22 for Melges 32 Gold Cup

Lauderdale Yacht Club to host impressive list of competitors next week

For several months the International Melges 32 Class Association (IM32CA) has been looking forward to the 2008 Gold Cup Regatta that officially kicks-off next week, 5-7 December in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. hosted by the Lauderdale Yacht Club (LYC). There is a great deal of excitement and energy surrounding this event, teams can hardly wait to race.

This event has spawned a vision of opportunity — an impressive gathering of sailing all-stars, the world's elite amatuer owner/drivers and America's next generation of youth sailors.

A simple glance of the entry list, then a slight delve into each crew roster underlines the continued growth of the class worldwide — Dave Ullman, Richard Clark, Flavio Grassi, Marco Constant, Gabriele Benussi, Stu McNay, Kevin Harrap, Max Skelley, Scott Nixon, Anthony Kotoun, Jeff Madragali, John Kostecki, Gavin Brady, Morgan Reeser, Jon Goldsberry, Terry Hutchinson, Charlie Ogletree, Harry Melges, Charlie Smythe, Jamie Lea and Johnny Lovell will be present.

For the owner/amatuer driver, this event will be yet another chance to sail with and against the very best in the world, an opportunity not afforded by many other classes of boat. Where the Melges 32 is concerned – this is standard racing procedure. Joe Woods, Michael Illbruck, John Taylor, Bob Hesse, Jason Carroll, Pieter Taselaar, Edward Tillinghast, Stephen Pugh, Mike Carroll and Marty Kullman are among the participating class veterans.

Fleet newcomers Geoffery Pierini, Alex Jackson, Carlo Alberini, John Dane and John Kilroy are however no strangers to this level of competition.

The other interesting aspect, and by far one of the most unique facets of the Gold Cup event is the 'Take A Junior Sailing Day.' Another brief review of the junior sailors with the ride of their life ahead of them include Dominque Wright, Alex Fox, Ericka Reineke, Mac Agnese, Christopher Williford, Chanel Miller and Julian Harris, just to name a few.

Prior to most regattas, individuals of high authority usually entertain the idea of casting a winning prediction, that is not the case at the Gold Cup. Every team competing brings something a little different, a ingredient that sets them apart and so to pick a winner at this stage is too hard to call.

1	USA 174	Amelia	Alex Jackson/Dave Ullman	Riverside, CT, USA
2	USA 128	Argo	Jason Carroll	New York, NY, USA
3	CAN 134	Arkle	Kate Mullin/Richard Clark	Port Credit, Canada
4	MON 1999	Bitipi	Savino Formentini	Italy
5	USA 169	Bliksem	Pieter Taselaar/Jeremy Wilmot	New York, NY, USA
6	ITA 186	CALVI Network	Carlo Alberini/Gabriele Benussi	Italy
7	USA 151	Dark n' Stormy	Edward Tillinghast	New York, NY, USA
8	GBR 121	Highlife	Peter Rogers/Kevin Harrapp	Lymington, UK
9	USA 153	Lake Effect	Bob Hesse/Max Skelley	Youngstown, NY, USA
10	USA 131	New Wave	Marty Kullman/ Mike Carroll/Scott Nixon	Clearwater, FL, USA
11	USA 131	Ninkasi	John Taylor/Anthony Kotoun	Big Sky, MT, USA
12	USA 136	Nitemare	Tom Neill/Bill Faude/Jeff Madragali	Chicago, IL, USA
13	GER 4014	Pinta Racing	Michael Illbruck/John Kostecki	Munich, Germany
14	USA 007	Q	Jim Swartz/Gavin Brady	Edgartown, MA, USA
15	GBR 700	Red	Joe Woods/Morgan Reeser	Torbay, UK
16	USA 77	roXanne	Kip Meadows	Rocky Mountain, NC, USA
17	USA 13131	Samba Pa Ti	John Kilroy, Jr./Terry Hutchinson	San Francisco, CA, USA
18	USA 178	Shakedown	Geoff Pierini/Charlie Ogletree	Perth Amboy, NJ, USA
19	USA 32	STAR	Jeff Ecklund/Harry Melges, III	Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
20	USA 158	Taboo	Stephen Pugh/Seadon Wijsen	Sausalito, CA, USA
21	GBR 84845	Team Barbarians	Stuart Simpson	London, UK
22	USA 196	War Canoe	John Dane/Leslie Dane	Pass Christian, MS, USA