Chris Larson extends

Damp cold conditions descend as another two races are held at the Melges 24 World Championship in Annapolis

Despite the decidedly damp and cold conditions which prevailed on day two of the Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis 2009 Melges 24 World Championship, the quality of racing for the international fleet was nonetheless characteristically red hot.

Overnight leader Chris Larson aboard West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes turned in a solidly consistent 6,4, scoreline for the day, and this sees him extend his margin at the top of the leaderboard tonight to 11 points.

Surprisingly perhaps Larson believed that the Annapolis conditions today had been more predictable than normal. "The wind didn't really move about that much today, so much so in fact that in both races we were actually able to one-tack both first beats by simply hitting the left hand layline," he said. "This afternoon though the wind did begin to get a little spotty, with more pressure in some places than others."

Whilseobviously delighted to still be leading at this stage, Larson also recognised that there was still a long way to go in this Championship. "We are four races into a 12 race series and so far I've been successful with doing my job on the boat, which is to get us off the line cleanly. Richard Clarke has been doing a great job on tactics and the whole crew has been solid. I think if we can maintain this approach then we will be in good shape."

Today also saw a return to more familiar form for two of the Melges 24 fleet's most well known teams, as Italians Lorenzo Bressani on Uka Uka Racing and Gabrio Zandona on Joe Fly respectively, each took a gun in today's two races.

Bressani followed up his win in the first race with a second place in race two, after a prolonged battle with Zandona at the front of the fleet. Uka Uka Racing's 1, 2 score today earned them boat of the day; an achievement made all the more impressive given that they were racing with a substitute crew, following a severe ankle injury to their regular bow-girl Francesca Prina. For the first time this regatta, they have broken into the top ten and now sit in seventh place overall.

Trimmer Federico Michetti was full of praise for stand-in Meredith Adams, who he said had coped well with sailing with a foreign speaking team. "To be honest I was very nervous about how things would go today as we have raced and trained for so long with Francesca. Meredith fitted in really well however and picked up our way of doing things very quickly." Asked if he thought Uka Uka Racing could still win this championship, Michetti glanced down at the results sheet and commented: "For sure we could. There are lots of teams in the top ten with poor scores. We definitely have no more room for mistakes and it will be very, very difficult. However, we like a good fight and of course will be trying to the very end."

Michetti has his own special incentive to keep striving for victory; already a triple Melges 24 European Champion, victory here this week would make him the first ever person to have sailed on three Melges 24 World Championship winning crews.

A third place in race one and a win in race two has catapulted Zandona and the Joe Fly crew into second place overall, ahead of Bill Hardesty on Events Clothing/Atlantis in third. Hardesty confirmed that it had been another tricky day out on the racecourse but said he was pleased with his team's 2,7, performance today. "The breeze was up in the morning and died back a little this afternoon," he said. "We feel pretty comfortable in the breezier stuff, but the light winds have been a bit of a weakness for us so far. However we think we may have found the extra gear that we have been looking for as we were able to hang on to the Italian boats a lot better in the second race."

Hardesty also believes that the unpredictability of the current out on the Chesapeake is creating an extra challenge for the racers. "With the amount of rain we have been having here recently, looking at the tide charts is all but useless. With all the rivers draining into this area it's hard to know whether you are sailing in salt water or fresh."

Most of the other top ten teams had an up and down day today. Brian Porter on Full Throttle finished with a 5,12, tally and sits in fourth overall. Italy's Carlo Fracassoli on Gullisara dropped from third to fifth after scoring two results outside the top ten.

Norwegian Eivind Melleby marred his otherwise single-digit scoreline so far with a 22nd place in race two, but only dropped one place to lie in sixth. Italian Flavio Favini on Swiss entry Blu Moon had a disappointing day by his own high standards with a 9,21 and has tumbled from second to eighth overall tonight. Also dropping down the order to ninth place after an 11,18 day was US sailor Alan Field on WTF. Jamie Lea at the helm of Team Barbarians seems to have been anchored in tenth place since the regatta started and a 16,8 set of results today sees him remain there going into day three.

In the Corinthian Division things could not be tighter between the top two teams so far with David Dabney on Conejo Racing - Ocean Sailing Academy and Bruce Ayres on Monsoon tied on 11 points apiece. Just two points adrift and poised to pounce is Othmar Mueller von Blumencron on Gannet.

With two more races scheduled for tomorrow and the likelihood that similar conditions to today's will prevail, the 51 boat international fleet can look forward to another day of tricky sailing, as this regatta goes into it's third day. Just to throw in an added dimension to the already intriguing mix, the single discard for the 12 race series could come into play if both races are completed tomorrow.

More photos on the following pages...

Results:

Pos	Boat	Bow/Sail	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot
1	West Marine Rigging / New England Ropes	55/ USA 655	Larson	5	2	6	4	17
2	Joefly	37/ ITA 777	Zandonà	6	18	3	1	28
3	Event’s Clothing/Atlantis	53/ USA 553	Hardesty	19	3	2	7	31
4	FULL THROTTLE	49/ USA 749	Porter, Brian	2	12	5	12	31
5	Gullisara	13/ ITA 803	fracassoli	9	1	10	13	33
6	Full Medal Jacket	34/ NOR 804	Melleby	8	4	4	22	38
7	UKA UKA racing	67/ ITA 787	Bressani	26	10	1	2	39
8	Blu Moon	62/ SUI 782	Rossini	3	6	9	21	39
9	WTF	17/ USA 587	Field	4	7	11	18	40
10	Team Barbarians	32/ GBR 691	Lea	10	15	16	8	49
11	Brick House 623	23/ USA 623	Lane	11	25	12	6	54
12	FANTASTICA	65/ ITA 765	Celon	23	23	8	5	59
13	Brick House 539	39/ USA 539	Lane	25	13	19	3	60
14	Rock N Roll	45/ USA 795	Campbell	18	5	20	19	62
15	Simplicity	57/ USA 757	Strauss	14	32	7	9	62
16	Quantum Racing / Gill Race Team	51/ USA 751	Hutchinson	1	38	14	10	63
17	Monsoon	47/ USA 747	Ayres	21	11	13	27	72
18	Evil Doughnut	14/ USA 514	Mollicone	15	14	30	17	76
19	Conejo Racing-Ocean Sailing Academy	28/ USA 785	Dabney	16	9	28	25	78
20	Gannet	59/ USA 679	Mueller von Blumencr	12	35	21	11	79
21	unsponsored	36/ GER 635	Wieland	24	20	29	14	87
22	NULL	20/ USA 620	Kirby	44	16	18	20	98
23	ZIG ZAG 18	44/ FRA 644	Samuel	22	8	40	30	100
24	altea	35/ ITA 735	racchelli	20	49	15	16	100
25	511	11/ USA 511	Podmajersky	13	40	24	31	108
26	I'm with stupid	60/ USA 160	Vowels	31	33	22	24	110
27	Sweaty betty	64/ USA 744	Shafer	27	28	41	15	111
28	Team Peacemaker USA 769	69/ USA 769	Anosov	29	19	26	38	112
29	OMI	16/ USA 802	Truelove	43	17	36	23	119
30	Battle Rhythm	66/ USA 786	Mossman	7	26	39	48	120
31	High Voltage	33/ USA 533	Hernandez	34	42	17	28	121
32	Gelikt	19/ NED 789	Wietze	28	29	34	32	123
33	NULL	61/ UKR 661	Gureyev	45	22	25	34	126
34	Millewa Milluna	42/ USA 771	Williamson	38	21	27	42	128
35	ARDOR/C.R.E.A.M.	50/ USA 700	O'Reilly	33	37	33	26	129
36	Blur-Pacific Energy Ventures	63/ USA 773	Kopf	41	24	23	44	132
37	Wild Child	21/ USA 721	Filter	17	45	31	41	134
38	Vamoose	25/ USA 725	Wilkins	36	36	32	33	137
39	chillout	26/ USA 606	Golden	35	30	42	36	143
40	ZETIANA	22/ USA 575	Michas	32	31	47	35	145
41	Tiburon	68/ USA 568	Carleton	30	27	50	39	146
42	PBR Street Gang	12/ USA 602	Hamilton	40	39	38	29	146
43	NULL	43/ CAN 723	SAKS	42	51	35	37	165
44	Cracker Racing	70/ USA 770	Wills	53/RAF	34	37	43	167
45	Scotch Bonnet	52/ USA 52	Beale	37	44	46	40	167
46	Mustang	58/ USA 658	Hamilton	39	41	48	45	173
47	tom slick	24/ USA 604	Wittenberg	48	43	43	47	181
48	Black Dog	41/ CAN 121	Black	47	48	44	46	185
49	Funtech Racing	15/ USA 615	Hess	46	47	45	50	188
50	Brinksmanship	31/ USA 21	Currier	49	46	51	49	195
51	Wilco!	40/ USA 540	Wilhelm	50	50	49	51	200
52	zingara	46/ CAN 446	Reid	53/DNC	53/DNC	53/DNC	53/DNC	212