Italy to the fore

As Gabrio Zandona's Joe Fly takes the lead at the Melges 24 World Championship in Annapolis

For the competitors arriving at the City Dock this morning on day three of the Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis 2009 Melges 24 World Championship, the chances of racing taking place seemed unlikely, with Annapolis shrouded in low cloud and no evidence of any wind whatsoever.

Despite the gloomy outlook, Principal Race Officer Jeff Borland put all trust in his local knowledge and led the fleet out on to the race area. This forthright strategy was eventually rewarded, when after a prolonged delay, a fitful breeze finally developed and racing got underway. As a further bonus the quickly clearing skies soon bathed the competitors, race management fleet and the many spectator boats in some welcome warm sunshine. With winds peaking at no more than seven knots, by no stretch of the imagination could the racing today be described as high adrenaline, but nevertheless the conditions did produce some fascinating tactical battles at the front of the fleet.

Race one saw the three Championship leaders, Chris Larson on West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes, Gabrio Zandona on Joe Fly and Bill Hardesty on Events Clothing/Atlantis, round the first windward mark in that order. Hot on their heels was first Corinthian helm Bruce Ayres on Monsoon. Rather than follow leader Larson down the left hand side of the course, Joe Fly tactician Daniele Cassinari opted for an early gybe on to port.

As Larson and the rest of the leading pack went almost to the left hand layline, the Italian team on Joe Fly made good progress closer to the middle of the course. When the boats converged at the leeward gate it was neck and neck between the first two; Larson coming in from the left having to handbrake his way round the port gate, while Zandona arriving with more pressure and speed from further right was able to make a smoother exit from the right buoy.

Zandona immediately capitalised on this slight edge and moved smoothly into the lead up the second beat. As the leg progressed the breeze became increasingly unstable; dropping as low as four knots at times. Staying in the maximum pressure, Zandona rammed home his upwind advantage and rounded the second windward mark well ahead of Larson, who was now having to deal with a sustained challenge from Ayres. These three boats had pulled out a big gap on the rest of the pack and were well into the run before the fourth boat, Lorenzo Bressani on Uka Uka Racing rounded the weather mark. There were no place changes amongst the top four on the one sided and somewhat processional final leg, with Zandona claiming his second race win of the series ahead of the ever consistent Larson in second, a clearly delighted Ayres in third and a relieved looking Bressani in fourth. Norwegian Eivind Melleby on Full Metal Jacket continued his impressive form in this series, clocking up another top ten result in fifth.

Another delay then ensued whilst the Race Committee and competitors waited around hopefully for the wind to re-establish itself. When a seven to eight knot breeze finally filtered on to the racecourse, it took a general recall and an I-Flag deterrent to get the fleet underway for the five-leg final race of the day. After the wind flicked into left phase just before the start, Kristen Lane on Brick House won a three way battle for the pin with 2006 World Champion Nico Celon at the helm of Fantastica and US National Champion Brian Porter on Full Throttle, to lead the fleet away.

The boats further back along the line were tightly packed and struggling to accelerate, giving Celon and Lane the opportunity to quickly tack on to port and set off into a little extra pressure. A drop in breeze to around five knots and a port hand shift as the leaders approached the windward mark for the first time, gave added advantage to the boats who had got furthest left. Celon led around the top mark in close proximity with Eivind Melleby on Full Metal Jacket who had made a stunning comeback from what had looked like a poor situation immediately after the start. Kristen Lane went around third, with Rome Kirby on USA 620 fourth and Robby Wilkins on Vamoose in fifth.

Championship leader Chris Larson pulled off yet another top ten rounding in sixth place, all the time with a close eye on his series rival Zandona who rounded just outside the top ten. Down the first run Melleby and Celon were engaged in a fierce battle for the lead with the Norwegian eventually prevailing after he sneaked over the top of the Italian in the final boat lengths to the mark.

On the light air second beat new pressure developed quickly on the right. Zetzema Wietze on Dutch entry Gelickt was the first to spot it and in a matter of minutes moved from the mid-teens up into fourth place. Zandona also did well out of the right hand side and slipped into sixth behind Peter Lane. At the top mark Melleby still led from Larson and Celon but with Lane and Zandona now very much back in contention. Down the run and final beat, whilst Melleby always looked calm and composed in first place, a real slugging match had developed between the next five boats for second place. At the finish as Melleby took a comfortable win, Celon edged out Larson into third with the rapidly charging Zandona slotting into fourth.

With the single discard for the twelve race series is now in play, Gabrio Zandona and the Joe Fly crew have moved up to become the new championship leaders, by just one point from Chris Larson on West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes. Sixth race winner Eivind Melleby on Full Metal Jacket eases into the final podium position at this stage with Bill Hardesty on Events Clothing/Atlantis discarding a final race thirty-eighth to take fourth. Carlo Fracassoli on Gullisara continues to impress and is in fifth place overall.

Today saw no let up in the scrap for the Corinthian Division World Title, with Bruce Ayres now leading by just one point from Othmar Mueller von Blumencron on Gannet in second. A good day for Germany's Christof Wieland on Unsponsored elevates him to third place overall tonight.

Results:

Pos	Boat	Bow/Sail	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot
1	Joefly	37/ ITA 777	Zandonà	6	[18]	3	1	1	4	15
2	West Marine Rigging / New England Ropes	55/ USA 655	LARSON	5	2	[6]	4	2	3	16
3	Full Medal Jacket	34/ NOR 804	Melleby	8	4	4	[22]	5	1	22
4	Event’s Clothing/Atlantis	53/ USA 553	Hardesty	19	3	2	7	7	[38]	38
5	Gullisara	13/ ITA 803	fracassoli	9	1	10	13	8	[14]	41
6	Quantum Racing / Gill Race Team	51/ USA 751	Hutchinson	1	[38]	14	10	10	7	42
7	UKA UKA racing	67/ ITA 787	Bressani	26	10	1	2	4	[31]	43
8	FULL THROTTLE	49/ USA 749	Porter, Brian	2	12	5	12	12	[13]	43
9	FANTASTICA	65/ ITA 765	Celon	[23]	23	8	5	6	2	44
10	Blu Moon	62/ SUI 782	Rossini	3	6	9	21	11	[24]	50
11	WTF	17/ USA 587	Field	4	7	11	18	14	[23]	54
12	Brick House 623	23/ USA 623	Lane	11	[25]	12	6	15	17	61
13	Brick House 539	39/ USA 539	Lane	[25]	13	19	3	25	5	65
14	Monsoon	47/ USA 747	Ayres	21	11	13	27	3	[46]	75
15	Rock N Roll	45/ USA 795	Campbell	18	5	20	19	[33]	16	78
16	Team Barbarians	32/ GBR 691	Lea	10	15	16	8	32	[41]	81
17	NULL	20/ USA 620	Kirby	[44]	16	18	20	19	11	84
18	Gannet	59/ USA 679	Mueller von Blumencr	12	[35]	21	11	21	21	86
19	Simplicity	57/ USA 757	Strauss	14	32	7	9	[41]	26	88
20	Evil Doughnut	14/ USA 514	Mollicone	15	14	30	17	13	[39]	89
21	altea	35/ ITA 735	racchelli	20	[49]	15	16	22	19	92
22	unsponsored	36/ GER 635	Wieland	24	20	[29]	14	28	8	94
23	Battle Rhythm	66/ USA 786	Mossman	7	26	39	[48]	20	9	101
24	ZIG ZAG 18	44/ FRA 644	SAMUEL	22	8	[40]	30	30	15	105
25	Wild Child	21/ USA 721	Filter	17	[45]	31	41	9	10	108
26	511	11/ USA 511	Podmajersky	13	[40]	24	31	23	22	113
27	Sweaty betty	64/ USA 744	Shafer	27	28	[41]	15	35	12	117
28	Gelikt	19/ NED 789	Wietze	28	29	[34]	32	24	6	119
29	OMI	16/ USA 802	Truelove	[43]	17	36	23	18	25	119
30	Conejo Racing-Ocean Sailing Academy	28/ USA 785	Dabney	16	9	28	25	42	[45]	120
31	I'm with stupid	60/ USA 160	Vowels	31	33	22	24	17	[40]	127
32	High Voltage	33/ USA 533	Hernandez	34	[42]	17	28	29	20	128
33	Team Peacemaker USA 769	69/ USA 769	Anosov	29	19	26	[38]	38	30	142
34	ARDOR/C.R.E.A.M.	50/ USA 700	O'Reilly	33	37	33	26	16	[47]	145
35	Blur-Pacific Energy Ventures	63/ USA 773	Kopf	41	24	23	[44]	27	32	147
36	NULL	61/ UKR 661	Gureyev	[45]	22	25	34	36	33	150
37	Vamoose	25/ USA 725	Wilkins	36	36	32	33	[44]	18	155
38	Millewa Milluna	42/ USA 771	Williamson	38	21	27	42	[47]	36	164
39	Tiburon	68/ USA 568	Carleton	30	27	[50]	39	39	34	169
40	chillout	26/ USA 606	Golden	35	30	42	36	[45]	28	171
41	PBR Street Gang	12/ USA 602	Hamilton	40	39	38	29	[48]	27	173
42	ZETIANA	22/ USA 575	Michas	32	31	47	35	37	[50]	182
43	Scotch Bonnet	52/ USA 52	Beale	37	44	[46]	40	26	37	184
44	Cracker Racing	70/ USA 770	Wills	[52/RAF]	34	37	43	31	48	193
45	NULL	43/ CAN 723	SAKS	42	[51]	35	37	34	49	197
46	Mustang	58/ USA 658	Hamilton	39	41	[48]	45	40	35	200
47	Brinksmanship	31/ USA 21	Currier	49	46	[51]	49	43	29	216
48	tom slick	24/ USA 604	Wittenberg	[48]	43	43	47	46	43	222
49	Funtech Racing	15/ USA 615	Hess	46	47	45	[50]	49	42	229
50	Black Dog	41/ CAN 121	Black	47	48	44	46	[51]	44	229
51	Wilco!	40/ USA 540	Wilhelm	50	50	49	[51]	50	51	250