Melges 24 World Championship, welcome to Canada
In evidenzaMelges 24MonotipiaVela 3 Giugno 2018 Zerogradinord 0
Victoria – The sailors from all over the world arriving to Victoria, Canada for the first ever Melges 24 World Championship held here, were welcomed by the local hospitality of Royal Victoria Yacht Club and the Victoria International Marina, where the Melges 24 Worlds are held from May 31 to June 9, 2018. The brand-new marina literally opened its doors in the first place to the Melges 24 family before even moving in itself.
The brand-new venue
“We are in full ready-mode with the slips scrubbed, supplies stocked, and every last surface polished to a delightful gleam. The brand-new marina is ready to cater to the sophisticated, international audience descending upon Victoria in preparation for the regatta. We’re also excited to share the gorgeous Pacific Marine Lifestyle with the Melges24 community. It is with tremendous pride that we are now hosting our very first esteemed regatta so soon after opening,” said Steve Sinclair, the Director of Operations of the Victoria International Marina.
Check-in, briefing and social
May 31 and June 1 in the marina were full of action, while the teams were arriving to check-in, do their final registration, filling in the forms, checking equipment, measuring sails and boats and weighing crews. The piers in the marina got their first ever customers and marina got filled up with more than 40 Melges 24 boats. Organizing Committee led by Terry Stamper with a big bunch of dedicated volunteers did an amazing job to get this all running very smoothly and easy for the sailors.
By the evening of the second registration day both the organizers and sailors were quite ready with the procedures and were anxious to start racing in Victoria Waterfront, for the title of the Melges 24 Canadian National Champion. The Skippers Meeting for the Worlds’ pre-event was led by the Championship Coordinator of the International Melges 24 Class and the PRO of the event, John Abel, who was thankful for the tremendous devotion of the event host Royal Victoria Yacht Club, and co-hosts Canadian Forces Sailing Association with great assistance from the Diamond Sponsor Victoria International Marina. The Sailing Instructions of the regatta were discussed, highlighting most important topics in the document.
Mariah D. McCooey, the Harbour Master/Port Manager for Victoria Public Harbour and Victoria Water Airport, welcomed the event to Victoria Harbour and highlighted the Victoria Harbour transit regulations due to the fact that it is a Marine Aerodrome with as many as 120 landings or takeoffs each day. Additionally, a significant amount of commercial traffic regularly enters and leaves the harbour.
Duncan Stamper, Vice Chairman Americas of the International Melges 24 Class Association, was thanking the sailors for coming to Victoria because without them it wouldn’t be such an international event. He was grateful to the sponsors for their amazing support and welcomed Melges 24 sailors from all over the world in his home town and wished the racers good sportsmanship and fair sailing in a battle for the title of the Melges 24 Canadian Nationals and Worlds. “We hope that you have fair winds, good racing and enjoy your time here with us in Victoria!” he said. The evening in the Victoria International Marina was time to catch up with fellow racers over tasty bites and local thirst quenching drinks.
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