reappeared and the race committee was able to score the first of five races that day. Charleston’s Omalley Avant on USA 98 surprised the fleet by coming off the left on that first windward leg to sneak around the mark well ahead of the pack and hold that lead for the next three legs to the finish line. Throughout the day the breeze direction remained relatively stable as the winds built toward 15 knots. After one general recall, Race 2 got underway in roughly 12 knots of wind. Travis Weisleder’s crew on Carloan.com out of Annapolis, MD started clean and hit what few shifts there were to round the top mark with a comfortable lead. They managed to hold off the Gregory, Hill, Scholtz team on Satisfaction (out of Atlanta) to grab a bullet in that contest, and then duplicated the feat in Race 3.
A slight moderation in the wind strength developed for Race 5, though there were still a few puffs that could promote planing. After a dismal 15th in Race 4, the Pitt-Shafer syndicate on board the Florida-based Tommy Bahama redeemed themselves by grabbing a hard-won bullet in this contest. Tight on their transom Satisfaction and Carloan.com, each inched closer to the regatta leader Moving Target (sixth place in that race) as the day closed out. After a treat of limitless shrimp and draft beer on Saturday Night at the yacht club, the competitors suffered through a hot, windless morning on Sunday, but were ultimately treated to 12 to 15 knots out of the southeast, setting the stage for two contests that featured the most stable winds of the entire event. Doug Kessler and his Atlanta-based team on board Liberty finally found their groove in that day’s first race, coming off the left side of the first beat to gain an early edge. They battled with two local boats most of the way around (When Pigs Fly and Moving Target), but managed to clinch the win. In the final contest, Moving Target worked out to a nominal lead by the first weather mark, with Liberty and When Pigs Fly rounding in hot pursuit. Griffith and his team aggressively protected their turf throughout the ensuing three legs to cross the finish line and take the gun, solidifying their claim to the overall win.
The Charleston Harbor Challenge was scored with a throw out factored in, leaving Moving Target with 15 points, followed by Satisfaction with 23, and Tommy Bahama with 24. Fourth place overall went to Mark Marenakas of Charleston and his crew on board Paddlefoot with 30 points. There was a 3 boat logjam with 32 points with Carloan.com, Liberty 3, and When Pigs Fly finishing 5th, 6th , and 7th respectively. For additional information and full results, log on to www.charlestonyachtclub.com.
Report and photos courtesy North Sails UK See Photo Gallery
Day 1 dawned with the only onshore
breeze encountered for the whole
week
with the wind blowing from the SE and swinging to the SW throughout
the day
at about 12-16 mph. 3 races were held in surprisingly shifting
breeze A NW breeze of 15-20 mph greeted the competitors
on the 3rd day of
racing
with fun and games at the 1st windward mark rounding of the day
when a
number of boats attached themselves to the windward mark attempting
to
re
locate it further down the course, this was made worse when finally
they
un-attached themselves leaving the mark to move back to its original
position rapidly, catching the next unsuspecting boats out that
weren't So the 2003 European Championship is over and a roaring success
it
was with
5 days of racing in what was probably the most ideal conditions
you
could
have asked for, sun and wind, fantastic. Out of the 51 M24' s racing, (*) partial inventory 2003 Europeans Photo Gallery For more information on our winning Melges 24 program, please contact our Melges 24 experts!
27 May 2003 Emel is a cosy Swedish town located on the west coast of Lake Vdnern less than 4 hours from Stockholm. The organising club is small but really professional. Racing was excellent - the weather made a small negative input...The Swedish Championships attracted this year 19 boats(5 from Finland, 8 from Sweden and 6 from Norway). Racing started on Friday with two starts and continued on Saturday
with four
races. On Sunday only two races were sailed. The weather on Friday
was
windy, a wind velocity of 6-9 m/s flavoured with rain. Friday was also
a The reigning Swedish Champion from Finland, Marinel Mastervolt, were trying a double but it didn`t work out this time.. FINAL RESULTS: 1.NOR 560 Kristian Nergaard(4,1,3,4,OCS,4,1,2)19pts Full results from Emel. The Finnish Melges 24 boats continue racing the 14th and 15th of June
in
Turku with the second National ranking. Stay tuned!
Report by Andy Burdick
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin - May 10-11, 2003 Buddy Melges, Harry Melges, Brian Porter, Hans Melges, Tom Freytag, Doug Clark all were in attendance at this years Spring Championship on Lake Geneva. With all of these rock star Melges 24 racers it was Sheldon Ecklund from Palm Beach, Florida that won the event. Sheldon had two bullets and no race worse than 7th in the 4 race series. Sheldon purchase a new boat for last years Winter Series and has been climbing the M24 charts ever since. This was a big win! "I am just happy that my crew has stayed with me through the learning curve", says Ecklund. We think they will be with you now after beating names like this! Race Winners included Tom Freytag, Buddy Melges and Ecklund with 2 bullets. Mike Dow from Traverse City, Michigan sailed a very good series as well with a 3,3,7,4. Mike placed 3rd overall, just behind T. Freytag our current Gold Cup and National Champion in the USA. Brian Porter was over the line in race one and could only get back to 12th. The Full Throttle had a 2,5,2 after that but this was just enough to bring them up to 4th. Don Turner from Neenah, Wisconsin was 5th overall. The event was perfect on Saturday with 5-10mph of breeze. Sunday brought a major cold front with winds gusting to 50mph. Needless to say we just sailed on Saturday. The championship was a success and Sheldon Ecklund sure showed everyone that he can sail with the best of the best in the Melges 24 fleet. Congratulations Sheldon!
Report courtesy North Sails UK
Conditions for the 4 day regatta were quite varied with sunny warm and generally light winds on the 1st day' s racing, cooler conditions and slightly more breeze on the 2nd day, a complete change on day 3 with 25 - 30 knots of breeze and back to sunny but light winds for the final day' s racing. The wind for the whole regatta blew off the land and this obviously meant that there would be unstable breeze and big wind shifts which would mean some high scores were inevitable. The race management team once again had a tough job on their hands, with nearly 80 Melges 24' s on a start line and a schedule of 11 races to fit in over the 4 day' s. To be fair they did a 1st class job with generally very square and fair start lines, with race times being just right to allow more races to be run in a day. The standard throughout the fleet was very high with close exciting racing being enjoyed by all competitors. For this season the Melges fleet has been joined by some new faces, all of who were competing, along with the more familiar names this was going to be an extremely tough and hard fought regatta. 3 races were sailed on day 1 and it was clear from the out set that consistency was going to be the name of the game if you were to do well at this regatta, with nearly all of the top teams having at least 1 bad result. The new team of "Joe Fly" from Italy were fast out of the blocks and posted a 1, 10 , 1 , these guys sailed very well and seem to revel in the lighter breeze. One of the other new teams also from Italy "Alina" had a good opening day' s racing scoring a 13, 1, 4 and it was these 2 boats that headed the leader board overnight. The Black Seal team started well with a 4, 3 but a DSQ in race 2 meant we didn' t figure amongst the leaders at this stage. Day 2 was going to be a big day with 4 races sailed in light to medium breeze, Black Seal really started to stamp their authority on the regatta at this point with a 5, 2, 2 but a big wind shift and one sided course in race 4 meant we had a shocker after being caught out on the wrong side and recorded a 41st. This really put the pressure on us and with a possible 4 races left we simply couldn' t afford another bad result. The 1st discard was now in but 9 races were needed for the 2nd discard, at this point we were counting our 41st so with this in mind we were very happy to find ourselves 5th overall after day 2 . Once again results were very up and down amongst the other top teams with "Joe Fly"," Vito", and" Ale Ali 3" all winning races but following them with high scores. "Joe Fly" maintained their lead overall, with "Vito"," Minnie the Mooncher", "Blue moon" and "Alina" all in the hunt.
With a possible 2 races left for the regatta it was all to play for with such high scores being had by everyone. In the end the wind just refused to play fair and refused to fill in for about 2 hours, leaving all the competitors waiting on the water. With time running out, only one race was held and with a number of our nearest rivals DSQ' d with the black flag rule and "Minnie the Mooncher" having a bad start and finishing with their worst result of the regatta, it was just left for us to get an average result to win the event. After a conservative start at the favoured end we were very pleased to round the top mark in 12th position more than enough to secure the title and at the finish had improved to 8th. So after a 10 race series with 2 discards Team Black Seal had won the 2003 SNIM for a record 3rd time in succession with a very healthy 31 point lead over "Minnie the Mooncher" in 2nd. These young guys sailed a very good series and will certainly be ones to watch out for in future events. Of the top 10 finishing overall, 9 were using North sails, these being the J 5 jib, AP 2 mainsail and VMG spin, "P&P" actually used the PZR spin on the windy day and had fantastic speed downwind to record their 2 bullets so when choosing your next spin it may well be worth considering the PZR as a heavy air spin option.
Report courtesy melges24.com
Doug Kessler had the bit between his teath and was determined to hang on to his overall lead. He and his P&P Sailing Team sailed the final two races very conservatively to ensure their overall victory scoring a 5 and 6 to win the regatta by 7 points overall. Behind him Britain's Roger Peacock and the Black Seal team were delighted with their win in the penultimate race and despite a disappointing twelfth in the final race just managed to hang on to their second place overall on count back against Italy's Flavio Favini helming for Franco Rossini. Argyle Campbell finally hit his top form today and went out on a big high with a 2, 1 scoreline in the last races of the ragatta which comfortably secured him fourth place overall ahead of Norway's Peder Nergaard, Brian Porter and Paula Zubrzycki. Top 10:
For complete results, click here. Photos, click here.
Report by Andy Burdick Miami Beach was the location for the final winter series regatta in the growing Melges 24 Class. The Melges 24 Winter Series begins in Jacksonville, Florida. The Midwinters is in Key West and then the final stop is Miami. The light winds and choppy ocean seas made the sailing challenging for all fleets. The two boats that really sailed consistently faster than the rest was Peder Nergaard's Norway 560 and the Joe Fly Racing Team from Italy. Both boats using North Main, Jib and Asymmetricals had a speed edge. Upwind as the breeze would build and you were sailing on Starboard tack into the chop you had to really get into a routine with the waves. As you rolled up on top of a big wave and your pressure increased the top boats would drop their traveller to centerline or a bit below. As they came down the wave and the pressure would go away the traveller would go up to weather a bit allowing the boat to keep powering through the water. The Italian boat and the Nowrweigan boat were fast with this upwind routine. Downwind brought a similar type of discipline to the sailing. You could surf the big waves but due to the light air you had to head up, gain pressure right away again so that you did not slow down after getting your boat so low (dead downwind) down the wave. Keeping your crew and helmsperson focused was the key to success downwind. North inventories were on the top 5 of the regatta. North Sails have designed the best all around sails in the class for upwind and downwind. Here was the top 5 of this championship:
The next stop for the Melges fleet is in Pensacola, Florida. There the PYC will hold the National Championship for 2003. Racing begins on Thursday March 13. If you need any help, don't hesitate to contact myself or any of the North's Melges 24 experts.
St. Petersburg Yacht Club
Nineteen Melges 24 teams made it to this year’s annual event. I believe it was the sixteenth or seventeenth event hosted by great sponsors and of course our primary sponsor Sailing World magazine. The weather was great for the practice day and the three days of racing. There were some long delays on day two but a great PRO and team from St. Petersburg Yacht Club pulled it all together. All six races scheduled were held in this large two course multi-class regatta. Windward / Leeward courses were the order of the day each day. Four of the races were 5 legs and two were 3 legs. The six Henderson 30s and the nineteen Melges 24s had a windward mark set much further upwind to stretch things out for the sport boats. We saw some new teams here sailing their first event and we also had one brand new boat which I delivered to Tom and Mary Ellen Carter of Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. One thing that was neat was how the St. Petersburg Yacht Club let us park the Melges Van in the limited space parking area so the Melges 24s could have easy access to information and parts if needed. Many thanks to SPYC for doing this. Race 1 saw some good racing and a few confusing moments. Team Tommy Bahama led the first three legs of this race but got a little confused and sailed right by the 2nd windward mark to a finish line set for some other classes. This opened the door for four other teams to make it a very tight 5 boat shootout for first. The rest of the fleet was close behind in this light medium wind. In the end Team Liebel with Doug Fisher had the lead but then they sailed by the finish line thinking they were still going upwind to the old area where the finish line had been moved. SPYC did all the right things with course change and maybe just the first race jitters confused some of us. In the end Team Tommy Bahama won with Ryan Hamm of Charleston sailing his newly purchased M24 to a second. John Hyatt of Ft. Meyers finished third. Kilroy sailed by Jeff Jones sailed well and finished fourth and Dean Bell of Tampa finished fifth. Race 2 saw team Liebel on USA 62 turn it on and went on to win with a solid victory. Laine Pardey of Sarasota had a great race finishing second on Panic Pending. Ryan Hamm put together another solid race finishing 3rd. Team Tommy Bahama finished fourth. Jeffery Marks had his best race of the series sailing Premature Acceleration from Dunedin to a fifth. Jeffery actually sailed a very consistent the first four races but had two tough last races in this regatta. At the end of day 1 and two races on the board Ryan Hamm and Team Tommy Bahama were tied for first. Race 3 was one of the most competitive and exciting races with lead changes from several boats. The wind was up and very steady with small shifts. Boat speed was a premium. This for sure was one of the best and fun races we had. Chris Schoendorf, David Happ and Team TAZ from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin won this race after passing two of the fastest boats at this event Team Liebel who finished second and Team Tommy Bahama who finished third. Dean Bell put together another good race on Sled Slayer finishing fourth. King Purton on Mellow Yellow had their best race of the series with a fifth. Race 4 started off with an aggressive start from the group and Team Tommy Bahama over the line. Team Liebel took advantage of their leeward end start and quick tack on the first shift. They led this race bell to bell. This was another medium air race with good fun sailing. Scott Baker of Slidell, La. sailing USA 200 Nobody’s Girl had his best race of the series finishing second in this race. Tom and Mary Ellen Carter sailing their brand new boat USA 559 had one of their two series best third place finishes this race. Now going into race 5 Team Liebel had the lead by a couple of points over Team Tommy Bahama. Team Taz who won race 3 sailed a great race and was leading till the last beat. The wind had shown a left phase the first two beats which Team Taz and Team Liebel took on the final beat. This opened the door for Team Tommy Bahama to get to the right for what appeared to be some small dark clouds moving in from the right. In the end Tommy Bahama just got by Team Taz to win the race and Team Liebel made a great comeback from an OCS to finish third in this race. Fourth went to Lainie Pardey on USA 82 and fifth to Steve Jones on Sick Puppy from Silver Point, Tn.. Race 6 was setup to be a shootout for the two teams tied for first, Team Liebel and Team Tommy Bahama. Good matches were also in the making for the final other positions. Team Tommy Bahama led the group off the leeward end of the starting line in this windy shortened 3 leg race. About two-thirds the way up the beat Tommy Bahama had about a 4-5 boat length lead over Team Liebel then got into trouble with an approaching J/29 coming downwind on the course while on starboard. Team Bahama stalled their boat trying to squeak by the J/29 to windward and that was enough for Team Liebel to take control of the race. Tom and Mary Ellen Carter factored into this race by squeaking into the weather mark just ahead of Team Bahama giving the safety cushion Team Liebel needed to stretch it out. In the end Team Liebel won the race with Team Tommy Bahama finishing second . Tom and Mary Ellen Carter finished third, Lainie Pardy fourth and Jeff Jones fifth. All in all it was a fantastic regatta, great parties. Many thanks to Pioneer for bringing in the Plasma t.v.s to SPYC for the America’s Cup and thanks again of course to both St. Petersburg Yacht Club and Sailing World for hosting a great event. Here are some scores and points for everyone. USA 62 – Scott and Steve Liebel 7-1-2-1-3-1 15
PRESS RELEASE 17 NOVEMBER 2002 BRIAN PORTER (USA-549 "FULL THROTTLE") WINS 2002 KING'S DAY REGATTA The third and final race of the King's Day Regatta in Jacksonville, Florida gave way to extreme sailing conditions bringing challenging and very interesting results. As the boats made their way to the racecourse they experienced almost flat conditions, winds around 10-12 knots. The wind built quick increasing to 15-18 knots at the start. Everyone got off clean, most working the left side of the course with quite a bit of scrambling for position. Working their way to the top mark, rounding first was Doug Fisher with Morgan Reeser navigating (USA-62 "Iocane"), Nigel Pill and Alex Shaffer (USA-544 "Tommy Bahama") was second and overall leader Brian Porter (USA-549, "Full Throttle") came around third hot for the top position. As the fleet made it's way down the course winds continued to build
and sustained at 20-25 knots making for interesting jibes, mark rounding
and take downs. Porter, who had closed the gap significantly between
himself Back downwind for the second to last leg the wind was really whipping.
Porter left the fleet giving him a substantial lead to win the race.
It took him 5 minutes and 45 seconds to come from the top mark to the Due to increasing winds, the teams started to struggle a bit to keep
the boats under control. The race committee became witness to several
"shrimping" incidents and in some cases even worse. The J-24
fleet was The Full Throttle crew scored 3 bullets this weekend unmistakably making
them the overall winners in Jacksonville. Argyle Campbell captured second
place. Some of yesterday's contenders did not survive so well
Kim Beddard made an announcement to the Melges 24 fleet that the Florida
Yacht Club is the home Sterling Trophy. She briefed the crowd on the
history of the trophy and how it came about. The Sterling Trophy is Last but certainly not least, kudos to the FYC! In particular to Rick Preston, the designated On-water Chairman did a fine job with all races conducted. They were professional and well organized. The FYC's top-notch committee and facilities really made the King's Day Regatta one of the best to attend in the Southeast.
01.) BRIAN PORTER - USA-549 - FULL THROTTLE 02.) ARGLYE CAMPBELL - USA-524 - ROCK 'N ROLL 03.) SHELDON ECHLUND - USA-553 04.) PAUL ZUBRZYCKI - USA-495 - FIRST CRUSH 05.) DOUG FISHER - USA-62 - IOCANE 06.) JEFFERY TODD - USA-58 - HOT TODDY 07.) WAYNE PIGNOLET - USA-174 - PUMBAA 08.) JEFF JONES - USA-497 - KILROY 09.) ROSS GRIFFITH - USA-155 - MOVING TARGET 10.) NIGEL PILL / ALEX SHAFFER -USA-544- TOMMY BAHAMA
"FINALLY" HARRY MELGES (USA 409 "STAR") IS 2002 MELGES 24 WORLD CHAMPION After five consecutive trys (crewed three times, and driven twice)
Harry Melges at the helm for Jeff Ecklund captured the top spot today
overall to become the 2002 Melges 24 World Champion in Travemunde, Germany.
Even though Harry scored a 9th place finish and took a DNS on the last
race as his discard, Harry maintained the top position. When asked to
comment on how it feels to have finally won a Melges 24 Championship
he said, "Awesome. I had a great crew and just sat in back and
drove the boat. Both Jeff and I would like to send a very special thank
you to Kristian Nergaard from Norway who really went above and beyond
the call of duty Race nine began with light wind and rain. With so much excitement and adrenaline pumping a general recall on the first race was unavoidable. Once the teams settled down for second start, the rain continued to fall but by no means put a damper on anyone's determination. Around the first mark were the Italians Andrea Racchelli (ITA 438 "Altea") and M. Ziliani driving for A. Preti (ITA 193 "Ale Ali 3"). Racchelli was unable to hold on to the top spot for long. The french had an astounding day with a first place finish from Philippe Legros (FRA 193 "Cotes D'Armor") followed by Francois Le Bourdais (FRA 375 "Voiles Performance") in second. Vittorio Strosek has a most incredible day with a third place finish. Second place position holder Jamie Lea at the helm for Richard Thompson (GBR 437 "Black Seal") finished with a dissappointing fifteenth. At the start of the tenth and final race in the series, Andrea Racchelli
(ITA 438 "Altea") put on a masterful display of his determination
and ability by dominating the entire race. He and Kenneth Thelen (FIN
236 Final Results
2002 Melges 24 World Championship
Report by Harry Melges Seventy two Melges 24's turned up in Travemunde Germany for the 2002 Melges 24 World Championship. Travemunde turned out to be a great venue for this awesome event. Beautiful weather and great breeze blessed the regatta for the opening weekend and the first four days of racing, while Friday brought a taste of real Germany with clouds and rain showers, but still plenty of wind. Fireworks, rock bands, bungee jumping, farice wheels, and plenty of sausage and beer gave us all a taste of Germany in the summer time, and it was a real blast! The first four days of racing in Travemunde brought sunny skies, and thermal breezes that built each day until Thursday into the 18 knot range. The Lubecker bay area is somewhat shallow so the waves built up quickly to make for some challenging conditions upwind and some awesome rides downwind. Friday brought in the rain showers and a 180 degree change in the wind and the weather. This helped mix up the standings a bit on the last day, but one thing remained constant, customers using North Sails steadily rose to the top of the fleet. North Sails dominate the racing winning 7 out of 10 races, taking first overall, first Corinthian, and 8 out of the top 10 spots including the top three. Tuning notes from the winners: We set up the first day at base on our shrouds and ½" of sag in the mast, the wind was approximately 8 knots and the water was flat. Jib leads in the standard position, with the car screwed into the hole just in front of the third bolt. Traveler was always to windward 4" to 6" and the jib and main trimmed so the leech telltales were always flowing. As the wind and waves increased, we really didn't change our set up that much. We tried a tighter rig, but it never felt as good as being at base, even when the breeze was in the 18 knot range. In the bigger chop, we would twist the sails a lot more than in flat water. The big thing in the chop was to make sure that you kept your boat moving through the water, that was the only way to get height. On the bumpier tack, we tried the jib lead forward one hole and this seamed to be real fast in the lighter conditions. We also would snug the vang to keep the mast from working in the waves and this was very fast. This set up required some fine tuning of the backstay to achieve the correct depth in the top of the mainsail and still maintain headstay tension and twist in the main without making the top of the main too flat. Bottom line was that the North main and Jib continue to be the easiest sails to trim and go fast with. You can basically sail at base almost 80% of the time and be fast.
That's pretty much it, a great time had by all, with lot's of good racing! Sail Fast! Harry Melges
Report by Harry Melges
Once again, North Sails continue to dominate the Melges 24 circuit showing awesome speed both upwind and downwind in a variety of conditions. The 40 degree temperatures were a bit colder than we all expected for Annapolis in April, but with the sun shining, the wind blowing and everyone dressed in their warmest gear 9 races were sailed in 8 to 20 knts with flat water and the occasional snow flurry. A bit of current and some very shifty westerly winds put an emphasis on tactics and staying in phase with the breeze. It paid to not get too hung out on one side or the other, as the shifts were short enough that just going with the flow and tacking on the shifts upwind and downwind paid off. We sailed with a standard North J5 jib, North Mainsail, North Max Runner and the North Power Zone Reacher. We sailed at base or within 12 turns up from base the entire weekend. Many of the boats were sailing with their rigs tighter in what appeared to be the conditions that would require the tighter rig. I believe the flat water and the versatility of the North sails allowed us to sail close to base all the time and not be concerned about the rig. As we learned in Key West, over baking the rig is not always a good thing to do. The ability to concentrate on tactics was crucial and not over think the rig. We set our jib leads aft one hole, that is screwing the car into the third bolt head. Pulled all the wrinkles out of the luff of the jib, sailed with the main traveler centered in the big breeze trimmed the main hard and the backstay hard, and we were flying upwind. It was important to crack the jib sheet out a bit when the really big shots came to keep the boat rolling, as well as feather the boat in the flat water and let the front of the jib collapse a bit to keep her on her feet and not overheeled. Downwind, we used primarily the North Max Runner. We did this because of the flat water, and the shots were narrow so it was important to be able to sail deep with speed. We kept our weight aft and the boat powered up just enough to stay on a plane, and then worked hard to stay in the big shots. With the current against us on the runs, it was also important to sail deep as the current seams to sweep you to the sides of the course too quickly if you are pressed up against the current. The Max Runner allows you to sail deep and still plane, and it once again showed that it is the sail to have. Click here for full results. If you have any questions, please feel free to email or call the North Melges 24 experts! Sail Fast!
Report by Harry Melges
Flavio Favini and Owner Franco Rossini sailed their brand new Melges 24 to an impressive victory. Flavio used a brand new North main and North J5 jib to win an unprecedented 5 straight races. Flavio, Franco and team showed breakaway speed upwind, stating that they simply followed the North tuning guide, and then concentrated on the big picture of the race at hand. This is a true testament to the ease of use of the North sails and the awesome speed that can be achieved simply by following the tuning guide. I had the privilege of steering Jeff Ecklund's new boat called Star. We ended up second overall and re learned some old lessons in the process. If anything, we over thought the rig tuning and with the chop that we had in Key West, it paid to stay on the loose side. Flavio sailed with a looser rig than most of us and it was definitely fast in the chop. It looked windier than it was and the tendency was to tighten the rig up to the heavy air setting in the morning races. Flavio stayed in the 8 to 12 turns up on the uppers range while many of us were in the 20 turns up range. You wouldn't think this would make much of a difference, but in an 80 boat fleet every inch matters, and a click of speed made the difference off the starting line and up the first beat. Bottom line is, the rig is important, but if you are close to base in most conditions except really breezy conditions you will be fast. We generally sailed with the traveler up to windward, sometimes at the windward foot push, and a looser than normal main sheet tension due to all the chop. It was critical for the crew to be gauging boat speed with other boats so that if we were off the pace we could make adjustments right away. This usually happened on one tack more than the other as you hit the waves more squarely. Less backstay and a soft mainsheet tension was really fast as soon as we hit the big chop. North's own Vince Brun, two time M24 World Champion was a solid third, winning a race and showing brilliant form throughout the regatta. Vince had solid boat speed upwind and downwind using the standard gear and was consistently at the top of the fleet showing us all why he has won so many World Championships in so many different classes. Richard Thompson and Jamie Lee started off the regatta with a winning day and sailed a solid event to finish in Fourth just ahead of Brian Porter who coming off his second place finish at the Worlds in La Rochelle finished fifth The standard North main and the North J5 jib continue to be the sails of choice for the top sailors. They are the easiest to trim and they are the fastest through the entire wind range. This year we stepped up the cloth selection on both the mains and the jibs to improve their shape holding capability and add longevity to their racing life. In Key West we used our new North Power Zone Reacher in the heavier wind races and showed brilliant speed downwind. This sail is powerful to get you over the waves, but it is also open in the leech and does not have as much luff curve so when you need to press up and plane, the Power Zone Reacher gets you in the power zone more quickly. The boat feels free and it is really fast. The power zone is the zone where the boat is powered up and planing freely, not bound up or over heeled. This sail also showed great speed in the very light air and chop during the practice races before the Worlds. To max out our inventory we also used the North Max Runner. This sail we used to call the VMG, but we have renamed this sail because it is the best all purpose runner on the market today. This sail will cover the entire wind range if you want it to. It sails deeper and faster than any other sail out there and if you need to reach a little, it will do that too. Key West was a great time had by all. The key to success still comes down to boat handling and boat preparation. We all owe a big thank you to Philippe Kahn for running all those practice races before the Worlds. That was invaluable training for all of us and I would say all of the top ten boats and probably top twenty took part in those practice races. If you want to improve you have to sail the boat in as many races as you can and when you do have time to practice, throw in a couple of buoys and "hot lap". Even if you are the only boat, it is the best way to train. If you have any questions please feel free to email or call. We are more than happy to help you out. Sail Fast!
2001 Worlds - Photo Gallery
Photos courtesy Fiona Brown
Flavio Favini/Franco Rossini 2001 World Champions with North.
Besides bringing a lot of sunblock for the warm and sunny skies it was important to bring North Sails as 56 out of the 76 boats had North Sails and at the end of the regatta North Sails were on 13 of the top 15 boats. At the end of week, Italian Flavio Favini, sailing Swiss sailor's Franco Rossini's new boat won the event with a incredible 5 first place finishes out of the 8 races sailed. North One Design's Vince Brun, who finished third overall after winning the first two Worlds, asked Flavio how he set up his boat and got ready for the regatta. "About the tuning , as I had little time to practice before the regatta, and as I had never used North sails before on the Melges, I set the rig as the tuning guide suggested, rake and base shroud tension. Then we went sailing the days before the regatta and we immediately found we had a good speed in the light stuff. As our boat was brand new, every practice day we came back to the dock we checked our rig tension and we found out that it had streched a little bit and therefore we had been sailing with less shroud tension that we thought. The performance was good and we decided to use, in the choppy conditions of Key West, a little less rig tension to allow a little more forestay sag than what is suggested by the guide. I am talking of a couple of turns less, and I don't even know if this is enough to make any difference, but for sure the tuning was good.
We had our best performance when the breeze picked upthe second day, but again we just followed the guide, we tightened 12 turns the uppers and 6-8 the lowers, and just sailed the boat the best we could. About the maisail trim, I let the traveller in the middle, not too much vang tension, and played the backstay to respond to the puffs. For the jib, we trimmed to the reference mark at the spreader, or sometimes a little more outboard, adjusting the jib sheet quite frequently to react to puffs and lulls. I must add that I think that a lot of the good speed we had in the breeze is thanks to the great job that my crew did, hiking down the boat upwind and moving and trimming the spinnaker properly downwind." Many thanks to all our customers who chose to use North Sails. North Sails is proud to support such a vibrant and growing class. We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2002 Worlds later this year in Travemunde, Germany Top 15 and sails are:
North Sails Support World Championship as Associate Sponsors The International Melges 24 Class Association and Premiere Racing Inc are delighted to announce that North Sails will be supporting the 2001 Melges 24 World Championship, to be held in association with Terra Nova Trading/Yachting Key West Race Week from 20-25 January 2002, as an Associate Sponsor. North Sails is one of the longest standing commercial sponsors of the International Melges 24 Class, both in Europe and the USA and the IMCA is delighted to welcome them on board again this year. Their support will help ensure the success of the Championship which is set to break all attendance records for a US based Melges 24 event. North Sails continue to lead the way in Melges 24 sail development and this World Championship will see the return of double World Champion, Vince Brun to the event. Vince is really looking forward to the Worlds and can be seen training in San Diego most weekends in preparation. Quote from Nigel Young North Sails UK: Why North Sails is supporting the worlds....... " North Sails both in Europe and the USA have
been closely involved in the class since its introduction. Vince Brun
has led the way in the States and I have been looking after the class
in Europe. The Melges 24 is the best sports boat class in the World
and we enjoy the challenge of making sails for such a thoroughbred boat.
With both the USA and UK lofts producing For further information about the 2001 Melges 24 World Championship please visit www.melges24.com or contact Fiona Brown, IMCA Press Officer, 3 Palmers Road, Emsworth, Hants, PO10 7DL, England, Tel +44 (0)7711 718470, E-mail FionaBrown@compuserve.com. For further information about North Melges 24 sails
please visit www.northsailsod.com
for USA clients or www.northsails.co.uk
for European clients.
Report by Eric Hood
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Melges 24 Owner Karen Gottwald, GL70 “Pied Piper” Owner
and Ocean Reef Club member Dick Jennings hosted their 2nd annual event
this past week at the Ocean Reef Club. Last year this event started
as a fun little invitational regatta that Dick and Karen hosted out
of one of the big sport fish resorts in Florida. The idea was that
it certainly had the potential for awesome sailing in flat water but
also to have a all-inclusive style regatta at a very nice resort for
a reasonable price. For the 2nd year in a row they succeeded in both
areas. The sailing was great and the outdoor meals were nothing short
of spectacular.
7
- Dave Ullman 
After two more tough races at the Audi Melges 24 World Championships
in San Francisco Harry Melges, helming for Jeff Ecklund, is still hanging
onto his overall lead although fourteen year old Shark Kahn is giving
him plenty to worry about and is now only 3 points behind him. "It
was a good day but we missed a few opportunities and I don't think
we were quite as fast. I think some of the others found some speed
today so it was tough." commented Harry
If you'd told us six days ago that a fourteen year old kid would have
Harry Melges on the ropes going into the final day of the Audi Melges
24 World Championship in San Francisco we'd have politely laughed you
out of court. Today we have egg on our faces and Shark Kahn and his
Pegasus 1 crew of Richard Clarke, Mark Christensen, Brian Hutchenson
and Brian Lee have Harry Melges, Jeff Ecklund, Hans Melges and Steve
Inman well and truly worried.
CHARLESTON, SC—Now in its fourth year, the Charleston
Harbor Challenge drew 21 boats to the Charleston Yacht Club this weekend
for a lively seven-race series that witnessed winds ranging from six
to 20 knots, and a few knock-down puffs well in excess of that. For
two days boats from as far away as Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, Maryland
and Georgia joined eight local boats to compete around the buoys in
the Holy City’s tide-strewn harbor. When the spray finally settled,
local sailors Ross Griffith, Miles Martschink, Bill Hanckel, and Bill
Milling sailing aboard Moving Target emerged as the winners, the benefactors
of superbly consistent tactics and boathandling.
For Race 4, the winds intensified to the point that some boats were
able to plane on the leeward legs, if only for a few seconds at a time.
In that contest, Griffith and his team on Moving Target started nicely,
a third of the way down the line from the committee boat, and punched
out to an early lead that they maintained to the finish to grab their
first bullet. Second place in that race went to the event’s organizer
Ryan Hamm and his crew on board the aptly named When Pigs Fly.
Principal Race Officer Hal Smith of Greenville, SC, remarked after
the event how fortunate he thought all the attendees were to get seven
fair contests out of what he said had the makings of a questionable
weekend of weather. Punctuating his point, bright bolts of lighting
crackled across the sky to the west as dark thunderheads bore down
on the Charleston peninsula. He said he felt the action on the racecourse
was impressively tight, right down to the final start. “There
were boats out there with plenty of points on the scoreboard, but they
were nonetheless right up there on the line with the leaders when that
last gun went off. That’s great racing.”
This years
Melges 24 European Championship were hosted by HSK and the
Finnish M24 association and were sailed in the waters off Helsinki
From 3 -
8 August. A fabulous weeks racing was had by all 51 competitors
from 10
Nations with the spectacular back drop of small islands surrounding
the
course area and fantastic open water, tide free racing area. The
weather
really played an important role in making this event run so smoothly
with
glorious sun throughout the week and breeze that never dropped
below
10 mph
and regularly reached 15- 18 mph, not the most stable of winds
as you
would
expect from an offshore NW that we experienced for the majority
of the
week
The 1st European ranking event of the 2003 season has just taken place
in the waters off Marseille over the Easter bank holiday weekend. Entries
for the SNIM regatta have been increasing every year and this one was
no different with 76 boats competing from 10 nations for some early
season fun in the sun.
A 3 hour postponement greeted the competitors on day 3 with the wind
blowing hard 1st thing in the morning. Finally at about 3pm racing
got underway with the breeze gusting up to 30 knots at times, it was
one of these gusts that hit "Vito" in the pre-start and unfortunately
for them their rig snapped at about spreader height. With 2 races scheduled
for the day their regatta was now over as they had already scored a
51st earlier in the series and would now have to count it. "P & P" had
a fantastic day and obviously loved the windier conditions scoring
1,1, these results helped them to leapfrog a number of the teams in
the overall standings, "Minnie the Mooncher" had a very good
day too with 6, 2 and actually moved up to 2nd overall. With the 2nd
discard now coming into play and with "Black Seal" scoring
3, 6 we now found ourselves leading the event by a healthy 20 points
going into the last day.
15 March 2003 - The final day of racing at the US Nationals
was an absolute corker with clear skies, sunshine and 72 degrees. Winds
were 10-12 knots from 180-190 degrees. Three races were completed to
make the regatta total - nine races, with one throw out.
North
Sails dominate the 2002 North American Championship winning 6 out of
9 races and the overall title.
Seventy
Eight Melges 24's gathered in the waters off Key West for the 2001 World
Championship. Competitors from around Europe and North America came
to enjoy the beautiful weather, great racing and plenty of stiff competition.
The fleet was filled with World, Continental and National Champions
from many different classes.
The
2001 edition of the Melges 24 World Championships were held this year
in conjunction with 2002 Key West Race Week, North America's premiere
winter regatta. 76 competitors from around the world gathered in the
southernmost point in the continental USA to decide who would be the
2001 World Champion. The regatta was postoned after the events of September
11th.
I
know I am not telling anything special, because I am sure that probably
most of the fleet did the same, but my attitude, expecially when I don't
have much time for practicing, is to rely to the standard tuning guide,
don't think too much to the fine tunings, and just sail the boat, concentrate
to the basics, and don't use too much time with tape measurer and tension
gauge.
We
are racing with Philippe Kahn's Team Pegasus here on the island of Oahu
this week. This will be the first state championship for the Melges
24s. While a small fleet it will be very competitive. The 24s race in
two spots on the island of Oahu. The first being out of Waikiki Yacht
Club on the south side of the island just east of Pearl Harbor and just
west of Diamond Head at Waikiki Beach. The other spot which we are racing
at this week is up on the east side of the island on Kaneohe Bay. This
spot is a protected harbor from the Pacific Ocean and sails much like
any inland lake on the mainland. The big islands , mountains , hills
and other features really effect the wind and makes for very challenging
sailing. The beauty is unbelievable. The cleanest air and water you
will find anywhere in the world.