A Melges 32 first

As Fantastica takes three bullets on the opening day of the Audi Melges 32 Sailing Series in Loano

The first day of racing commenced under cloudy skies for the first event of 2012 Audi Melges 32 Sailing Series, but a brighter than ever Lanfranco Cirillo aboard Fantastica lit up the sky over Marina di Loano.

Weather forecasts predicted light wind and rain, but on the course, after a three hour postponement, a good northern wind appeared that giving way to the possibility of sailing three tight races.

The provisional ranking has a strong leader: Fantastica helmed Cirillo with Michele Paoletti as tactician and a solid team. Three points in three races is something that never happened before in the Audi Melges 32 Sailing Series. 12 points behind, there are a couple who demonstrated their value: Audi F.lli Giacomel – Fra Martina with an afterguard composed by Edoardo Pavesio, Gabriele Benussi and Riccardo Simoneschi, and Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino with another dream team on board — tactician Nathan Wilmot and Alberto Bolzan and Andrea Ballico.

"We are very pleased," said Paoletti. "Today we can say we made no mistakes. Our secret is that this team has been sailing together for a long time. Hopefully, tomorrow the air continues to blow and again, we will work hard to do our best."

"As usual we had a great day of racing characterized by an high standard of sailing." commented Class President Carlo Alberini. "I think it is great to see the presence of many foreign teams from Austria, France, Germany, Spain and Japan. It is a sure sign of vitality of the Class."

Today was a lucky day despite the numbers: Friday 13th was the first day of racing, 17 boats are registered, 17.00 is the finishing hour of the last race and Jean Francois Cruette's Teasing Machine (Bow number 17) finished 13th in the last race of the day.

Top 10 results (provisional, after 3 races)

1.) Lanfranco Cirillo/Michelle Paoletti, Fantastica; 1-1-1 = 3
2.) Edoardo Pavesio/Gabriele Benussi, Audi F.lli Giacomel | FRA MARTINA; 3-10-2 = 15
3.) Vincenzo Onorato/Nathan Wilmot, Mascalzone Latino; 4-2-9 = 15
4.) Edoardo Lupi/Branko Brcin, Torpyone; 6-5-5 = 16
5.) Wolfgang Stolz/Jesper Radich, Opus One; 11-3-3 = 17
6.) Marc de Antonio/Hugo Rocha; Bribon-Movistar; 9-6-4 = 19
7.) Mauro Mocchegiani/Matteo Ivaldi, Rush Diletta; 5-8-7 = 20
8.) Filippo Pacinotti/Ross MacDonald, Brontolo HH; 2-9-11 = 22
9.) Carlo Alberini/Enrico Fonda, Calvi Network; 15-4-8 = 27
10.) Jean-Francois Cruette/Francois Brenac, Teasing Machine; 7-7-13 = 27