Melges 24 Pre-Worlds, Pacific Yankee takes the success
Breaking newsIn evidenzaMelges 24MonotipiaVela 13 Giugno 2023 Zerogradinord 0
Middelfart – Champagne sailing – that’s how the participants were describing the Melges 24 Pre-Worlds in Middelfart, Denmark over two days this weekend! A high-quality field of 15 competitors with many championship wins and podium places between them met in Middelfart, which led to competition between the Pro teams Pacific Yankee, Nefeli, Panjic, Stig, Melgina and the Corinthian teams of Gill Race Team, Helly Hanson II Lisa, Storm Capital, and Blow.
The conditions on Saturday on the Little Belt (Lillebaelt) in Middelfart were forecast to be a NE breeze of 10-15 knots but which peaked at 20 knots in bright clear sunshine with four races run in quick succession by the race management team of Christian Lerche made for a great day of sailing on conditions the mazing Melges24 excels in, with fierce competition at all parts of the fleet and at the end of which there were lots of smiles despite the fatigue on the sail back to Middelfart.
Sunday was another early start with lighter breezes at about 8-10 knots but a similarly bright and sunny day which led to more challenging racing in shifty conditions with a strong current running across the course that led to many position changes on both upwind and downwind legs, with only the final race subject to four re-starts before the fleet got away on a black flag.
Drew Feides and the Pacific Yankee (USA) team deserved the win with a dominant performance with 5 race wins hotly pursued by Peter Karrie’s Nefeli (GER) in second place, Miles Quinton’s Gill Race Team (GBR) and Luka Sangulin’s Panjic (CRO) tied for 3rd place on points decided on Gill Race Team’s 2nd place in the final race of the regatta and Alessandro Rombelli’s Stig rounded up the Top Five.
Miles Quinton’s Gill Race Team with Geoff Carveth at the helm topped the Corinthian podium while the second-best Corinthian team was Helly Hansen II Lisa of Børre Hekk Poulsen and the podium was completed by Storm Capital of Peder Jahre – both from Norway.
The new Austrian team on #607 of Rene Noack was welcomed friendly by the Melges 24 family with a bottle of champagne and all participants got a prize for participating.
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