Melges 20s at the Sail Newport Regatta - Day 2

Sail Newport Regatta day 2 © JOY / IM20CA

With a much drier start, Melges 20 teams took to the 'outside' race course on Narragansett Bay for Day Two of the 2017 Sail Newport Regatta. With 8-9 knots of breeze out of the Southwest, the fleet got underway with a clean start to kick off the second daily round of racing.

Showing stellar upwind speed, Rob Wilber's CINGHIALE once again led around the first windward mark with a hungry pack of Melges 20s closely behind. Overall event leader Daniel Thielman on KUAI showed nice patience downwind to extend all the way to the corner and grab the lead at the first gate. However, it was Drew Freides' PACIFIC YANKEE that showed the fleet who was boss on the next upwind beat, grabbing the lead by playing the right side of the course, and hanging on to take the bullet. Alexis Michas on MIDNIGHT SUN charged hard to grab second followed by Thielman in third.

Just as the warning signal sounded for Race Four, fog thicker than New England Clam Chowder rolled onto the racecourse limiting visibility to less than a quarter-mile prompting a short postponement. As the Melges 20 fleet huddled together near the Race Committee boat, the fog slowly began to lift and after almost a 45-minute delay, racing got back underway.

Thielman wasted no time by gaining the lead rounding the weathermark in first. Wilber got some redemption overtaking the lead at the gates. With an oscillating building breeze, Wilber showed solid upwind speed and built a nice lead for the final run to the finish line to take the win. Wes Whitmeyer's SLINGSHOT came second followed by Liam Kilroy's WILDMAN in third.

The third and final race of the day began under idyllic Newport conditions: crystal blue skies, and a comfortable Southwest wind in the 12-16 kt range provided some fun upwind sailing and nice planing rides downwind. Whitmeyer had a nice start, hung in his lane to the left side of the course, then hooked into the final rightie into the mark and had a nice lead which he would extend for the wire to wire win. With a full-on grudge match for positions second thru tenth, Thielman had a cool hand grabbing second followed by Friedes in third.

Three additional races are scheduled for the final day. Despite Thielman's consistent scoreline and the addition of a throw out after six races, the standings are tight with the top tier being separated by just a few points.

Sunday's forecast is predicting a bluebird day of sailing in Newport, Rhode Island and it will be a full battle on the final day of racing.

Results after Day 2: (top five, 5 races)

1.) Daniel Thielman, KUAI; 3-3-3-4-2 = 15pts
2.) Drew Freides, PACIFIC YANKEE; 1-8-1-7-3 = 20pts
3.) Liam Kilroy, WILDMAN; 8-1-10-3-4 = 26pts
4.) Jason Michas, MIDNIGHT BLUE; 4-2-8-5-9 = 28pts
5.) Wes Whitmyer Jr., SLINGSHOT; 10-4-12-2-1 = 29pts

• 2017 Sail Newport Regatta Yachtscoring Event Website
• View Full Results

2017 Melges World League Results: (top five after 7 events)

1.) Igor Rytov, RUSSIAN BOGATYRS = 85pts
2.) Vladimir Prosikhin, NIKA = 57pts
3.) Achille Onorato, MASCALZONE LATINO = 48pts
4.) Krzysztof Krempec, MAG TINY = 48pts
5.) Rodney Jones, CARS 167; 48pts