Lake Geneva Delivers Big Shifts, Fun Racing at 2023 Melges 24 Nationals
Teams awoke to cool temps, plentiful sunshine and very windy conditions on Day 2 of the 2023 Melges 24 U.S. National Championship on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. The Melges 24 celebrates her 30th Anniversary this weekend and the cool, breezy conditions certainly put the icing on the birthday cake. Three short-track races were conducted setting up the fleet nicely for a proper Sunday showdown.
Moving to the top of the scoreboard and now leading by three points, defending National Champ Brian Porter on Full Throttle won Races Four and Five.
“This was the most gorgeous Fall day you could get with really good breeze out of the north-northwest, very shifty,” said Porter post racing. Porter, who is a Lake Geneva local, had a terrific day, maybe even got a little lucky at times so he thinks. “It was such a fun day. Good breeze. Sailing fast. Planing downwind. Big shifts.”
Overnight leader, Bora Gulari helming Knocky Knocky dropped back one spot and tied things up in points with Race 6 winner Eddie Cox at the helm of Zenda Express.
“Today was a really fun day of racing. Pretty shifty, which is classic Lake Geneva. A perfect Fall day for sailing,” said Cox. “This is such an impressive fleet. The sailing today was very competitive.”
Completing the top five is Geoff Fargo’s Sentinel in fourth, and Chelsea Simms’s Straightarrow moved up to fifth overall. Sailing with George ‘Bear’ Peet, Baby Simms-Peet, Jeremy Wilmot, Ian Beckley, and Paris Henken, they had a satisfying day on the water with a beautiful 2-5-2 daily scoreline.
As for the 14-strong Corinthian division, they kept right in step with the top half of the fleet. Two all-amateur teams close out the top ten — Dan Berezin’s Surprise in ninth and Mike Dow on Flying Toaster in tenth. LGYC Commodore Chuck Lamphere on Entente is twelfth overall, finishing the day as third Corinthian.
Disappointingly, for overnight Corinthian leader Brent McKenzie sailing X-Kahn, a combination of boat damage and an equipment failure have taken him out of the remainder of the regatta.
Hard knocks came and went quickly for Tony Stanley’s Hermes and John Shockey’s Wombmates Racing, but both bounced back nicely to participate and score well in Race Six.
Another notable Corinthian team is the all-amateur, youth team from Dillon, Colorado that are focussed on going fast and having fun. “This was such a blast today,” said Joss Quarantillo racing Cannonball along with fellow youth crew members Ruth Bergman, Canyon Caperton and Harbor Scheuermann. “We had a lot of fun. Our favorite part was going fast — 15.5 downwind was awesome! Tomorrow is going to be a lighter, but we are having fun and going to try and focus on going fast.”
Sunday is the final day of racing. Two races are scheduled with a start time of 1000. Conditions are expected to be a little bit lighter than today, still tricky racing with it coming more out of the west-northwest.
OVERALL TOP FIVE (Preliminary, After 6 Races, 1 Discard)
1.) Brian Porter, Full Throttle; [6]-3-2-1-1-3 = 10
2.) Bora Gulari, Knocky Knocky; 1-2-1-[5]-4-6 = 13
3.) Eddie Cox, Zenda Express; 4-[7]-3-3-2-1 = 13
4.) Geoff Fargo, Sentinel; 2-1-5-8-3-[10] = 19
5.) Chelsea Simms, Straightarrow; 9-4-[10]-2-5-2 = 22
CORINTHIAN TOP FIVE (Preliminary, After 6 Races, 1 Discard)
1.) Dan Berezin, Surprise; [30/DSQ]-10-11-6-7-14 = 48
2.) Mike Dow, Flying Toaster; 11-8-[20]-10-11-19 = 59
3.) Chuck Lamphere, Entente; [20]-15-6-13-15 = 65
4.) Jamie Torres, Smile and Wave; 13-11-14-18-[23]-11 = 67
5.) Tony Stanley, Hermes; 19-12-12-[30/DNS]-12-12 = 67
Full Results
Photo Gallery
QUANTUM SAILS: LOCAL KNOWLEDGE & DAILY WEATHER BRIEFINGS
2023 U.S. Melges 24 National Championship sponsor Quantum Sails will be hosting daily weather briefings on Zoom. Each day, Shea Gibson from Sailflow Weather will lead interactive forecasts. He will be joined by Andy Burdick from Melges, with Scott Nixon and Dave Gerber from Quantum Sails for local knowledge and expert tips. It’s a great opportunity for teams to ask questions and prepare for the day! Register Now.
Day 2 / Weather Briefing and Local Knowledge
Day 1 / Weather Briefing and Local Knowledge
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ABOUT THE MELGES 24
The Melges 24 is best known for its competitive disposition, yet fun and easy-to-sail personality. Since its inception, it remains the leader in high-performance, one design sailing. Melges Performance Sailboats joined forces with Reichel/Pugh to deliver the ground-breaking Melges 24 in 1993. They pioneered the next frontier of competitive yacht racing by integrating high-tech materials and concepts used in the America’s Cup into a sportboat that was fun, affordable, easy to rig, set-up and tow. Named Boat of the Year in 1994 by Sailing World Magazine, it raised the bar and set the standard in the performance keelboat category. For delivery and purchasing a new Melges 24, visit melges.com.
ABOUT QUANTUM SAILS
At Quantum, we’re connected to sailors everywhere through our love of sailing and our belief that facing every challenge head-on is infinitely rewarding. As a company and as individuals, we embrace every single challenge you bring our way as our own. Since 1996, we have focused on providing the best-performing products in sailing. Today, we’re equally relentless about delivering a higher standard of service, customer care, education, support and mentorship. It’s how we’ll continue to help sailors at all levels pursue their passions and achieve their aspirations. Our commitment starts with our dedicated employees at more than 80 sail lofts around the world and includes hundreds more working behind the scenes to design, build and service Quantum® sails, quantumsails.com
ABOUT THE U.S. MELGES 24 NATIONAL RANKING SERIES
Organized and managed by the U.S. Melges 24 Class Association (USM24CA), the National Ranking Series (USM24NRS) features a total of eleven high-profile, world-class events happening across the U.S. Specifically, the Series is designed to promote participation across all six districts that make up the U.S. Melges 24 Class. To learn more about the USM24NRS, visit the Official U.S. Melges 24 National Ranking Series Website for a full list of events, results and news. The USM24CA is a recognized national class authority of the International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA), melges24.com.
For media photos (web and/or high resolution) or specific information about the U.S. Melges 24 Class or the 2023 Nationals, please contact:
Joy Dunigan
U.S. Melges 24 Class Association Press Officer
Mobile: +1 (912) 398-5776