Melges 32 Gold Cup Regatta at Lauderdale Yacht Club - Overall

Melges 32 Gold Cup Champions - Corinthians - Team Hydra © JOY / IM32CA

Melges 32 Gold Cup, second place - Benjamin Schwartz, Pisces © JOY / IM32CA

The final day of the 2016 Melges 32 Gold Cup hosted by the Lauderdale Yacht Club (LYC) produced three final races to complete the scheduled eight-part series. Richard Goransson and his Inga From Sweden team have won the Gold Cup, his second win in the Melges 32 Class. His team included tactician Vasco Vascotto and crew members Federico Michetti, Giovanni Cassinari, Cesare Bozzetti, Marco Carpinello, Gosse de Boer and Alastair Gair.

"It was a fantastic day. This feels great and we've been at this for some time, so this is really wonderful," said a very happy Goransson post racing. "As a team we feel great and working well together. I know we've got a great future together. The conditions today are some of my very favourite to sail."

Beyond first place, the scoreboard gives insight into the very tight and intense competition that the Melges 32 fosters. Benjamin Schwartz on Pisces can consider his re-entrance to the Class a successful one as he finished second overall, ahead of Alessandro Rombelli on STIG in third. Each shared equal points in the end, but it was Schwartz who won second place on countback.

The same can be said for fourth and fifth place finishers. Dick DeVos on Volpe, thanks to a bullet on Saturday, won the tiebreaker with International Class Chairman Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio on G-SPOT.

Teams got an early start on Sunday with a warning one hour earlier than originally scheduled so that three races, instead of two could be completed. Big wave action and a moderate breeze greeted teams to the final showdown.

The story of the day however is all about the Corinthians. Two of the three races today were won by amateur division entrants. Grant Hood's Quest from Canada steered by Jon Messenger capitalized on their first race win ever in Race Six, and the same goes for Morgan Kiss helming the aspiring Team Hydra to win Race Eight.

A great start in the first race of the day gave Messenger and his team just the right amount of momentum and confidence, calling all the right shifts and with every turn of the mark and gate, extended ever so slightly. It was on the final downwind run where Messenger managed to put a little bit of space between himself and second place finisher Christian Schwoerer and Veit Hemmeter on La Pericolosa (their best finish thus far) to win.

Goransson's team really showed that experience pays big in the Melges 32 fleet as they won Race Seven, followed by Rick DeVos on Delta in second and Serena di Lapigio was third.

Melges 32 Gold Cup, third place - Alessandro Rombelli, STIG - photo © JOY / IM32CA

The final race was a Corinthian grand finale of sorts. Kiss and the Team Hydra effort challenged and chased Jason Carroll's Argo around the track before catching him more than half-way down the final run, to just barely get the win right at the line.

"The breeze was a little lighter for that race, and we had a great start. Mitchell (Morgan's brother), helped us get a great lane," said Kiss. "Everyone worked hard and stayed focused on having really great sets. Erika was calling the breeze and Matt was trimming. It was exciting and it was really close. We managed to get the win right at the last minute."

From the warm hospitality to the well-organized race committee management lead by PRO Clyde Wright, LYC delivered. The Melges 32 Class is especially grateful to Commodore Lang, Event Chair Lisa Freiseke, Anne Streater, Beth Welker, and most of all Chip Sabadash who coordinated the Take A Junior Sailing Day. From the on-the-water racing to the fine Saturday night dinner, LYC was the perfect host.

And last, but certainly not least - a very special thank you to all thirteen teams that travelled to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for the second act of the Blue Water Series. Without you, this event would not have been possible.

www.melges32.com

Overall Gold Cup:

Corinthian Results: