COMPETITION HEATS UP AFTER DAY FOUR

The day’s initial objective was met: to complete the sixth and final race of the Round Robin series, after which the competitors returned ashore to hear any protests and finalise the split into Gold and Silver Fleets for the remaining races of the series. The Race Committee had also hoped to get the fleet back out on the water in the late afternoon to complete race seven, but a strong, building wind of 22-25 knots with regular gusts of near 30 knots made it impossible.

With six of the possible 12 races now completed and a race discard in play, it all changed at the top of the leader board. Just ten points separate the top four boats, and the spread between first and tenth is only 23 points. Racing on both courses proved incredibly tough and thrillingly close, and spectators clung to the edge of their seats as the teams battled each other and the spectacular conditions.

With an extremely confident win on Course A, Luca Valerio, helming Maurizio Abba’s ITA722 Alina Helly Hansen, took the overall lead by just three points, with yesterday's leader, Alberto Bolzan, sailing ITA727 Pilot Italia for Gianni Catalogna, dropping to second place overall after coming fourth in the Course A race.

On Course B, Lorenzo Bressani and the ITA715 Uka Uka Racing team of Lorenzo Santini won their race and secured third place overall, just one point behind Bolzan and six points ahead of Flavio Favini, helming Franco Rossini’s SUI521 Blu Moon, who came third on course B.

"In the last two days we sailed very well," said Uka Uka Racing's team manager and trimmer Federico Michetti. "Today it entered the discard and Alina, which until yesterday was a little bit behind, discarded a 30th place and now heads up the provisional overall standing. Everything is still very open. The first 10 to 12 teams in the overall standings are all able to win. It'll depend on the weather and how many races it will be possible to do between tomorrow and Friday. We are one day later in respect to the schedule, and tomorrow it should still be a strong Mistral"

Nicola Bianchi and his team aboard ITA716 Saetta had a great day. Their second place on Course B was sufficient to move them up in the overall standings from eleventh to fifth place and onto equal points (24) with Nicola Celon of Giorgio Marchi’s ITA638 Marchingenio and Brian Porter on USA649 Full Throttle, who lie sixth and seventh, respectively, on count back. Celon and Porter both finished sixth on their respective courses.

The all-amateur Corinthian Division’s Bruce Ayres, sailing USA637 Monsoon, also gave the professionals a run for their money today. Ayres, a former Melges 24 Corinthian North American Champion, has been a familiar face at the front of Melges 24 fleets since the early days and revels in heavy airs. Today he took on Luca Valerio, Gabrio Zandona, helming ITA633 Joe Fly for Giovanni Maspero, and Alberto Bolzan in an incredible dog fight that was a joy to watch. Valerio had incredible speed and managed to open up a small lead on the run, which he extended on the last beat, but behind him Ayers, Zandona and Bolzan continued to go at it like cats. The professionals did everything they could to shake Ayres off on the final beat, but he hung in there tenaciously, eventually splitting Zandona and Bolzan on the line.

In the overall Corinthian standings, Oyvind Peder Jahr, helming NOR554 Terra Eindomsmeglng for Stian Briseid, scored a fourth place and continues to hold his overall lead by just one point over Jean-Francois Cruette and Cederic De Kervenoael’s FRA612 Bouygues Telecom, which won today’s course B Corinthian race and moved up from third to second. Giovanni Pizzatti, helming ITA664 Maidollis for Gian Luca Perego, has slipped to third overall after a slightly disappointing eighth place, while Bruce Ayres' "great day at the office" has moved him up from fifth to fourth. Tommaso Del Rio, helming SLO689 Riverstone for Alessandro Bagnoli, is now fifth Corinthian overall, while Estonia’s Tonu Toniste, EST646 Lenny, and Germany’s Rudolf Houdeck, GER731 Secret Men’s Business, are both on 21 points with Toniste taking sixth place on count back.

Although disappointed not to be back on the water for a second race this afternoon, the competitors unanimously agreed that the Race Officer’s decision was the right one. The weather forecast is for a steady 17-22 knots from the northwest tomorrow, reducing to 14-17 knots on Friday, so the fleet is hoping for two more days of great sailing. The Race Committee has already announced that racing will start early at 1030 tomorrow, giving them the best possible opportunity to complete three more races.

The Gold and Silver fleets have been decided, with the first 57 places overall assigned to the Gold division and places 58 through 114 assigned to the Silver division. The series continues until Friday when there is a final start time cut-off of 1500 hours. Six of the twelve scheduled races have now been completed.

Volvo Melges 24 World Championship 2008
Melges 24 - Summary Results - as of 04-06-08 at 14:45
1. ALINA HELLY HANSEN Luca Valerio Maurizio Abba, ITA,1,30,1,2,3,1, 8.00
2. PILOT ITALIA Alberto Bolzan Gianni Catalogna, ITA,2,1,3,1,7,4, 11.00
3. UKA UKA RACING Lorenzo Bressani Lorenzo Santini, ITA,10,6,1,2,2,1, 12.00
4. BLU MOON Flavio Favini Franco Rossini, SUI,11,5,6,3,1,3, 18.00
5. SAETTA Nicolo Bianchi Nose Sailing Team Ass. Sport, ITA,27,1,11,6,4,2, 24.00
6. MARCHINGENIO Nicola Celon Giorgio Marchi, ITA,7,50,7,1,3,6, 24.00
7. FULL THROTTLE Brian Porter Brian Porter, USA,5,3,2,13,8,6, 24.00
8. POIZON ROUGE Jean Jean-Marc Monnard, SUI,3,5,10,9,5,8, 30.00
9. ALTEA Andrea Racchelli Andrea Racchelli, ITA,36,7,2,3,4,15, 31.00
10. BRONTOLO AB MEDICA Matteo Ivaldi Filippo Pacinotti, ITA,6,13,9,5,6,5, 31.00

Corinthian Standings
1. TERRA EINDOMSMEGLNG Stian Briseid, NOR,4,1,1,1,4,3, 10.00
2. BOUYGUES TELECOM De Kervenoael, FRA,2,6,1,9,1,1, 11.00
3. MAIDOLLIS Gian Luca Perego, ITA,3,5,3,2,3,8, 16.00
4. MONSOON Bruce Ayres, USA,7,8,6,3,1,1, 18.00
5. RIVERSTONE Alessandro Bagnoli, SLO,1,21,13,2,2,2, 20.00
6. LENNY Tonu Toniste, EST,11,3,2,4,2,10, 21.00
7. SECRET MEN'S BUSINESS Houdek Rudolf, GER,3,4,5,7,7,2, 21.00
8. PERROS-GUIREC srPerros, FRA,8,1,6,6,4,12, 25.00
9. ROCAD RACING Ingemar Sundstedt, SWE,2,2,5,3,13,18, 25.00
10. FRANZ ROCKS Christoph Skolaut, AUT,1,22(OCS),18,6,5,3, 33.00