What a Championship for Maidollis, Crowned 2018 Melges 24 European Champion

Sometimes the results just speak for themselves: with an impressive scoreline of 1-1-7-4-7-1-1-3-9-DNC, never going out of the top ten in a fleet of 72 boats, and with one race to spare, the Italian crew of Maidollis (ITA854, 3-9-DNC today) by owner Gian Luca Perego, with Carlo Fracassoli at helm, Enrico Fonda calling tactics, Stefano Lagi and Matteo Ramian, is crowned 2018 Melges 24 European Champion. The Italians, already winners of the World Championship in Helsinki 2017, succeed in the golden book to Chris Rast's EFG Sailing Team, winner in Hyeres 2016.

Second place is for another Italian crew, under the spotlight since the very first day of the Championship, Caipirinha Jr. (ITA633, 5-7-9): with Matteo Ivaldi - at his great return in the Melges 24 Class after the Europeans of 2016 where he was helming and calling tactics at the same time on board Marrakech Express - and Gabriele Benussi as tactician, the crew fought tack after tack in the last day with American entry Lucky Dog / Gill Race Team (USA749, 11-2-2) with Travis Weisleder in helm and Mike Buckley at tactics, that eventually closed the event in third position.  
Interview with Gianluca Perego and Enrico Fonda
 
It slips off the podium, for just 5 points and despite the great performances of today, the boat of the reigning World Champions onboard Altea (ITA722, 1-1-10) with Andrea Racchelli doing helm and tactics. The top five is completed by War Canoe (USA841, 16-2-4) by Mike Goldfarb with Morten Henriksen calling the tactics. 
 
The Italian flag flies also on top of the Corinthian podium, exactly as it was in Helsinki 2017: the winner was determined only in the final leg of the last race of the series, where the duel between Taki 4 (ITA778, 25-10-16) and Tõnu Tõniste's Lenny (EST790, 12-38-3) was eventually solved with the Italians prevailing over the Estonian entry for only 6 points. 
 
The crew by Marco Zammarchi, with Niccolò Bertola in helm, Giacomo Fossati at tactics, Giovanni Bannetta and Lorenzo Piccioni, after having won the Melges 24 Worlds in Miami 2016 and Helsinki 2017, gains its first European title. 
 
The Corinthian podium was completed by the Hungarian crew of Seven-Five-Nine (HUN759, 4-44-15) by Akos Csolto. 
 
The curtains then goes off on this epic edition of the Melges 24 European Championship: with 72 boats on the water, over 300 sailors involved and ten sailed races, the Melges 24 demonstrated, once again, that despite its 25 years of age, it is a boat that never gets old.

TOP 10 current ranking after ten races:
MAIDOLLISITA854 Carlo Fracassoli, Enrico Fonda, Gianluca Perego, Stefano Lagi, Matteo Ramian 1-1-7-4-7-1-1-3-9-(67-DNC) 34 p 
CAIPIRINHA JR ITA633 Matteo Ivaldi, Gabriele Benussi, Francesco Rubagotti, Vittorio Zaoli, Camilla Bert     5-(20)-8-1-1-3-14-5-7-9 53 p 
LUCKY DOG / GILL RACE TEAM USA749 Travis Weisleder, Mike Buckley, George Peet, John Bowden, Megan Ratliff 2-2-(12)-11-5-4-8-11-12- 57 p 
ALTEA ITA722 Andrea Racchelli, Gaudenzio Bonini, Alberto Verna, Michele Gregoratto, Federico Zampiccoli 9-(16)-2-16-4-13-6-1-1-1-10 62 p 
WAR CANOE USA841 Mike Goldfarb, Morten Henriksen, David Brink, Salvador Sanchez Rodriguez, Jonny Goldsberry (21)-5-6-7-2-8-12-16-2-4- 62 p 
COR   TAKI 4 ITA778 Niccolo Bertola, Giacomo Fossati, Giovanni Bannetta, Marco Zammarchi, Lorenzo Piccioni 7-7-9-3-11-(73 DSQ)-3-25-10-16 91 p 
COR   LENNY EST790 Tõnu Tõniste, Toomas Tõniste, Tammo Otsasoo, Maiki Saaring, Henri Tauts 27-11-13-10-6-11-4-12-(38)-3 97 p 
FGF SAILING TEAM HUN728 Robert Bakoczy, Domonkos Rozsnyay, Levente Takacsy, Bence Buza, Baldizsar Buza 14-3-17-20-3-16-15-(23)-17-5 110 p 
BLACK SEAL GBR822 Stefano Cherin, Nigel Young, Mike Claxton, Amy Harrington, Julie Tingle 3-12-24-15-(36)-7-10-28-6-14 119 p  
GENERAL LEE ITA793 Mario Ziliani, Lorenzo Tonini, Riccardo Tonini, Samuele Nicolettis, Angelo Bertoletti 12-8-11-29-22-12-11-7-13-(41) 12 p