Worlds 2019: ITALY TAKES IT ALL AGAIN: MAIDOLLIS AND TAKI 4 ARE THE NEW MELGES 24 WORLD CHAMPIONS
2019 Melges 24 World Champion - Maidollis ITA854 - Carlo Fracassoli, Enrico Fonda, Gianluca Perego, Stefano Lagi, Matteo Ramian - Photo © Pierrick Contin / IM24CA
Melges 24 Corinthian World Champion 2019 - Taki 4 of Marco Zammarchi with Niccolo Bertola, Giacomo Fossati, Giovanni Bannetta, Pietro Seghezza and Giorgio de Mari - Photo ©Pierrick Contin / IM24CA
October 12, 2019 - Villasimius, Sardinia, Italy - The history of the Melges 24 Class repeats itself: after the successful World Championship of Helsinki in 2017, the Italian crews onboard Maidollis and Taki 4 (Corinthian) are again the Melges 24 World Champions.
The fight for both the overall and the Corinthian podium was open until the very leg of the eleven races completed in Villasimius, amazing hosing location to the 22nd edition of the Melges 24 World Championship.
With a tight competition between Gianluca Perego's Maidollis ITA854, Bruce Ayres' Monsoon USA851 and Andrea Pozzi's Bombarda ITA860, that brought continuous changes all through the last day of racing, the Italians aboard Maidollis gained the victory only in the very last race of the series, where they managed to overcome Monsoon, leader of the ranking until that moment, putting the seal on the World title with a net total of 45 points. Monsoon closed in second (49 pt.), followed by an excellent and extremely consistent Bombarda (57 pt.).
The story was much similar also in the Corinthian division, where the Marco Zammarchi's Taki 4 ITA778, already World Champion in Miami and Helsinki, surpassed Storm Capital Sail Racing NOR751 with Peder Jahre in helm only in the last race. The crew that had led the ranking until the very last day, the Lenny EST790 of Tõnu Tõniste, today had to give up ad leave room to the inexorable rhythm of Storm Capital Sail Racing and Taki 4, concluding the event in third place.
"We are extremely proud of having put the seal once again on this prestigious title, in a fleet that this year more than ever was competitive and extremely packed. Congrats to our opponents, and to Monsoon and Bombarda in first place, who duelled with us until the last jibe," commented the owner of Maidollis, Gian Luca Perego.
The curtains close in a great way on the 2019 Melges 24 season, that will resume in 2020. For next year, the World Championship 2020 is scheduled for May 1-9 in the USA, Charleston, while the European Championship 2020 will take place on September 5-12 in Portoroz, Slovenia.
The results of Top 10:
1. Maidollis, ITA854, Carlo Fracassoli - 1 -17 -1 -2 -2 -6 -13 -[29] -1 -2 ; 45
2. Monsoon, USA851, Bruce Ayres - 10 -5 -4 -6 -1 -9 -3 -[38] -3 -8 ; 49
3. Bombarda, ITA860, Andrea Pozzi - 5 -6 -14 -1 -3 -1 -10 -3 -14 -[30] ; 57
4. Warcanoe, USA841, Michael Goldfarb - 2 -1 -2 -16 -17 -21 -[62] -6 -8 -7 ; 80
5. Taki 4, ITA778, Niccolo Bertola (COR) - 16 - 4 -5 -17 -8 -[44] -31 -2 -11 -4 ; 98
6. Storm Capital Sail Racing, NOR751, Peder Jahre (COR) - 4 -24 -12 -9 -9 -26 -[27] -1 -4 -18 ; 107
7. Melgina, ITA693, Paolo Brescia - 23 -11 -[29] -12 -6 -11 -8 -12 -2 -22 ; 107
8. Lenny, EST790, Tõnu Tõniste (COR) - 6 -2 -24 -4 -15 -8 -24 -13 -[26] -12 ; 108
9. Altea, ITA722, Andrea Racchelli - [62] -18 -3 -19 -10 -17 -9 -11 -12 -15 ; 114
10. Mikey, USA835, Kevin Welch - [62] -33 -15 -3 -5 -29 -5 -23 -6 -1 ; 120
Full results in Yachtscoring
Full crew list
Day Five photos by ©Pierrick Contin
All event photos by ©Pierrick Contin
Videos of the event by © Zerogradinord
The Melges 24 World Championship was organized by the Marina di Villasimius and Lega Navale Italiana - Sez. Villasimius in cooperation with the Italian Melges 24 Class and International Melges 24 Class Association. The World Championship was the final event both of the 2019 Melges 24 European Sailing Series and Italian Melges24 Tour 2019.
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