Melges 24 European Championship 2024, Jugo Wind Boosts to the Top of the Rankings

The 2024 Melges 24 European Championship, organized by the JK Split in collaboration with the International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA), saw a shift in leadership as the Jugo (South-East) wind provided challenging conditions. Ante Cesic's Razjaren (CRO, 1-5-2) now leads the provisional rankings.

Croatian team Razjaren’s strong starts pushed them past early leader Cuyler Morris’ Dark Horse (USA, 3-7-BFD) and Andrea Racchelli’s Altea (ITA, 7-1-1). The two teams were separated by just two points halfway through the championship.

“Today’s conditions were tough, but securing the lead is a great feeling, especially at home,” said Andela De Micheli Vitturi, Razjaren's bowman. She shared insights on their strong upwind performance and tricky downwind but emphasised consistency: “The key is to have good starts like we had today—perfect starts.”

Andrea Racchelli, sitting second overall, commented: “The feeling is fantastic! Today’s conditions were super for the Melges 24, and we felt strong out there, thanks to our experience with this boat. We’re really happy with our performance! The two bullets put us in a strong position, but we must stay focused.”

In third place is Universitas Nova (CRO, 6-3-5), helmed by Ivan Kljaković Gašpić, who consistently finished in the top group. Universitas Nova and Altea are the only ones not to finish outside the top ten.

Leading the Corinthian standings is Ante Botica’s Mataran 24 (CRO, 2-9-4), currently fifth overall, followed by Miles Quinton’s Zhik Race Team (GBR, 15-4-8)in seventh, and Michael Tarabochia’s White Room (GER, 9-12-3) rounding out the top three Corinthians.

Racing resumes on Thursday with three more races expected in similar conditions.

Today’s race winners:

Race 3: 

RAZJAREN (CRO 867) – Ante Cesic
Corinthian: MATARAN 24 (CRO 649) – Ante Botica
Race 4: 

ALTEA (ITA 722) – Andrea Racchelli
Corinthian: ZHIK RACE TEAM (GBR 694) – Geoff Carveth
Race 5:

ALTEA (ITA 722) – Andrea Racchelli
Corinthian: WHITE ROOM (GER 677) – Luis Tarabochia
Top 10 boats at the 2024 Melges 24 European Championship (after five races and one discard):

RAZJAREN (CRO 867) – Ante Cesic, 9 (1, [14], 1, 5, 2)
ALTEA (ITA 722) – Andrea Racchelli, 11 (5, 4, [7], 1, 1)
UNIVERSITAS NOVA (CRO 760) – Ivan Kljaković Gašpić, 17 (3, [8], 6, 3, 5)
DARK HORSE (USA 870) – Cuyler Morris, 18 (7, 1, 3, 7, [BFD])
MATARAN 24 (CRO 649) – Ante Botica, 18 (12, 3, 2, 9, 4)
MELGINA (ITA 854) – Paolo Brescia, 29 (17, 6, 4, 2, [RET])
ZHIK RACE TEAM (GBR 694) – Geoff Carveth, 33 (6, [18], 15, 4, 8)
PANJIC (CRO 739) – Luka Sangulin, 33 ([21], 16, 5, 6, 6)
CRO-A-SAIL (CRO 782) – Matija Reljanović, 35 (2, 11, [13], 11, 11)
WHITE ROOM (GER 677) – Luis Tarabochia, 36 ([42], 12, 9, 12, 3)
Top 3 Corinthian boats:

MATARAN 24 (CRO 649) – 18 
ZHIK RACE TEAM (GBR 694) – 33 
WHITE ROOM (GER 677) – 36