2004
Melges 24 US Nationals
New North Sails rule the
Melges 24 National Championship
Report by Andy Burdick
A solid turnout invaded the Santa Cruz Yacht Club in California this
past week. The Melges 24 National Championship took place at this beautiful
sailing venue. Excellent breeze, 9 hotly contested races, the view
of the beautiful golden coastline of California and big swell for incredible
surf rides on the Melges 24. You could not top this event.
Nor could you top the new North Shapes which won this National Championship.
As you may or may not know, the ISAF Melges 24 Class Rules have been
progressed in order to allow the use of Kevlar in our sail materials.
North Sails has capitalized on this as the North Team has spent many
hours testing and tuning with the new material and new shapes.
The result, dominance at the first major championship in the USA with
these sails. North Sails were 1,2,3 overall in the Nationals. What
is more impressive though is the fact that there were North Sails on
the top 15 in the regatta. Obviously, the customers see the time committment
North Sails has made to these new shapes and new cloth. The testing
is with and in front of many of our customers so they see our dedication.
The consumers trust our efforts and due to this trust, they are getting
FAST results with our new North Sails in the Melges 24 class.
It is amazing to see the new Kevlar Jibs in the Melges class. Talk
about smooth right out of the bag. These sails are nice and they prove
to look great even after a hard 9 race series like the one we faced
in Santa Cruz.
The Italian Team of Luca Santella and Giovanni Maspero set the pace
with their new North Sails winning 5 of the 9 overall heats. The Joe
Fly team as they are better known as sailed an excellent series. They
started their boat well, they were smooth in their manuevers but most
of all they had speed with their new North Sails.
Sheldon Ecklund from Palm Beach, Florida placed second overall. Ecklund
sailed a very consistent series and no doubt, the new North Sails he
had on allowed him to do so. He was fast. Sheldon stalked down the
World Champion Shark Kahn in the final race when it was buzzing 25knots
to win the final heat. They had a great downwind finish.
Bruce Ayres placed third in the series and the Monsoon team won 2 races
in the event. Bruce loved these conditions and when he got in the lead
he held it. He sailed very well. The North Logo was on all of his sail.
Congrats Bruce on a nice event.
When you total it all up, you see that North
Sails were on every boat that won a race in the Nationals. Impressive to say the least. North
Sails were on boats in the Top 15 overall too.
1 USA551 Joe Fly (ITA550) Luca Santella/Giovanni Maspero
17 1 1 3 1 1 2 1 7 26
2 USA553 Tickler Sheldon Ecklund 26 5 8 2 5 2 3 3 5 1
3 USA540 Monsoon Bruce Ayres 28 3 4 7 8 4 1 5 1 3
4
USA575 Pegasus 575 Philippe Kahn 34 7 15 10 2 3 4 2 2 4 (*)
5 GBR576 Gill Simon Strauss / Quentin Strauss 36 4 2 5 3 5 6 7 6
5
6
USA555 Ego Don Jesberg 45 6 9 1 4 8 7 9 3 7 (*)
7
USA492 Pegasus 492 Shark Kahn 50 9 11 6 26 6 8 4 4 2 (*)
8 USA303 Average White Boat Doug Weitz 58 10 3 4 6 10 5 11 15 9
9 GBR568 Eric Martin Wedge 76 2 7 9 14 13 13 23 8 10
10 USA558 Sofa King Fast Bret Gripenstraw/Dennis Bassano 85 13 5
11 9 14 14 13 12 8
11 USA397 Grinder Jeff Littfin 90 8 17 18 16 9 9 6 14 11
12 USA525 Bill Wright / Tim Fay 93 16 6 13 10 11 22 15 9 13
13 USA556 Enigma Hubert Guy 94 12 16 14 12 16 10 14 10 6
14 USA158 Surfeit Peter Vessella / David Wadbrook 94 15 10 8 11 12
11 16 11 26
15 USA177 Light Brigade Warren Davidson 102 14 12 12 7 15 15 12 18
15
North Sails One-Design and the primary designers for North, Harry
Melges and Vince Brun, continue to work hard in order to make you
faster.
The results from this National Championship prove this.
Congratulations to all of our North Customers.
For more information, please contact our Melges
24 experts today.
* partial inventory
2004
Sailing World NOOD Regatta - Annapolis
Report by NOOD staff
The fat lady has sung her final aria, and the 2004 Annapolis NOOD
is
history. With three solid days of breeze that left even the locals
surprised, 19 classes on 4 race circles completed 7 races, crowned
3
class champions and gave 1,400 sailors some spectacular racing. When
the
prize-giving ceremonies began, and the announcement was made that this
regatta was the largest in the NOOD's 17-year history, the crowd roared
in appreciation.
One of the more impressive displays of sailing skill this NOOD was
the
Melges 24 sailed by John Pollard and his team from Torquay, England,
aboard Xcellent, who earned 5 firsts and two seconds to top the 14-boat
division. Watching them sail downwind on Sunday was an education in
how
to work a Melges 24 off the wind in a breeze. "There were big
gains to
be made today on the downwind legs," said Pollard. "Lots
of pumping and
keeping the crew in the back of the boat works well." Pollard
sailed in
the St. Petersburg NOOD in February and placed third, which, since
Pollard is aiming for a world ranking in the class, was unacceptable." I replaced the crew for this regatta," he said, "and
since the class now
allows Kevlar sails, replaced the sails as well." To make matters
more
interesting, Pollard was battling it out for first with fellow Briton
Joe Woods, sailing his Silver. "It was the battle of Britain," said
Pollard. "Our big strategic plan was our entries into the weather
mark
and our exits from the leeward gate. It also helped to pay attention
to
the current, which was less on the right side of the course, even though
there was more chop there. We also tended to choose the left-hand mark
because we wanted to go right on the beats." According to Pollard,
because the Annapolis NOOD was a ranking event, his NOOD win puts him
at
the top of the Melges 24 World ranking.
Division: Melges24 Top 4:
1
GBR 573 Xcellent Pollard 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 9.00 1
2
GBR 548 Silver Woods 3 2 3 7 4 3 2 24.00 2
3
549 Barracuda Dockery 1 3 2 3 5 4 9 27.00 3
4
419 When Pigs Fly Hamm 4 4 5 11 6 5 7 42.00 4
2004
Melges 24 SNIN Regatta
Marseille, France
Report by Vince Brun
April 11, 2004 - Today the 12-race event ended with two
races being sailed in a 7 to 8 kts sea breeze. Team P&P skippered
by Sebastian Coe won the first race and the overall trophy without
having
to sail
the
last
race. They dominated the event and showed great speed in every wind
condition. They sailed with a brand new set of North Kevlar main
and jib, and used
most the Max Runner in the downwind legs.
Second overall was past World Champion Flavio Favini with the Blue
Moon team, using new North Pentex main and jib, and Max Runner most
of the time.
KEVLAR / PENTEX - The Kevlar sails
performed very similar to the Pentex sails in light
to medium conditions,
however
the Kevlar
is a bit better in heavy weather.
Joe Fly team, who I was sailing with finished third overall, and
we were all very pleased with the new Kevlar sails performance.
North Sails UK Nigel Young with team Gill, finished fourth also with
Kevlar main and jib.
Top 6:
1st
P&P/GAMELIN-SAILING TEAM -
LIGOT PHILIPPE -
NS Kevlar
2nd
BLUE MOON -
FAVINI FLAVIO -
NS Pentex
3rd
JOE FLY -
GIOVANNI MASPERO -
NS Kevlar
4th
GILL -
STRAUSS QUENTIN -
NS Kevlar
5th
ALTEA
- RACCHELLI ANDREA -
NS Kevlar
6th
ALINA -
ABBA MAURIZIO -
NS Kevlar
Next M-24 event will be the US Nationals in Santa Cruz, California
by the end of the month. If you are heading to Santa Cruz and is
wondering between Pentex or Kevlar main
and jib, I strongly recommend going with our new North Kevlar sails.
For more information, please contact our Melges
24 experts today.
2004 Charleston Race Week
Report by Ryan Hamm
DAY 1
The weather was incredible with 10 to 15 knots out of the east with
windward leewards that were a total of 4 approxiamately miles long.
With 13 boats competing from six states, the Melges 24 Class is among
one of several fleets with diverse geographic representation. The action
here was continually tight, but local owners John Lucas and Mark Durlach
aboard Beelzabubba established an early edge by posting finishes of
2,1,1,1. Second place became the domain of the Atlanta-based twins
Steve and Sean Burke aboard Grins, though no one is sure which brother
was actually on the helm.
DAY 2
Another beautiful day with 75 degrees and a southeast wind that went
right all day.
After a less than steller first day Travis Weisleder of Richmaond,
VA on Carloan.com had a strong day 2 with a 2nd and 3rd but it was
not enough to take daily honors which was the Atlanta, GA boat, Grins
who sailed to a 1st and 2nd on the day. The Beelzebubba crew did what
they needed to stay well ahead of the fleet with a 1st and a 3rd.
DAY 3
A barge crossing the course forced a short wait the 3rd day but another
day of sunshine, good breeze and 75 degree weather made for a great
last race of the series. Travis(Carloan.com) made some great moves
on the course and finally won the daily honors on the race course.
Beelzebubba did what they needed to keep their substantial lead.
The Melges Fleet was the largest fleet in the 98 boat field. Race
#2 is still under some question because there was a downwind finish
with 5 or more boats within feet of each other. There have been some
redress issues concerning this but when this does not affect the standing
of the top 3 boats. For an overvies of the event and the final scores(if
done yet) please visit www.charlestonraceweek.com .
Many thanks to all the competitors from all over the country who participated.
Eric Hood of Melges boatworks/North Sails OD was there with Karen Gottwald
on Cagey and had replacement parts for any breakdowns which was a great
plus.
Top 6:
1 M24 Beelzabubba Melges 24 245 23 Durlach / Lucas SC
OD 2 1 1 1 3 1 3 12.0
2 M24 Grins Melges 24 526 28 Burke GA OD 4 8 2 3 1 2 2 22.0
3 M24 Carloan.com Melges 24 416 26 Weisleder VA OD 7 8 7 2 2 3 1 30.0
4 M24 Paddlefoot Melges 24 450 98 Jordan SC OD 6 7 3 4 4 7 6 37.0
5 M24 Buzzard Melges 24 18 39 Swan SC OD 5 4 4 6 6 4 11 40.0
6 M24 Cagey Melges 24 137 36 Gottwald IL OD 8 11 5 8 5 9 4 50.0
1st and 2nd powered by the NEW
NORTH KEVLAR JIB! Call
us today to learn about our new weapon for the M24s!
2004 Sailing World NOOD Regatta - St. Pete
St. Petersburg Yacht Club,
Florida
Report by Joy Dunigan and Eric Hood
THE SNOWBIRDS HAVE ARRIVED!
That was the word from US Melges 24 Class President, Jeff Jones. Melges
24 racers are gearing up to take part in what is one of the hottest
events on the east coast and getting hotter every year. With a total
of 34 Melges 24s entered, they are the largest competing class. 190
total boats at the event this year which is a record. They are ready
to go head-to-head for the NOOD title, the weather is fantastic and
hopefully will holdout for the duration of the regatta. The entries
are from all over the US, including members of the growing Southeast
fleet and six boats are representing the Midwest Region. They traveled
a long way to bask in the Florida sunshine and perhaps even take home
the title.
34 MELGES 24s SET TO GO RACING AT ST. PETERSBURG NOOD
FEBRUARY 13, 2004 - The anticipation and excitement of thirty-four
Melges 24 teams was put on hold this morning as heavy fog and humid
air ascended upon the fleet. It put an initial damper on things as
crews prepared for the first day of racing. Sailors wondered around,
while others enjoyed early cocktails. The St. Petersburg NOOD is being
hosted by the world famous St. Petersburg Yacht Club in St. Petersburg,
Florida. This is the first of Sailing World’s NOOD regattas in
a series held across the nation. Other regattas scheduled are being
held in San Diego, Chicago, Annapolis, Detroit and newest member to
the NOOD family of regattas, Toronto.
Some of the teams have traveled great distances to compete including
Tim Hawkins USA-331 “Go Dogs Go!” from Scotts Valley, CA,
John Pollard GBR-573 “Xcellent” from Torquay, UK and International
Melges 24 Class Association Treasurer, Quentin Strauss with the Gill
Team GBR-576 “Gill” also traveled from London, UK. Participation
overall—there is at least a twenty-boat presence from the ever-growing
Southeast Fleet and nine boats representing the Midwest region.
The fog lifted just before noon. Now it was an issue of wind. The
teams set out with hopes that wind would be there when they arrived
on the course.
The Melges 24 fleet was last to start, and made it a clean one. Winds
were around 5-8 knots at 120 degrees. Going up to the windward mark,
the pack was split relatively even. Giving the fleet a good go of things
was local favorite, Doug Fisher “USA-399” from Sarasota,
Florida, US Melges 24 Class President, Jeff Jones “USA-497 Kilroy” was
hot on his heals coming into the first mark followed by Ryan Hamm “USA-419
When Pigs Fly”, Tim Hawkins, Ross Griffith “USA-155 Moving
Target” and Michael Schultz “USA-378 Team Satisfaction”.
As the fleet made its way to the leeward mark, the wind was beginning
to diminish rapidly. At one point, the windward mark was not reporting
even a knot of wind, bringing great uncertainty as to the how much
longer the race could last. Coming into the second mark of the race
was Fisher rounding first, followed by Hamm in second and Hawkins followed
closely in third. Steve Suddath “USA-244” was fourth, John
Pollard was fifth followed by Jack Jennings “USA-510 Pied Piper” in
sixth. US Melges 24 Class President, Jeff Jones “USA-497 Kilroy” fell
off a bit rounding in seventh. Shortly thereafter, it was decided that
the downwind leg would be the final leg of the race, it would be the
finish. Racing for the remainder of the afternoon was abandoned because
there literally, was no wind at all. Tampa Bay had completely flattened
calling for all races to end.
14 FEB 2004 - Day two at the St. Petersburg NOOD got off to an early
start. Due to potential inclement weather conditions predicted for
the afternoon, the racers were on the course for a 9:30 a.m. start.
Light winds of 5-8 knots with overcast skies set the stage for at least
two races.
The thirty-four boat strong Melges 24 fleet got off the first race
of the day to a solid start, most taking the left side of the course.
Overnight leader Doug Fisher “USA-399” had a really good
start as did Quentin Strauss “GBR-576 Gill” and Steve Suddath “USA-244”.
As the teams sailed to the windward mark, Fisher made use of good air
coming up from the center of the course rounding the mark first. Unable
to catch Fisher, Suddath had to settle second with Strauss hot on his
heels in third. John Pollard “GBR-573 Xcellent” came fourth,
Michael Shultz & Scott Gregory “USA-378 Team Satisfaction” was
fifth, Ryan Hamm “USA-419 When Pigs Fly” rounded sixth,
Jack Jennings “USA-510 Pied Piper” was seventh followed
by John Hyatt “USA-162 Gone Mad” in eighth.
As the teams sailed to the leeward mark, the winds maintained their
4-5 knot speed, cloudy conditions continued to prevail.
On the last beat, several teams managed to gain substantial ground,
but no one could take the lead from Fisher placing first. Ryan Hamm’s
great speed allowed him to move up four positions landing a second
place finish. The Gill Team held their own maintaining third, followed
by Pollard in fourth. Local sailor Robin Clement “USA-27 Whiplash” did
very well capturing fifth. A great finish line battle was between Shultz
/ Gregory, Suddath and Tim Hawkins “USA-331 Go Dogs Go!” The
three were neck-and-neck right up to the line. In the final strides
it was Shultz & Gregory and “Team Satisfaction” pulling
out to grab sixth. Steve Suddath was next in seventh followed by Hawkins
in eighth. Paul Hulsey “USA-347 Dynamo Humm” was ninth.
Ross Griffith “USA-155 Moving Target” finished out the
top ten.
For race two of the day, the third race in the NOOD regatta series,
the sun peaked through the clouds and shed light on the fleet at the
line—but only for a moment. The start saw the top boats in the
fleet flock together on the left side. Right from the start Tim Hawkins
and Quentin Strauss sailed aggressively for position, as did Steve
Suddath, Doug Fisher, and John Pollard. As the fleet approached the
top mark the breeze increased to 13-15 knots and started to shift.
Gary Schwarting “USA-86 Obsession” and John Pollard had
spectators on the edge of their seats coming into the windward mark.
As the two approached, side-by-side, Pollard’s keel caught the
mark and continued to drag it 10 – 20 yards. The line was wrapped
around the keel and was not letting go. The Xcellent team was frantically
trying to free themselves from the tetrahedron. Almost the entire Melges
24 fleet sailed past, each setting their spinnakers for the downwind
leg. Some struggled more than others with the kite as the winds increased
to 15-20 knots. In particular, USA-62 “Threesome” was almost
keel-up for several minutes before totally shrimping the spinnaker.
Frustrated and upset, Pollard and his crew watched fifteen to twenty
positions pass them before untangling themselves with the mark. They
completed their penalty turn, delivered a great set with the spinnaker
and set out to regain as many positions as they possibly could.
In the midst of all the chaos of the first mark rounding, Strauss
took advantage of Pollard’s mishap at the mark and moved into
the second place position, followed by Mike Shultz / Scott Gregory,
Jack Jennings “USA-510 Pied Piper”, Steve Suddath, John
Hyatt, Mike Krantz “USA-565 Lamorak” and Tim Hawkins.
Downwind, Strauss maintained the lead proving that speed is everything.
The reformed Gill team of Quentin Strauss, Stuart Rix, Mike Claxton “Claggie” and
Nigel Young of North Sails poured on the steam and grabbed the top
spot several boat lengths ahead of the competition. The team commented, “We
were really fast, and had a lot of speed”. “We had really
good starts today as well”, commented Young. The team is proud
of its 2003 Ocean Reef Regatta title and looking forward to competing
at the US Nationals in San Diego, California.
Steve Suddath was second, giving it all he had but it was not enough
to catch Strauss. Fisher struggled early on in the race but worked
hard and managed a third place finish allowing him to keep his overall
lead in the Melges 24 class. “Once we had wind, it was great”,
said Fisher. Mike Shultz & Scott Gregory was fourth. John Pollard
and his Xcellent team made up almost all the positions lost earlier
in the race, landing a phenomenal fifth place finish! Ryan Hamm worked
his way back to the front to claim sixth, Tom Carter “USA-559
Trust Me” was seventh, Schwarting was eighth, John Hyatt was
ninth and Karen Gottwald "USA-137 Cagey" of Chicago, IL clinched
the tenth spot.
Going into Sunday Doug Fisher leads the fleet with 5 points followed
by Ryan Hamm just five points behind with 10 in second place. Third
place overall is held by Steve Suddath with 13 points. The only two
English boats entered, Quentin Strauss and John Pollard will battle
it out for the fourth and fifth place positions both tied with 14 points
apiece.
The weather will again be a tough one for the teams. The weather forecast
is set to be windy with showers in the morning then clearing in the
afternoon. Winds are predicted to be between 20 and 30 mph.
15 FEB 2004 - It was early races again for the Melges 24 fleet today
with the first of two, starting around 9:30 a.m. The morning was
dominated by overcast skies with a light breeze.
All thirty-four boats got off to what appeared to be a clean start
with Karen Gottwald “Cagey” leading the group off the leeward
end. No radio calls and she got busted by the line cops later and was
handed out the OCS citation. The top five boats, including overnight
leader Doug Fisher “USA-399” scrambled for position on
the start going into the second to last race of the regatta. With winds
now flocculating between 10 – 15 knots, it was the battle of
the Brits coming into the first mark with Quentin Strauss “GBR-576
Gill” and John Pollard “GBR-573 Xcellent” coming
on strong into the windward mark. Strauss managed around first, set
the spinnaker and made a run for it, quickly jetting away from the
rest of the fleet. Pollard and his “Xcellent” crew rounded
second, closely followed by Fisher in third. Fisher looked to chase
Pollard downwind to the leeward mark but Pollard was not going give
up the second place position easily. Pollard eventually put some boat
lengths between himself and Fisher and kept it that way for the duration
of the race.
In the back of the fleet there was plenty of action. Tim Hawkins “USA-331
Go Dogs, Go!”, Tom Carter “USA-559 Trust Me”, Bob
Dockery “USA-549 “Barracuda”, Jeff Jones “USA-497
Kilroy”, Ray Laguna “USA-552 Mr. Hyde” and John Hyatt “USA-162
Gone Mad” made great strides to put their boats to the front
of the fleet.
Coming into the finish, it was again Strauss now with a substantial
lead on the entire fleet. Pollard was chasing Strauss but the hard
work and effort of his crew just wasn’t enough to take away the
top spot. Fisher was third, Dockery was fourth and Laguna was fifth.
Hawkins was sixth, Hyatt was seventh, Carter was eighth, Jones was
ninth and Anthony Trajkovich “USA-545 Bada Bing” rounded
out the top ten.
The second race delivered an abundance of sunshine and ideal racing
conditions. This was the sunshine that everyone had been looking for
the entire regatta. In addition to the glorious blue sky above, it
was in the low 70s with 10-12 knots of wind, with moments of 14-15
knots.
On the start, all the leaders went to the left side of the course
with the exception of Fisher and a couple of others. “With a
nine point spread between us and them, we knew all we needed was to
sail well. There was no need for us to go out and sail aggressively”,
said Fisher.
Going upwind, the Brits were back at it with Gill’s strength
showing true and Pollard’s Xcellent team showing no signs of
slowing. Also at the top of the pack was Ryan Hamm “USA-419 When
Pigs Fly”, Karen Gottwald “USA-137 Cagey” and Mike
Schultz / Scott Gregory “USA-378 Team Satisfaction”.
At the first mark rounding it was Strauss and Pollard taking first
and second. Strauss set the spinnaker heading for the left side of
the course. Pollard seemed to hesitate getting the spinnaker set before
heading to the left. Gottwald beat Hamm to the mark rounding third,
Hamm was fourth. Jeff Jones’ new crew of Michelle Krembel, Rychee “Hollywood”,
Todd Jones and Geoff Speelman rounded fifth. They are a new crew to
the Kilroy Sailing boat and are making progress in getting acquainted
with the boat. “We picked the left side of the course initially,
kept watch and drove the boat.”
Pollard chased Strauss to the leeward mark and back to the top mark.
Again, it was the two English rivals still at it. Coming into the second
windward mark of the race, Gill pulled out to the front and began to
find speed on the course. “They were just fast, they had a lot
of speed and a gear that no one else had on the course”, said
Scott Gregory, Southeast District Governor and crew for Team Satisfaction.
For the finish, Strauss and his lightening fast Gill Team crossed
the line at least 30 seconds before the rest of the fleet. Pollard
was second followed by Hamm in third, Fisher in fourth, Gottwald was
fifth, Steve Suddath moved up the field to finish sixth. Ross Griffith “USA-155
Moving Target” came across seventh, Jeff Jones was eighth, Bob
Dockery was ninth and Robin Clement “USA-27 Whiplash” was
tenth.
Overall, it was a successful regatta for the Melges 24 fleet and a
few of the competitors are headed to the US Nationals in Santa Cruz,
CA including Quentin Strauss and Doug Fisher. Scott Gregory felt that
the turn out was successful and the significantly larger fleet than
last year is due to the event having a National points standing. “Last
year we had about 24 boats. This year there are 34. When we made this
a national points event, it really got peoples attention.”
Many thanks to Sailing World’s NOOD Regatta team and the St.
Petersburg Yacht Club for an outstanding event that was thoroughly
enjoyed by all.
Next M24 regatta in the southeast region will be Charleston Race Week.
Go to www.charlestonraceweek.com or contact Ryan Hamm for more information
also.
Congratulations to Doug Fisher and his team for their repeat victory
on their home waters at St. Petersburg this year. Job well done!!!
2004 Terra Nova Trading Key West Race Week
Sebastian Col & Philipe Ligot’s Partners & Partners
Racing Team
Win Hot Melges 24 Class At This Years 2004 Terra Nova Trading
Key West Race Week
Photo IMCA/Pierrick Contin
Report by Fiona Brown and Eric Hood
North Sails were aboard a large majority of the winning teams this
past week at Terra Nova’s 2004 Key West Race Week. The streak
is now several years long now for North Sails being aboard the winning
Melges 24. Congratulations to all of those teams!
Catagories won by North customers and friends:
Overall
Winner –Sebastian Col & Philipe Ligot – P&P
Racing Team -France
Top
Corinthian & 3rd Overall – Kristian Nergaard – Norway
Top
Female & 20th Overall – Karen Gottwald – USA
Race
Wins – North sails
aboard for all 9 race wins
Inventories
on Top 20 Boats – 17 of which only two were partials,
so 15 total North inventories in the top 20.
Before we get into some racing action we thought our friends and customers
would like to know that sail testing continued before the event this
week with our new Kevlar Melges 24 sails. Harry Melges, Vince Brun,
Chris Larson and several others were involved. The sail testing went
very well and much was learned about these new high tech sails that
will be class legal on March 1st.
Many thanks to Karen Gottwald for sponsoring her annual Melges 24
party. Karen, her “Cagey” team, Cindy Cromwell our house
party host and her team for making the party so much fun. Well over
150 people attended this event.
Here are some race highlights from Fiona Brown our IMCA Press Officer
and Administrator. We will give you the pre-regatta report and final
day report from Fiona. There is much more on all the racing in between
these two reports at www.melges24.com .
MELGES 24 BIGGEST FLEET IN KEY WEST YET AGAIN!!!
With 58 entries from 10 nations the Melges 24 fleet once again was
the largest competing at Terra Nova Trading Key West 2004. Alongside
the overseas entries boats travelled from all over North America for
this hugely popular winter regatta.
Among the hot favorites for the 2004 Key West Melges 24 title were
reigning World Champion Shark Kahn, 2002 World Champion Harry Melges
who in a team role reversal is crewing for Jeff Ecklund, 2001 World
Champion Flavio Favini with Switzerland's Franco Rossini, Silvio Santoni
with Franco Maria Rao's crew from Italy, France's Sebastian Col with
the P&P Racing Team and Norway's Kristian Nergaard.
Other's to watch this week include Dawn Riley, making her first appearance
in a major Melges 24 event, Maurice "Prof" O'Connell from
Ireland whose previous Melges 24 credits include a win at the UK Nationals,
Peter Stoneberg who is taking a break from his Farr 40 sailing to enjoy
the delights of the Melges 24 once again, Brit's Stuart Rix, Paul Brotherton
and Martin Wedge, and from the US Sheldon Ecklund, Bruce Ayres, Philippe
Kahn and Mike Dow.
We'll also be watching Britain's Black Seal Team with interest. Following
three hugely successful years with North Sail's Jamie Lea at the helm
and a full professional crew, owner Richard Thompson has decided to
take up the challenge of helming the boat himself this year. Although
a little out of practice Richard was a very successful big boat helm
once upon a time so he just might surprise a few people once he gets
his hand back in!
Racing started on Monday 19th January and daily reports, interviews
and all the latest fleet news will be posted at www.melges24.com. Visit
www.premiere-racing.com for a full entry list.
INTERNATIONAL MELGES 24 CLASS ASSOCIATION
PRESS RELEASE - 23 JANUARY
2004
SEBASTIAN COL TAKES MELGES 24 TITLE AT TERRA NOVA TRADING KEY WEST
In a thrilling final race today the fifty-eight strong Melges 24 Class
at Terra Nova Trading Key West was decided in favour of Frenchman Sebastian
Col sailing Partners & Partners with William Thomas, Christian
Ponthieu, Thomas Allen and owner Philippe Ligot. With only five points
separating Col and second placed Shark Kahn it was still wide open
going into this final race and the spectator boats were out in force
to watch them fight it out.
For the first time in nine starts the fleet got away clean with the
wind offshore again at 020 degrees and 16 knots ensuring plenty of
shifts to keep the sailors on their toes. Shark Kahn and Col set to
before the start match racing for position on the line, as a result
neither of them got a spectacular start although Col got the slight
advantage coming off the line just to the left of centre.
The first beat was nip and tuck with Col working his way clear of
the gaggle by the middle of the leg and stretching out a 50 yard lead
by the weather mark ahead of Silvio Santoni from Italy, helming for
Franco Maria Rao. Shark Kahn slotted into third from Maurice "Prof" O'Connell,
helming for Enda O'Coineen and Des Faherty of Ireland with Philippe
Kahn fifth and Bruce Ayres sixth. In the battle of the Ecklund & Melges
brothers it was Sheldon & Hans who rounded first in seventh place
with Jeff and Harry in ninth. Flavio Favini, helming for Switzerland's
Franco Rossini, split the Ecklunds in eighth.
Down the first run Col opened up a nice one minute lead whilst Shark
closed up on Santoni with whom he rounded the leeward mark overlapped.
O'Connell had dropped back to ninth leaving Philippe Kahn in fourth
just ahead of Favini while Kristian Nergaard moved up from tenth to
sixth. The Ecklunds rounded together in seventh and eighth with Jeff
just getting the inside track as Sheldon had a minor fumble on the
rounding loosing a few valuable feet.
On the second beat Col again pulled away from the pursuing pack while
Shark battled his way past Santoni. Philippe Kahn and Favini held their
fourth and fifth places and Jeff Ecklund and O'Connell overtook Nergaard
for sixth and seventh.
By the end of the second run Col had almost two minutes lead and the
spectators definitely thought it was all over. Philippe Kahn had overtaken
Santoni and rounded just behind Shark who had a minor horlicks with
the kite, just rescued last minute by some very smart crew work. Santoni
now sat in fourth from O'Connell, Favini and Jeff Ecklund with Sheldon
Ecklund pulling back to eighth just behind his brother.
As they set up off the last beat both the Kahns got the better of
a left-hander and suddenly Shark was right back on Col's tail, closely
pursued by his father Philippe. A tacking duel ensued and two thirds
of the way up the beat Shark finally got through. Philippe meanwhile
was also catching up and Col found himself the meat in a Kahn sandwich
as the three boats ground out tack after tack on the approach to the
line. Despite constant pressure from Col, Shark crossed just ahead
with Philippe third from Santoni. In the battle of the Ecklunds is
was Jeff who got race honours in fifth from Favini, Sheldon Ecklund,
Nergaard, O'Connell and Paul Brotherton, who pulled up to tenth on
the final run.
Speaking after racing Col confirmed that it had been a tough but rewarding
day - "For us it was the start that was most difficult. We had
a good battle with Shark and were quite happy with how we came out.
On the final beat we missed a shift and he got passed us, but with
the five point lead we were reasonably relaxed. As always Key West
has been great and we are delighted to win. Our next goal is the Melges
24 World Championship in Marstrand in August where we hope to challenge
Shark for the World title."
In the overall standings Sebastian Col and Philippe Ligot's P&P
Team win by four points from Shark Kahn with Kristian Nergaard third
and Flavio Favini fourth. His tenth in the final race was enough to
secure Paul Brotherton, helming the Terra Nova Trading Team for Scotland's
Ian Cleaver, fifth overall while Philippe Kahn had to be happy with
sixth. The war between the Ecklund and Melges brothers was eventually
won by Jeff and Harry in seventh overall with Sheldon and Hans just
trailing them in eighth. Silvo Santoni was ninth and Bruce Ayres tenth.
As usual Peter Craig's Premiere Racing Team have provided the Melges
24 class with an outstanding opening event for their year. Particular
thanks must go to PRO David Brennan and his team who provided perfect
racing every day and to all the event sponsors, including Terra Nova
Trading and Nautica.
Final Results listed at www.melges24.com and www.premiere-racing.com. Also great photos are available from Tim Wilkes and several other
sites that can be found at Premiere Racings website.
For more information on Melges 24 sails,
contact the North Melges 24 experts.
"As a new comer in the class it has been a great pleasure to win the ACURA SORC in front of some of the best US sailors of the class. It is always a good sensation when you are sailing so far from home and you win.
California's Argyle Campbell and his crew of Don Jesberg, Robert Kinney and North Sails Aaron Serenis aboard "Rock & Roll" became the 2004 Melges 24 North American Champions this past weekend.
