Melges 32 Sailing Series at Porto Ercole - Day 1
by International Melges 32 Class Association 30 Apr 2016 00:23 BST
29 April - 1 May 2016
Inga stands tall on day one
Big breeze and an intense first day of racing gives way to a tight top-five
A strong mistral wind greeted the fleet of eleven Melges 32s in Porto Ercole for the second act of the Sailing Series. By no means did the big breeze make it an easy sailing game, but Richard Goransson and his Inga From Sweden team delivered an impressive 6-1-1 score to sit first overall.
"We are happy to have sailed well today, because it was a very tricky race course," said Vasco Vascotto, tactician for Inga. "It is now up to us to remain in the lead. With such a competitive fleet here in Porto Ercole, we can not afford to take anything for granted."
The top five is jam packed with exciting, tight competition. A three way battle has begun amongst Achille Onorato on Mascalzone Latino in second, Matteo Balestrero on La Spezia Sailing Team/Giogi in third and Fritz Homann on Wilma in fourth. They each share ten points.
Porto Venere Champion and Sailing Series® leader Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio at the helm of G-SPOT, had an unsettled finish to the day placing fifth in the overall rankings.
Other standout teams of the day include Ahmet Eker on Eker coming up with third place finish in Race One, Lasse Petterson on Pippa claimed a nice top five results in Race Two and Valentin Zavadnikov's Synergy GT took third in Race Three.
Racing resumes on Saturday at 13:00 local Italy time with a forecast of a light breeze from the south-southwest. Three more races are scheduled and with the completion of six, a discard will go into play.
Media and Racing Coverage
As with all other Melges 32 events around the world, racing updates will be posted online at the Official Melges 32 Facebook Page. Tune in for the latest racing information, results, video interviews, and photos. Race reports, press releases and photos will be available online each day post racing at melges32.com.
Results after Day 1: (top five, 3 races)
1.) Richard Goransson, Inga From Sweden; 6-1-1 = 8pts
2.) Achille Onorato, Mascalzone Latino; 1-4-5 = 10pts
3.) Matteo Balestrero, La Spezia Sailing Team/Giogi; 5-3-2 = 10pts
4.) Fritz Homann, Wilma; 4-2-4 = 10pts
5.) Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio, G-SPOT; 2-7-9 = 18pts