Victory for Goombay Smash

No racing on the concluding day of the Melges 32 Worlds

William Douglass and his Goombay Smash team have been has been crowned Melges 32 World Champions. Douglass was accompanied by tactician Chris Larson and crew members Marco Constant, Andy Escourt, Stu Pollard, Mark Towill, Chris Welch and Alan Nakanishi.

After a long, nerve-racking, rainy on land postponement, around two o'clock a short trip out to the race course left the 29-strong fleet waiting for the wind. Unfortunately, it never arrived and no racing was able to take place, leaving Douglass and his team World Champions.

A fine congratulations also goes to second overall finisher John Kilroy on Samba Pa Ti as he fought hard to win the Championship, leading all the way only lose by a single point. Lanfranco Cirillo aboard Fantastica, with Michele Paoletti and team are happy with their third place finish, however like Kilroy, would have loved the opportunity to have another go at the title.

In retrospect, Saturday, the final day of racing was the polar opposite of days past. Teams awoke to cloudy skies with heavy dark clouds and light fickle breezes on the last day of the 2011 Melges 32 World Championship, hosted by Real Club Nautico de Palma (RCNP). Every few minutes or so, the Race Committee and staff of RCNP worked very hard to first, keep teams well-informed of the course conditions and, importantly were on key for fast changing racing possibilities. In the meantime, sailors spent the morning gathered in the bar and enclosed patio areas glued to rugby on television.

In the end, racing on Saturday was not meant to be. The results after day four, stand as final.

Full results here