Melges 24 European Sailing Series at Marstrand, Sweden - Day 2
by International Melges 24 Class Association 17 Jun 2017 23:30 BST
16-18 June 2017
It would be hard to ask for better weather conditions for sailing than there were in Marstrand today. Compared to the first day, the sailors were met with lovely sunshine and consistent westerly winds of ten to twelve knots - just a perfect day!
These conditions made the mission easier for the Race Committee of the Marstrands Segelsällskap who managed four great races for Melges 24 teams being on the same race course today with the Dragon class having here the historical Apply Emtunga Cup. Two Italians - Maidollis ITA854 and Taki 4 ITA778 - had the main battle today being now top two boats on the scoreboard with a nice margin ahead of Gill Race Team GBR694.
It was a black flag what mixed the cards today quite a lot. Being on the same race course with another class meant a more strict timeline for getting the races started and Race Committee managed this situation well, although the sailors' eagerness to get races started got penalized by the black flag for quite some boats. It was the case for the yesterday's second, Kristoffer Spone's Baghdad II NOR400 dropping to the fourth from the second place yesterday. Also both teams from overseas got BFD today once dropping them few places in the ranking. Top three boats did not mistake and current leader, Luca Perego's Maidollis ITA854 with Carlo Fracassoli helming took two more bullets today, but also fourth place and discarded thirty three points for DNF, securing the leading position with fifteen points in total. Just three points behind, with eighteen points in total, on the second position now is the Corinthian leader, Marco Zammarchi's Taki 4 ITA778 with Niccolo Bertola in helm. With consistent score of 1-3-4-3 today the reigning Corinthian World champion is showing their improving strength and performance approaching the upcoming Worlds in Helsinki. It was totally different day for Miles Quinton's Gill Race Team GBR694 with Geoff Carveth in helm today. Being eleventh on the first day, they managed to score consistent 2-2-3-5 completing the podium of today.
Miles Quinton, the owner of Gill Race Team GBR694, was very happy with the day and results achieved. "It was much better day today for us. Also the conditions were much in favor both for sailors and Race Committee. The course was stable today giving you also better opportunities to pass. It was really fair racing and Race Committee did a really good job keeping a good discipline and timeline. The fleet here is very competitive and it makes the competition very interesting and challenging. Both Italian teams are really very consistent and we are a bit less consistent with U.S. teams. Also it's great to see strong performance from Norwegian fleet and Danish teams. I forecast that the competition at the Worlds in Helsinki will be really fierce! We all are very much looking forward to it!"
In Corinthian division only the third position changed comparing to the yesterday's results. Taki 4 ITA778 helmed by Niccolo Bertola is keeping the leading position with eight points in total (1-2-2-1 today) and two points behind is Gill Race Team GBR694 helmed by Geoff Carveth (2-1-1-2). Tomas Skalen's Miss Devil SWE666 achieved to overall top ten ranking three times today, what brought him to the third place with twenty six points in total.
This evening the Melges 24 teams will have a Sailors' Dinner at the restaurant Shanti-Shanti and can enjoy the long Nordic daylight. The last day of the regatta will start with the warning signal at 9.55am. Three races are scheduled and the same weather forecast for tomorrow is as good as it was today.
Full results can be found here.