Torbole – It’s eventually time to be back racing for the international Melges 24 fleet that, after a long break imposed by the delays of the pandemic, is now ready to gather crews from several countries in Italy, Garda Lake, for the first appointment of the 2020 Melges 24 European Sailing Series, to be sailed on August 7th to 9th on Garda Lake in Torbole, Italy.
An entry list of 18 boats, with some latecomers expected to join the group until Friday morning, that counts on the presence of some of the crews that have marked the history of the Melges 24 Class.
Altea (Italy) by Andrea Racchelli, Melges 24 World Champion in Victoria (Canada) in 2018, shows up in the starting line of Torbole as boat to beat, after the success in the warm up regatta, ACT 1 of the Italian Melges 24 Tour held two weeks ago in the same location thanks to the organization of Melges 24 Italian Class. On the race course, several other crews that are well known faces in the Melges 24 World: the multi champions of the Corinthian division, Lenny (Estonia) and Taki 4 (Italy), will both be present, as well as Gill Race Team (Great Britain), Melgina (Italy), Strambapapà (Italy), Nefeli (Germany) and White Room (Germany), just to name a few.
Miles Quinton, International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA) Vice Chairman Europe declared: “On behalf of the International Melges Class Association I am delighted to announce the commencement of the European Sailing Series 2020, also ACT 2 of the Italian Melges 24 Tour in Torbole, Lake Garda. We welcome teams from seven countries to the event – Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Estonia, Great Britain, Slovenia and Hungary so we are looking forward to some highly competitive racing with the Ora in a fantastic venue on these amazing boats. In difficult times it is the simplest things that remind us of why we do our sport – the friendly solidarity of our sailing friends from all nations, fierce competition in beautiful venues and the opportunity to get totally wet!”
Laura Grondin, the Chair of IM24CA echoed the words of Miles Quinton: “I am so happy to see those that can be out racing! Best wishes to the sailors in the opening event of the Melges 24 European Sailing Series for safe travels and fast sailing!”
Andrea Racchelli, Chairman of the Melges 24 Italian Class, waits for the fleet in Torbole: “We’re ready for another great regatta onboard the Melges 24: we’re glad to share this event with IM24CA, hoping once again for tough competition. Garda Lake is waiting for us with great conditions on the water and ashore, we’re all looking forward to a good season in Italy and Europe”.
Races start on Friday, August 7th, at 1 pm after Skippers’ meeting held at 11:30 am at Circolo Vela Torbole. A maximum of nine races can be completed over the weekend.
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