Melges 24: Day Two brings Altea to the top in Portoroz, Slovenia

September 08, 2021 - Portoroz, Slovenia - Melges 24 European Championship 2021, held in Portoroz thanks to the support of Marina Portoroz and organization of the Yacht Club Marina Portoroz in co-operation with the International Melges 24 Class Association, runs at full speed: after two days of racing, the ranking counts on six races and now, with the entry of the discard, the ranking took on a less unusual conformation than the one emerged at the end of the first tricky day.

Thanks to a solid performance Andrea Racchelli's Altea (2-3-10) is now leading the fleet with 11 points margin on Estonian crew of Tõnu Tõniste on Lenny (7-10-3), first hour overall leader of the event and still at top of the ranking of the very competitive Corinthian division.

The day was full of "number ones" for Michael Goldfarb's War Canoe (1-11-1), that interrupts two bullets with an eleventh, demonstrating some really good speed, almost the same one that he demonstrated in 2018, when he was the winner of the Melges 24 European Sailing Series in Portoroz.

The fourth position is still in the hands of Sergio Caramel's Arkanoé by Montura (4-20-13): a convincing performance, enhanced by the presence on board of two local experts, as well as former Olympians, Karlo Hmeljak and Vid Jeranko.

On the fifth spot of the ranking we find the second force of the Corinthians: Jonas Berntsson's SWE-715 (9-12-35), now tied on points with the guys of Miles Quinton's Gill Race Team (5-14-11), James Peters at helm.

Third in the Corinthian's group is Marco Zammarchi's Taki 4 (15-30-2) with Niccolo Bertola helming, that ended the day with a brilliant second overall.

Tomorrow racing will resume at 1 pm: weather conditions are expected like today, with some north westerly breeze blowing between 8 and 12 knots.

Races will resume on Thursday at 1 pm.

Comments from sailors:

Michael Goldfarb, War Canoe USA841: "After too long away from the boat we thought we started to settle in today and of course we had some good fortune as well. We appreciate all of the work of the race organizers and the race committee setting good courses in difficult conditions."

Peter Karrie, Nefeli GER673: "Today was much better day than yesterday, however, it was also very tricky, and we didn't understand few wind shifts. Winning Race Five made us happy coming back to the top. We are still learning how to sail here in Portoroz, but we are highly motivated, and now there should be a lucky part of the regatta for us. We will push hard for the next days.

TOP 10:
1. ALTEA ITA722 Andrea Racchelli 20p
2. LENNY EST790 (C) Tõnu Tõniste 31p
3. WAR CANOE USA841 Michael Goldfarb 34p
4. ARKANOE BY MONTURA ITA809 Sergio Caramèl 42p
5. SWE715 (C) Jonas Berntsson 47p
6. GILL RACE TEAM GBR694 Miles Quinton / James Peters 47p
7. STRAMBAPAPA ITA689 Michele Paoletti 51p
8. MELGINA ITA793 Paolo Brescia 51p
9. TAKI 4 ITA778 (C) Marco Zammarchi / Niccolo Bertola 52p
10. BLACK SEAL GBR822 Richard Thompson 52p