Melges 24 Worlds - Day 2
August 29, 2006 10:41 0 comments
Day two at the Melges 24 Worlds in Hyeres brought a mix of conditions for the 119 crews with racing starting in 8-10 knots and finishing in 30 knots as the Mistral began to blow. Two more races in the six-race round robin series were completed and i
Day two at the Melges 24 Worlds in Hyeres brought a mix of conditions for the 119 crews with racing starting in 8-10 knots and finishing in 30 knots as the Mistral began to blow. Two more races in the six-race round robin
series were completed and in the overall standings Francois Brenac, helming DPR Partner & Partners for Philippe Ligot of France now leads by 7 points. Second to twelfth place are separated by only 10 points so the regatta remains wide open at this stage. Jean Marc Monnard aboard Poizon Rouge from Switzerland and Paolo Cian, helming Sherekhan for Maurizo Cardascio from Southern Italy are both on 20 points with Monnard in second on count back. Chris Rast, helming Blu Moon for Franco Rossini from Switzerland is in fourth on 21 points and the local Euro Voiles Team, owned by Denis Infante and helmed by Christophe Barrue are just two points behind in fifth.
For the DRP Partner & Partners team this regatta is the culmination of a two-year campaign specifically aimed at winning this World Championship. The majority of the team has been together for many years in a range of boats including the Melges 24, but Brenac only joined as helmsman last season. In the heavy airs their experience together really shows and they rarely put a foot wrong in their boat handling as could be seen from todays 1, 2 score line.
Sailing legend Dave Ullman, sailing for California based Philippe Kahn’s Team Pegasus, also scored 1, 2 today which more than made up for yesterday’s mid-teens results that included a 20% penalty. Dave is not sailing with his regular crew this week and indeed the team had not sailed together before they got to Hyeres.
The racing on the two courses was much more even today although the wind was still generally stronger and the waves bigger on course Bravo which was set to the south, just inside the Giens peninsula, and hosted the green and pink groups. White and yellow groups sailed on course Alpha which was to the north on the Hyeres shore and benefited from a little shelter that helped keep the sea flatter although the wind was still very strong.
The final two races of the 6 race round robin series are scheduled for tomorrow and the championship runs until Friday with a total of 12 races planned.
