2017-18 Melges 20 Miami Winter Series - Mixin' it up in Miami
by IM20CA 3 Dec 2017 03:47 GMT
1-3 December 2017
2017-2018 Melges 20 Miami Winter Series - Drew Freides, Pacific Yankee © IM20CA
With another three races in tricky, fun sailing conditions on Biscayne Bay, Drew Freides' Pacific Yankee has leap frogged Igor Rytov's Russian Bogatyrs to assume the overnight lead. With a small, yet very deep fleet, one mistake or one missed shift results in an immediate ticket to the back of the fleet, and after a quick look at the results, the battle for consistent finishes is proving elusive.
On a crowded Saturday in Biscayne Bay with several fleets racing, the Melges 20 fleet set up a few miles south from Day One with the breeze settled in at 060 at 10-13 kts. As the fleet blasted off the line, the left side looked strong initially, however the top of the course saw a huge right shift and Rytov was the chief beneficiary leading around the top mark and holding on for the win. Friedes showed he was ready for a full battle and grabbed second, followed by Vladimir Prosikhin on Nika in third.
With the big right shift in the previous race, the majority of the fleet hedged to the right side of the course in Race Five, however Melges 20 veteran Alexis Michas and his team on Midnight Sun stayed patient on the left side of the course and hooked into a length left shift that carried them to the first windward mark in first. The wiley greek Michas sailed fast around the course for the bullet followed by a hard charging Freides in second and Yurii Morozov on Russotrans.
The third race of the day saw a big left shift at the start with Achille Onorato's Mascalzone Latino Jr. port tacking the fleet, but it was Freides that started near the pin, extended into a left shift and flopped onto port to jump out to an early lead. The fleet played the shifts in unison up the beat like a school of fish, and with leverage on the left side, Freides led around the first top mark and never looked back. Prosikhin finished second and Jason Michas on Midnight Blue recovered from a broken traveler line to claim third.
With two more races to go, the first winter series event of 2017/18 will see eight races completed under tricky, fun conditions.
Top Five Results (Preliminary - After Six Races, One Discard)
- (USA) Drew Freides, PACIFIC YANKEE; 5-1-[13]-2-2-1 = 11
- (RUS) Igor Rytov, RUSSIAN BOGATYRS; 8-3-2-1-6-[13] = 21
- (RUS) Vladimir Prosikhin, NIKA; 6-[12]-6-3-9-2 = 26
- (RUS) Yurri Morozov, RUSSOTRANS; 7-6-[11]-4-3-8 = 28
- (USA) Alexis Michas, MIDNIGHT SUN; 9-4-[12]-6-1-9 = 29
View Full Results
Top Five 2017 Melges World League Results (After 14 Events Complete)
- (RUS) Igor Rytov, RUSSIAN BOGATYRS = 158 pts.
- (RUS) Vladimir Prosikhin, NIKA = 102 pts.
- (USA) Drew Freides, PACIFIC YANKEE = 97 pts.
- (ITA) Achille Onorato, MASCALZONE LATINO JR. = 85 pts.
- (USA) Liam Kilroy, WILDMAN = 81 pts.
View the Full 2017 Melges 20 World League Ranking
Top Five 2017 North American Melges World League Results (After 5 Events Complete)
- (USA) Drew Freides, PACIFIC YANKEE = 97 pts.
- (USA) Liam Kilroy, WILDMAN = 81 pts.
- (USA) John Kilroy, SAMBA PA TI = 79 pts.
- (USA) Jim Wilson, OLEANDER = 74 pts.
- (USA) Jason Michas, MIDNIGHT BLUE = 72 pts.