Two bullets for Spithill

Benussi and Ullman in the frame now at the Corum Melges 24 World Championship in Key Largo

Consistency paid off for Gabriele Benussi's Italian boat Marrachech Express which jumped into the points lead at the 2005 Corum Melges 24 World Championship at Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo today after two races in fresh northerly breezes.

The third day of racing got off to a great start with 16-18 knots of wind, blue skies, and planing conditions for the downwind runs in race one. After races five and six today the fleet has reached the midpoint of the regatta.

Steered by professional sailors and a group of amateur sailors from Trieste, Marrachech Express confounded race watchers who had questioned whether the recently-formed team could handle the demanding, choppy conditions as comfortably as some of the well-honed, all-professional teams. Benussi and his three crew had never sailed together until they came together in Key Largo for three days of
practice before the event. They never faltered.

Benussi’s team had fared badly in the opening race of the series last Sunday when it posted a 35th place in the international talent-packed field of 99 boats. However the Italians got the fleet’s attention with a first place in the second race of the day. They followed that up with a third and a second on Monday, followed by fourth and ninth place
finishes today.

With six of the 12 scheduled races completed, all competitors are now able to discard their worst race placing, punching Marrachech Express up from her second overall yesterday to the lead on points today.

With the discard kicking in today, this favoured sailmaker and pro sailor Dave Ullman who finished today’s racing with a fifth and a third for his Pegasus 505 and dropping a 41st place to jump from seventh place overall yesterday to second today. Consistent scores by Benussi and Ullman have allowed them to take the top two spots respectively after six races.

Waiting in the wings is pre-regatta favourite and young Australian America’s Cup helmsman James Spithall who started off the week a bit slow but seemed to have his team firing on all cylinders today by taking two bullets. Spithill started race 6 on the pin end of the line and about one third of the way up the first beat he tacked to port and crossed the majority of the fleet. He was able to work back to the middle of the course and tacked on a large right shift that buried many of the sailors who stayed left. Spithill and his team masterfully worked the middle of the beat to perfection using every shift up the middle of the course until a bit of a lefty came in and they were able to cross the starboard tackers and round first with about a 10 second lead. Spithall continued to push hard and lead every mark finally taking the bulet to a round of applause from the numerous spectator boats.

Morgan Reeser, a comfortable points’ leader going into today’s racing, could do no better than a 20th in the first race today. That and a 17th place yesterday pulled his Mfatic emphatically back into fourth place, ten points behind Spithill.

Consistent performances are vital in a long series like this, featuring a big fleet and Brian Porter illustrated this point by holding onto fourth place overall with his Full Throttle team.

Top 50 results after six races (with one dropped race)

Pos	Boat	Sail	Owner	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot
1	MARRACHECH EXPRESS	ITA 636	Mrvcic,Vladimiro	Benussi,Gabriele	35*	1	3	2	4	9	19
2	Pegasus 505	USA505	Ullman,David	Ullman,David	6	41*	7	1	5	3	22
3	Luna Rossa	USA 515	Spithill,James	Spithill,James	5	12	25*	7	1	1	26
4	MFATIC	USA 566	Sullivan,Neil	Reeser,Morgan	2	8	1	17	20*	8	36
5	FULL THROTTLE	USA 600	Porter,Brian	Porter,Brian	26*	2	11	4	7	18	42
6	JOE FLY	ITA 633	Maspero,Giovanni	Zandona,Gabrio	11	35*	22	5	3	5	46
7	XCELLENT	GBR 593	Pollard,John	Pollard,John	17	7	5	12	15	32*	56
8	PARTNER & PARTNERS	FRA 571	Ligot,Philippe	Brenac,Francois	22*	14	18	3	11	11	57
9	Pegasus 492	USA 492	Kahn,SamuelShark	Kahn,Samuel	19	3	4	48*	30	6	62
10	ALE ALI	ITA 139	Amadori,Ezio	Celon,Nicola	1	22	16	15	29*	10	64
11	Fusion M	USA 542	Devos,Doug	Bertrand,John	9	15	46*	22	22	4	72
12	TEAM GILL	GBR 592	Strauss,Simon	Mansfield,Mark	12	59*	14	8	9	33	76
13	Pegasus 575	USA 575	Kahn,Philippe	Kahn,Philippe	10	6	21	13	31	61*	81
14	BLU MOON	SUI 596	Rossini,Franco	Favini,Flavio	24	37*	2	21	10	28	85
15	COURAGE X	GER 582	Eich,Eddy	Batzill,Alba	47*	5	44	11	21	7	88
16	PANIC ATTACK	USA 522	DaMore,Justin	Filter,Henry	32	4	42*	16	16	31	99
17	Derivative	USA 052	Surber,Mark	Hunt,Steve	8	60*DPI	33	32	28	2	103
18	LIZARD	ITA 594	Paolacci,Massimo	Montefusco,Sandro	7	55 DPI	20	61*	6	16	104
19	NEW WAVE	USA 544	Kullman,Martin	Kullman,Martin	18	11	32	9	36*	35	105
21	NAUTICA/FRATELLI GIACOMEL AUDI	ITA 572	Simoneschi,Riccardo	Simoneschi,Riccardo	39	48*	15	10	23	21	108
20	Grins	USA 526	Burke,Shawn	Burke,Shawn	27	18	6	34	35*	23	108
22	DREAM TEAM	ITA490	Giordo,Gianni	Ivaldi,Matteo	37	34	12	28	2	42*	113
24	BAGHDAD	NOR 400	Nergaard,Kristian	Nergaard,Kristian	14	74*	39	23	17	22	115
23	FRUEN MAREN	NOR 249	Hauff,Nils	Spone,Kristoffer	29	27	8	55*	26	25	115
25	ROSEBUD	USA 631	Brun,Vince	Holmgren,Scott	23	45*	30	30	8	26	117
26	Rhino	USA 541	Scarborough,Sean	Scarborough,Sean	78*	23	37	6	18	38	122
27	Monsoon	USA 540	Ayres,Bruce	Ayres,Bruce	13	55*DPI	34	25	12	40	124
28	Pareto Optimal	USA 525	Wijsen,Seadon	Wijsen,Seadon	34	46*	10	20	19	45	128
29	STAR	USA 595	Ecklund,Jeff	Ecklund,Jeff	62*	17	13	46	27	27	130
30	Ricochet	CAN 629	Sherlock,John	Rey,Tony	4	33	29	49*	37	29	132
31	Ego	USA 555	Jesberg,Don	Jesberg,Don	3	38	36	53*	45 ZFP	13	135
32	Flying Toaster	USA613	Dow,Mike	Dow,Mike	51*	10	9	33	48	36	136
33	TEAM BARBARIANS	GBR 569	Simpson,Stuart	Lea,Jamie	40	43	26	44*	13	14	136
34	ALTEA	ITA 438	Racchelli,Andrea	Racchelli,Andrea	25	57*	17	40	34	24	140
35	GILL	GBR 431	Strauss,Quentin	Rix,Stuart	46	25	27	63*	24	19	141
36	Running With Scissors	USA 617	Baron,Peter	Baron,Peter	21	61*	40	27	14	48	150
37	Barracuda	USA 549	Dockery,Bob	Dockery,Bob	53	58*	31	14	47	12	157
38	TEAM SBAB	SWE 532	Sundstedt,Ingemar	Lindquist,Mikael	28	99*OCS	41	18	32	39	158
39	BLING BLING	USA 513	Jahn,Evan	Jahn,Evan	42	20	24	19	54*	54	159
40	Rock N Roll	USA 630	Campbell,Argyle	Campbell,Argyle	20	19	65	37	73*ZFP	20	161
41	MJ2 BORGO SCOPETO	ITA 621	Angelini,Igino	Fornaro,Andrea	30	24	43	68*	49	17	163
42	Eric	GBR 620	Wedge,Martin	Allen,Scott	15	88*	35	36	46	37	169
43	RED	GBR 616	Woods,Joe	Slott,Ruairidh	38	39	48	29	63*ZFP	30	184
44	GAZOO !	USA 551	Pierini,Geoffrey	Pierini,Geoffrey	45	32	61*	26	33	50	186
45	ZIG ZAG 17	FRA 625	Samuel,Henri	Samuel,Henri	48	16	55*	38	44	44	190
46	RIOT	USA 553	Ewing,Marc	Ewing,Marc	43	36	62	24	66*	41	206
47	Fu	USA 500	Hollerbach,Marc	Hollerbach,Marc	49	13	99*OCS	47	52	49	210
48	Carloan.com	USA 605	Weisleder,Travis	Weisleder,Travis	33	64	28	43	65*	46	214
49	SISTE STEIN	NOR 366	Stenhagen,Anders	Melleby,Eivind	59	65	47	39	76*ZFP	15	225
50	FLYER 02	USA 520	Holzman,Chuck	Gulari,Bora	16	42	77	56	38	99*OCS	229