Melges leads Worlds

Two bullets for class creator on day one of championship in San Francisco

Harry Melges scored two impressive wins on the opening day of the Audi Melges 24 World Championships in San Francisco.

After a four hour postponement the sea breeze finally made it in under the Golden Gate bridge and racing got under way on the Berkley circle in 14 knots from 230 degrees. The a general recall the fleet got away second time around with some individual recalls. Up the first beat it was the left hand side that paid and at the weather mark Harry Melges, helming for Jeff Ecklund, was just in the lead from Rob Greenhalgh, helming for Paul Lovejoy. Behind them local boy Seadon Wijsen took third, Luca Santella in Giovani Maspero's "Joe Fly" fourth, Olivier Ponthieu fifth, Brian Porter sixth and Shark Kahn seventh. The stage was set for a battle royal between Greenhalgh and Melges with Greenhalgh getting the upper hand on the run and then just managing to hold off Melges up the second beat. At the second weather mark Melges came in from the left and had to dip to tack in behind Greenhalgh. On the second run Melges finally managed to get back into the lead which he hung onto all the way to the finish. Behind Melges and Greenhalgh the battle for third was equally tough with places changing at every mark. Santella eventually took it from Ponthieu with Shark Kahn in fifth.

For the second race the wind had increased to around 18 knots with occasional gusts up to 20 from 220 degrees and a building ebb tide brought up the chop. Again the first attempt to start was recalled before the fleet got away with individual recalls at the second attempt. This time it was the right that paid but again it was Melges who popped out clean at the weather mark. Dave Ullman followed him in with Flavio Favini, helming for Franco Rossini, third and Stuart Rix, helming for Quentin and Simon Strauss, fourth. Down the first run Melges had impressive speed and by the leeward mark had opened up a 1 minute 45 second lead. Shark Kahn also put in an outstanding run to come from 12th to second ahead of Rix and Ullman with Martin Wedge fifth. Up the second beat Melges opened up further whilst Kahn got some distance over the pack which was lead round the second weather mark by Wedge ahead of Favini, Rix and Ullman. The final lap saw Melges sailing conservatively to hang onto his lead whilst Favini dug in to pull up to second. Having sailed a smart second run Philippe Kahn had pulled right up from the cheap seats and he and son Shark rounded the second leeward mark neck and neck with Shark opting left whilst Philippe to the right hand side of the gate. Up the last beat Shark held third place but Philippe dropped back into fifth behind Rix.

Overall Harry Melges now leads by six points from Shark Kahn with Luca Santella third, Rob Greenhalgh fourth, Philippe Kahn fifth and Flavio Favini sixth. "We had good boat speed up wind which helped us a lot and we were able to get off the starting lines without too much trouble and if you can do that and get in the right lanes and go where you want it definitely helps a lot, but you have to have good speed. I’m happy with today, but there’s a lot of sailing to go!" Commented Harry Melges after racing.

Whilst no one will be shocked to hear that Harry Melges is leading the regatta, the fact that Shark Kahn, a thirteen year old who only helmed his first Melges 24 regatta in Key West last January, is hard on his heels in second has come as something of a surprise. The depth of talent in this fleet is exceptionally high yet Shark looked totally poised and at home in the thick of it. Father Philippe might be smarting a little at finding himself three places and six points behind his son, but I think we can guarantee he's one very proud parent right now.

Results:

Pos	Yacht Name	Skipper	R1	R2	Tot
1	STAR	Harry Melges	1	1	2
2	PEGASUS 24-1	Samuel "Shark" Kahn	5	3	8
3	JOE FLY	Luca Santella	3	6	9
4	UNPROTECTED	Robert Greenhalgh	2	9	11
5	PEGASUS 24-3	Philippe Kahn	7	5	12
6	BLU MOON	Flavio Favini	14	2	16
7	GILL	Stuart Rix	12	4	16
8	FULL THROTTLE	Brian Porter	8	8	16
9	WINDQUEST	John Bertrand	9	11	20
10	HOME SLICE	Seadon Wijsen	6	16	22
11	EBREX LOGISTIC	Babbi Egidio	10	13	23
12		Dave Ullman	19	7	26
13	HARD CORE	Charon Benoit	15	15	30
14	P&P SAILING TEAM	Phillipe Ligot	22	10	32
15	SOUTHERN SPARS	James Spithill	21	14	35
16	BLACK SEAL	Jamie Lea	17	18	35
17	GROUPE LUNCIEN B.	Olivier Ponthieu	4	33	37
18	AVERAGE WHITE B.	Doug Weitz / Matt McQueen	11	27	38
19	BARBARIANS	Rob Smith	16	24	40
20	MONSOON	Bruce Ayres	13	30	43
21		Martin Wedge	32	12	44
22	BACKBREAKER	Kenneth Kaan	31	15	46
23	WITCHARD	Le Moign Damien	29	17	46
24	TICKLER	Sheldon Ecklund	26	20	46
25	SOFA KING FAST	Dennis Bassano	20	26	46
26	ROCK N ROLL	Argyle Campbell	23	23	46
27	CAVALLINO	Hank Lemmens, Jr.	30	21	51
28	EGO	Don Jesberg	33	19	52
29	SABOTAGE	Jeff Thorpe	24	28	52
30	WICKED FEET	Tom Freytag	34	22	56
31	MINOR THREAT	Peter Dalton	25	32	57
32	GRINDER	Jeff Littfin	28	31	59
33	FLYER 02	Chuck Holtzman	43	25	68
34		Jeffrey Brizes	27	43	70
35	SMOKIN	Kevin Clark	36	35	71
36	BANDIT	Andy Mack	39	34	73
37	MASUI M	Dietrich Scheder	37	37	74
38	TEAM MOSELEY	Rick Moseley	46	29	75
39	ABRACADABRA III	Dennis Surtees	35	42	77
40	RHINO	Sean Scarborough	38	39	77
41	SITTING DUCK	Claes Rojining	42	36	78
42	STRYK	Kerry Poe	40	38	78
43	TAPE THAT	Coco & Carlos Vroon	45	40	85
44		Ian Cleaver	18	69.00D	87
45	LIGHT BRIGADE	Warren Davidson	48	46	94
46	ENIGMA	Hubert Guy	44	51	95
47	DANGEROUS WHEN	Chris Winnard	52	47	99
48	TWISTED MISTER	Keith Grzelak	57	44	101
49	VA VA VOOM	Nigel Donnelly	60	45	105
50	ROCKET WIDGET	Darrel Lager	58	50	108
51	GO DOGS GO	Pepe Parsons	54	54	108
52	JOLLY TAR	Bill Wright	69	41	110
53	SMOKESHOW	Scott Dale	41	69	110
54	NIKITA	Krak Arntson	62	48	110
55	TROPHY WIFE	Glenn Klute	61	49	110
56	ATOMIC DOG	Team Atomic Dog	51	59	110
57	PERSONAL PUFF	Dan Hauserman	55	55	110
58	SILVER	Joe Woods	47	69	116
59	TIKANGA	Charles Guildner	59	58	117
60	SURFEIT	Peter Vessella	49	69	118
61	GOOSE N'DUCK	Paul Bennett	63	56	119
62	BONES	Robert Harff	69	52	121
63	PUTTANESCA	Marv Toland	64	57	121
64	CARPE CERVISIAM	Dean Daniels	69	53	122
65	BLINGBLING	Evan Jahn	53	69	122
66	USA 183	Doug Du Bois	56	69.00D	125
67	DONT BENO DREAD	Rob Arrand	65	69	134
68	SEA YA	Patricio Sly	69	69.00D	138