STUNNING CONDITIONS PREVAIL ON DAY THREE

The Race Committee successfully ran three Round Robin races on each of the two courses so that five of the 12 scheduled races have now been completed. One more Round Robin race remains to be sailed tomorrow before the fleet is divided into Gold and Silver groups for the final six races of the championship.

In the overall standings, scores are incredibly close. Italy’s Alberto Bolzan, helming ITA727 Pilot Italia for Gianni Catalogna, continues to lead the regatta by seven points, having added a 3-1-7 to his 2-1 scoreline from Sunday and making his team the only one with finishes all in the top-ten. "The mood of the crew is high," Bolzan said. "Not making mistakes and keeping concentration high are necessary in the conditions. Today it was a positive day. The only mistake was at the start of the third race, since we were not in a good position; then we recovered and were able to finish seventh".

Lorenzo Bressani, helming ITA715 Uka Uka Racing for Lorenzo Santini, has leapt up the board from ninth place to second thanks to putting in the day’s most consistent score of 1-2-2, giving him 21 points overall. "Finally a great day!," said Bressani. "It has been the wind that we waited for--the so much expected Mistral. We are very satisfied about today's results. A little bit of regret for the second race where we lost Nicola Celon a few metres from the finish line. The Championship is still long, and we are not even half way through, so it isn't time of the budgetary [balance-sheet]!"

Flavio Favini, helming SUI521 Blu Moon for Franco Rossini, also had a great day, posting a 6-3 and then winning the final race to move up from eighth into third overall, five points behind Bressani. "We actually had a good day," said Favini. "We had one bump which was on the spinnaker take-down. It was my fault as I called for the take-down too late. I made a mistake, but other than that it was good. The conditions…this is what we are here for. I think if it were to blow more than this, it turns into survival [rather] than racing. For Sardinia, this was perfect. For tomorrow and the next day, we take it each race at a time."

Chicago’s Brian Porter and his USA649 Full Throttle team got the day off to a good start with a second in race three, but a 13th in race four and an eighth in race five saw them slip from third to fourth overall. Switzerland’s Jean-Marc Monnard, in SUI599 Poizon Rouge, trails Porter by just one point in fifth place, while Italy’s Luca Valerio, helming ITA722 Alina Helly Hansen, lies sixth and will be eager for the discard to come into play after tomorrow’s sixth race, as his score card currently reads 1-30-1-2-3. Valerio had clearly enjoyed his day, saying, "The wind has arrived and we are quite happy about that. We sail best in these conditions, so we hope it continues. If tomorrow is like what it was today, then we hope to do well with the same strategy."

In the Corinthian Division, for the all-amateur crews who are also scored in the Open Division, Norway’s Oyvind Peder Jahre, sailing NOR554 Terra Eindomsmeglng for Stian Briseid, continues to lead the regatta, having won the first two of today’s races and come fourth in race five. He is just four points ahead of Giovanni Pizzatti, helming ITA664 for Gian Luca Perego, who has moved up to second place while Jean-Francois Cruette, sailing FRA612 Bouygues Telecom for Cedrid De Kervenoael, remains in third place. Estonia’s Tonu Toniste, sailing EST646 Lenny, is now lying fourth, with Bruce Ayres of Newport Beach, CA, on USA637 Monsoon, in fifth and on equal points with Antoine Albaret of GRA261 Perros-Guirec.

For Roberto Martinez and the team aboard Carla Ubertalli’s ITA-574 Online-Sim Firebolt, today brought an unwelcome surprise. They were battling for the lead and in second place on the last run of race four, when their boat speed suddenly dropped from 15 knots to 3. They had struck a basking sunfish with their keel, and as a result had to drop the spinnaker and main in an effort to free themselves. After almost three minutes of removing the fish from the keel, they’d dropped nearly 20 places but managed to pull back to14th by the finish.

Germany’s Kicker Schafer, helming GER582 No Woman No Cry for Eddy Eich, was also unlucky today when the boat lost its rig during race four. After sailing Eddy Eich admitted, “It was just a boat handling error, nothing else.” Fortunately, European Melges 24 builder Devoti Sailing is on hand with spare masts, and already a replacement tube is being prepared.

For tomorrow, the Race Committee has scheduled racing an hour earlier, for 10.30am. This is to give them additional time to run the final race of the Round Robin, then bring the competitors back ashore to hear any protests and announce the Gold and Silver fleet allocations before returning afloat as soon as possible to run races seven and (if conditions and time allow) eight. Tomorrow’s forecast is for more good winds, possibly a little stronger than today and clocking slightly to the north.

The Melges 24 is designed by Reichel Pugh (www.reichel-pugh.com) and considered the most unique one-design sport boat in the world as well as one of the fastest-growing classes of high performance yachts.

Volvo Melges 24 World Championship 2008
Summary Results as of 03-06-08 at 20:25
1. PILOT ITALIA Alberto Bolzan Gianni Catalogna, ITA, 2,1,3,1,7, 14.00
2. UKA UKA RACING Lorenzo Bressani Lorenzo Santini, ITA, 10,6,1,2,2, 21.00
3. BLU MOON Flavio Favini Franco Rossini, SUI, 11,5,6,3,1, 26.00
4. FULL THROTTLE Brian Porter Brian Porter, (Chicago, Ill./Geneva, Wis.) USA, 5,3,2,13,8, 31.00
5. POIZON ROUGE Jean Jean-Marc Monnard, SUI, 3,5,10,9,5, 32.00
6. ALINA HELLY HANSEN Luca Valerio Maurizio Abba, ITA, 1,30,1,2,3, 37.00
7. BRONTOLO AB MEDICA Matteo Ivaldi Filippo Pacinotti, ITA, 6,13,9,5,6, 39.00
8. COTES D'ARMOR Ronan Dreano Troel Simon, FRA, 2,9,4,20,7, 42.00
9. GULLISARA Carlo Fracassoli Comerio Giuseppe, ITA, 3,20,12,7,5, 47.00
10. EURO-VOILE Christophe Barrue Denis Infante, FRA, 16,10,10,5,8, 49.00