Balestrero comes good

Newbie claims the Melges 32 European Series racing in Porto Ercole

After a hard fought and intense battle on the final day of Melges 32 racing in Porto Ercole, the second event in the Melges 32 Sailing Series, Matteo Balestrero, at the helm of Giogi, was crowned event champion.

Sailing with Balestrero was Daniele Cassinari as tactician and crew members Andrea Casale, Francesco Di Caprio, Davide Di Maio, Cristiano Giannetti, Leone Taddei and Elio Borio.

Although Balestrero's daily results were clearly not his best this weekend, he and his team managed to maintain their overnight lead for the overall win. This is his first regatta win in the Melges 32 fleet.

"We have experienced a pretty engaging weekend," said Cassinari. "We not only went up against the top teams in this class, but also survived to win a very tricky race courseMatteo is one of the quickest helmsman in the fleet. He is very focused and with his best concentration, together with great teamwork, our upwind speed made the game a little easier."

Holding second, and closing the gap by two points, was Vincenzo Onorato and Mascalzone Latino with Cameron Appleton serving as tactician.

"It's a great joy for me to be out sailing with my team again," said Onorato, after nearly a two year hiatus. "I decided to come back racing after a pretty close encounter with a bull shark during an underwater fishing session that left a permanent 'souvenir' on my left arm. I think it's better to race on a Melges 32, and at the moment, it's the best racing boat in the world."

Rounding out the podium is another new arrival in the fleet, Norway's Lasse Petterson aboard Pippa. Petterson, along with tactician Matteo Ivaldi had a great day, not only placing third overall in the finals, but also won race seven.

For early event leader Richard Goransson on Inga From Sweden, disappointing results in the later half of the event only enabled him to finish fourth.

Other shining stars of the day included Andrea LaCorte on Vitamina who came second in race seven, to finish the event fifth overall. Missing the podium this time around was Turkey's Ahmet Eker on Eker, who ended the event on a high note winning race eight.

The next event takes place over 3-5 June in Talamone.