Skip to content

8 Comments

  1. Peter Gustafsson
    Jul 24, 2011 @ 22:21

    2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship

    Favini Dominates But Fracassoli Leads
    After Three Exciting Races On Day 1

    Aarhus, Denmark July 24 – The 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship hosted by the Aarhus Sailing Club in Denmark got underway in spectacular style with 3 breezy races on Day 1. Flavio Favini on SUI 782 Blu Moon dominated the racing on the water, winning the first two races in some style and finishing first in the third race of the day, only to find that he had been called OCS at the start. As a consequence Favini languishes in 27th place at the end of tonight. An impressively consistent 2,3,1 scoreline from Carlo Fracassoli on ITA 803 Gullisara sees in him top the leaderboard, with a 12 point advantage over fellow countryman Andrea Raccheli on ITA 735 Altea, who chalked up a 4,2,12 tally for the day. With a 11,7,2 score for the day, yet another Italian, Alberto Bolzan on ITA 716 Saetta, holds the final podium place after the first 3 races.

    Leading the all amateur Corinthian Division and lying in fourth place in the overall standings is Estonian Tonu Toniste on EST 790 Lenny. Toniste holds a slender 1 point Corinthian margin over Norway’s Oyvind Peder Jahre on NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing, who is also well placed in the overall fleet, lying in eighth place tonight. Rounding out the Corinthian Division top 3 at the end of Day 1 is Estonia’s Tiit Vihul on EST 761 Rock City.

    With a solid 13 – 15 knot breeze blowing out on the racecourse from early morning, racing on Day 1 of the Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship got underway bang on time. John-Christian Eriksson on SWE 532 TAR – Team Aqua Racing blitzed off the startline to lead the fleet at the first windward mark, from Flavio Favini on SUI 782 Blu Moon in second and Peder Nergaard on NOR 787 Blow – Henri Lloyd in third. By the leeward gate Favini was pushing hard for the lead and by the second windward mark he had taken a firm control of the race. With the wind increasing to 16 – 18 knots, on the final run leg Favini and the Blu Moon turned on the afterburners and gave the fleet a masterclass in high speed downwind Melges 24 sailing. At the finish they took the gun by nearly a minute from second placed Carlo Fracassoli on ITA 803 Gullisara, who had also opened up a significant lead on third placed Eriksson who came home comfortably in third.

    The breeze had increased a little more by the second race of the day which, got away at the second time of asking after an initial general recall. At the windward mark, Fracassoli led, with Favini in second and Nergaard in third. As the breeze began to flick around a little, the first downwind leg was all about staying in the maximum pressure. Favini sailed another great leg to take the lead, rounding the leeward gate ahead of Andrea Racchlli on ITA 735 Altea who had leapfrogged up into second, ahead of Nergaard in third. Favini and Racchelli remained unchallenged for the rest of the race to take first and second respectively, with Fracassoli making a remarkable comeback from ninth at the leeward gate to take third by the finish.

    Taking full advantage of the still freshening breeze Principal Race Officer Hank Stuart, rolled almost immediately into the start of the third and final race of the day. A General Recall on the first attempt resulted in the second start getting away under I & Z penalty flags. Six boats were called OCS with two failing to return, including Favini. At the top mark the leader was Oyvind Peder Jahre on NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing, with Nergaard in second, Favini in third and Fracassoli in close behind in fourth. By the bottom of the run Jahre still led, but behind him was a full on battle for second place between Fracassoli, Favini and Alberto Bolzan on ITA 716 Saetta. By the second weather mark Favini had hit the front yet again, with Fracassoli winning the scramble for second ahead of Jahre in third. With Favini and Fracassoli cruising to first and second respectively at the finish, Jahre had to nurse his boat downwind having broken the backstay rounding the second windward mark. Remarkably, despite having to sail almost dead downwind with the boom sheeted hard in the middle of the boat in order to keep the mast up, Jahre allowed only Christoffer Sunby on NOR 752 Aloha past him. At the line Sunby took third and a relieved Jahre fourth.

    So, at the end of Day 1 of the Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship and with three races completed, Carlo Fracassoli on ITA 803 leads the championship with a total of 6 points. Second overall is Andrea Racchelli ITA 735 Altea with 18 points. Two points behind in third is Alberto Bolzan on ITA 716 Saetta. Leading the all amateur Corinthian Division is Tonu Toniste on EST 790 Lenny, who also lies in fourth place in the overall standings. One Corinthian point behind in second is Oyvind Peder Jahre on Storm Capital Sail Racing who also sits in 8th overall, with the final Corinthian podium place at the end of Day 1 going to Tiit Vihul on EST 761 Rock City, who also holds 9th overall. Racing continues tomorrow 25th July with two more races scheduled and a forecast of lighter conditions for the second day of the Championship.

    Results after 3 Races

    Overall

    1st Carlo Fracassoli ITA 803 Gullisara 2,3,1 = 6
    2nd Andrea Racchelli ITA 735 Altea 4,2,12 = 18
    3rd Alberto Bolzan ITA 716 Saetta 11,7,2 = 20
    4th Tonu Toniste EST 790 LENNY 6,17,7 = 30
    5th Kan Yamada JPN 809 Bros. 10,15,6 = 31

    Corinthian Division:

    1st Tonu Toniste EST 790 Lenny 2,4,2, = 8
    2nd Oyvind Peder Jahre NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing 7,1,1, = 9
    3rd Tiit Vihul EST 761 Rock City 1,8,6, = 15
    4th AUT 681 Franz Urlesberger Schoenherr 11,2,3 = 16
    5th Jonas Berntsson SWE 666 Miss Devil Jonas Berntsson 9,3,4 = 16

    Reply

  2. Peter Gustafsson
    Jul 25, 2011 @ 19:49

    2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship

    Lack Of Breeze Means No Racing On Day 2

    Aarhus, Denmark July 25 – Despite the presence of an encouraging 6 – 8 knot breeze on the racecourse early on the morning of Day 2 of the 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship, sadly by the time the 80 boat international fleet had arrived at the starting area, the wind had faded a little and was becoming increasingly unstable. After an initial General Recall on the first attempt to start the fourth race of the championship series, Principal Race Officer Hank Stuart was forced to AP the following attempt when the wind dropped below 4 knots. Over the next few hours, this pattern was repeated several times as the recalcitrant breeze continued to spring up and frustratingly die away again.

    After no less than 8 stymied attempts to get racing underway, Stuart finally had to reluctantly admit defeat soon after 2.00 PM and post flags AP over A to abandon racing for the day and send the fleet ashore. “It was a frustrating day for sure.” commented Stuart. “Several times the breeze looked as if it had filled in consistently across the course, but the moment we tried to get a race away, the wind data from the mark boats would start to come in with widely varying directions and strengths and we would have to go to AP. It’s disappointing for the sailors not to race, but this is a European Championship and we want to be able to lay on good fair races.”

    Back ashore, the competitors appeared understanding and appreciative of the efforts to Race Committee. Geoff Carveth, helmsman on GBR 654 Gill Race Team, said that he believed the committee had done everything they could. “At least we all got plenty of starting practise today. Shame is that we got some of our best starts of the regatta in the races that never happened!”

    Racing at the Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship continues tomorrow Tuesday 26 July, with forecasts for Day 3 offering the hope of warmer and sunnier conditions, but unfortunately more light winds are expected too. Day 1 Press Release Correction: We would like to apologise for an error in the Day 1 Press Release when we incorrectly attributed third place in Race 3 to Christoffer Sunby on NOR 752. In fact, third place in that race went to Petr Fiala on CZE 752 Aloha. Sorry for the confusion and our thanks to Petr and the Aloha crew for taking the mistake in such good spirit.

    Results after 3 Races

    Overall

    1st Carlo Fracassoli ITA 803 Gullisara 2,3,1 = 6
    2nd Andrea Racchelli ITA 735 Altea 4,2,12 = 18
    3rd Alberto Bolzan ITA 716 Saetta 11,7,2 = 20
    4th Tonu Toniste EST 790 LENNY 6,17,7 = 30
    5th Kan Yamada JPN 809 Bros. 10,15,6 = 31

    Corinthian Division:

    1st Tonu Toniste EST 790 Lenny 2,4,2, = 8
    2nd Oyvind Peder Jahre NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing 7,1,1, = 9
    3rd Tiit Vihul EST 761 Rock City 1,8,6, = 15
    4th Franz Urlesberger AUT 681 Schoenherr 11,2,3 = 16

    Reply

  3. Peter Gustafsson
    Jul 26, 2011 @ 09:44

    Nu har jag bytt bildspel ovan, så nu finns det bilder från dag 1.

    Reply

  4. Peter Gustafsson
    Jul 26, 2011 @ 22:53

    2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship

    Fracassoli Consolidates At The Top
    After Two Races On Day 3

    Aarhus, Denmark July 26 – Day 3 of the 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship saw the weather gods eventually deign to smile upon the 80 international teams competing at the regatta in Aarhus, Denmark. Initially cloudy skies produced windless conditions for most of the morning, forcing a two hour postponement ashore. Around midday however, the skies cleared and very soon after a solid 5 – 6 knot breeze filled in across the bay, allowing the fleet to take to the water and complete two excellent races.

    A third and an eighth from championship leader Carlo Fracassoli on ITA 803 ‘Gullisara’ saw him extend his advantage at the top to 22 points. Despite only managing a thirteenth and a sixth today, Alberto Bolzan on ITA 716 Saetta, nevertheless moved up into second place overall, leapfrogging over Andrea Racchelli on ITA 735 Altea, whose 8,14, score for the day drops him to third tonight.

    By far the best performance today came from Petr Fiala on CZE 752 Aloha who won the first race in some style and followed up with a third in the next race, moving him up to fourth in the overall standings. A lacklustre (by his standards) 16,11, scoreline from Tonu Toniste on EST 790 Lenny sees him drop one place to fifth overall.

    Toniste’s Lenny crew remain as the leading Corinthian team and have extended their advantage in that division to 5 points over Tiit Vihul on EST 761 Rock City in second. Vihul has also moved up on place in the overall standings and now sits in eighth. The second race of the day saw Corinthian teams fill the top two places in the main fleet, with Oyvind Peder Jahre on NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing taking a comprehensive win, ahead of Nicolai Thorsell on DEN 426 Sonich. Jahre now lies in third in the Corinthian Division and tenth in the main fleet.

    The first race of Day 3 at the 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship saw a consummate performance by Petr Fiala on CZE 752 Aloha, who led from start to finish take a comfortable race win, ahead of Peter Saraskin on EST 791 Zuxu. Third home and consolidating his championship lead was Carlo Fracassoli on ITA 803 ‘Gullisara’. Finding more familiar front of the fleet form for the first time at this event, Christophe Barrue on FRA 639 Euro-Voiles came home in fourth, ahead of International Melges 24 Class Chairman Ricardo Simoneschi on ITA 819 Audi in fifth. Winner of the first two races of the regatta before an OCS in Race 3 had dropped him well outside the top twenty, Flavio Favini on SUI 782 Blu Moon, had to claw his way back from a windward mark rounding in the teens to keep his championship hopes alive with a seventh place.

    With the breeze now consistently touching 10 knots, the Race Committee rolled quickly into the second race of the day, which got away first time under an I & Z Flag combination. Proving the quality of the 30-strong, all-amateur Corinthian fleet at this championship, this race was dominated from start to finish by two Corinthian teams. Past World and European Melges 24 Champion Oyvind Peder Jahre on NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing is no stranger to the front of the overall fleet at major Melges 24 events, and he was always in total control throughout this race. Also showing considerable calmness and poise during this race was fellow Corinthian Nicolai Thorsell on DEN 426 Sonich, who appeared have no problems closing out his second place. Rounding out an impressive boat of the day performance, a clearly delighted Petr Fiala came home in third, ahead of Kristoffer Spone on NOR 400 Baghdad, who chalked up his best result in the regatta so far with a fourth.

    In the all-amateur Corinthian Division, series leader Tonu Toniste on EST 790 Lenny, consolidated his lead in the Corinthian Championship with a 5,4 Corinthian score. By way of a Corinthian win in the first race and a sixth in the second race, Tiit Vihul on EST 761 Rock City moved up one place to sit in second in the Corinthian standings. Despite picking up a Z-Flag penalty in the first race, a main fleet and Corinthian win in the second race puts Oyvind Peder Jahre on NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing in Corinthian third overall at the end of Day 3.

    Racing at the Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship continues tomorrow Wednesday 27th July with two more races scheduled and an expected continuation to the lightish conditions. Several top teams are nursing at least one high score at this point and the introduction of the series discard after the first race tomorrow may make a difference to the upper echelon of the leaderboard.

    Results after 5 Races

    Overall

    1st Carlo Fracassoli ITA 803 Gullisara 17 points
    2nd Alberto Bolzan ITA 716 Saetta 39 points
    3rd Andrea Racchelli ITA 735 Altea 40 points
    4th Petr Fiala CZE 752 Aloha 41 points
    5th Tonu Toniste EST 790 LENNY 57 points

    Corinthian Division:

    1st Tonu Toniste EST 790 Lenny 17 points
    2nd Tiit Vihul EST 761 Rock City 22 points
    3rd Oyvind Peder Jahre NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing 23 points

    Reply

  5. Peter Gustafsson
    Jul 27, 2011 @ 21:50

    2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship

    Fracassoli Within Touching Distance Of Glory On Penultimate Day

    Aarhus, Denmark July 27 – The penultimate day of the Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship in Aarhus, Denmark, saw three excellent races sailed in light but predominantly consistent breezes ranging from 5 – 9 knots. With just two more races scheduled to be sailed on the final day, and having led this regatta throughout, Carlo Fracassoli on ITA 803 Gullisara today put himself within touching distance of overall victory. After securing a comfortable victory in the first race of the day, Fracassoli stumbled a little with a thirteenth in the next race, but came back strongly with a second place in the third and final race of the day. Despite chalking up an impressive 2,1, scoreline in the first two races today, Alberto Bolzan on ITA 716 Saetta crashed to a twentieth place in the third race, leaving him still in second tonight, but now 22 points adrift of Fracassoli. The introduction of the discard after the first race today enabled Flavio Favini on SUI 782 Blu Moon to get rid of the OCS score he picked up on the first day, and he sits in third place tonight after turning in a disappointing 4,11,14 scoreline from today’ racing. In the all amateur Corinthian Division, Tonu Toniste’s 1,4,1 Corinthian string of results on EST 790 Lenny keeps him at the top of the Corinthian leaderboard, with a 7 point advantage over Oyvind Peder Jahre on NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing in second. Just 3 points behind in Corinthian third place tonight lies Tiit Vihul on EST 761 Rock City.

    After a delay of two hours ashore to enable the local sea breeze to begin to establish itself, Race 6 of the championship got away cleanly at the first time of asking in around 6 knots of breeze. At the first windward mark there was little between the top few boats with Carlo Fracassoli on ITA 803 Gullisara and Kicker Schafer on GER 582 No Woman No Cry leading the pack at the beginning of the first run. These two boats were still in front at the gate with Kristoffer Spone on DEN 400 Baghdad moving up to third. Fracassoli, Schafer and Spone slugged it out up the second beat with the leading pack compressing but with no change to the order of the top 3. The final run was a patchy affair, with the priorities being to stay in the pressure and keep a clear lane. With Schafer falling out of contention, Alberto Bolzan on ITA 716 Saetta sailed a great leg to overtake Spone and take second at the finish behind Fracassoli.

    The first beat of Race 7 saw Fracassoli, Spone, Flavio Favini on SUI 782 Blu Moon and Petr Fiala on CZE 752 Aloha all in close contention for the lead at the halfway point. At the windward mark however a series of oscillating windshifts saw Soren Ebdrup on DEN 823 North / Action lead around, ahead of Fiala in second and Kim Haugaard on DEN 409 Fregatten Fyn in third. By the leeward gate Fiala had clawed his way past Ebdrup to take the lead, with Haugaard hanging on to third, ahead of Bolzan in fourth. On the final beat Bolzan picked every shift to perfection to round the second top mark in the lead. Fiala rounded second with Haugaard in third. With these three keeping a close eye on each other on the final run, there were no further place changes before the finish, with Bolzan taking the gun, Fiala second and Haugaard third.

    The breeze had picked up a little for the final race but the downside was that it had lost some of its stability and big shift to the right soon after the start caught several top teams out on the left of the course. Making the most sense of the shifty conditions was Michael Hestbaek on ITA 766 Arteria 24ever who rounded the top mark in the lead, ahead of Ben Koppelaar on NED 765 Peak in second and Christophe Barrue on FRA 639 Euro Voiles in third. On the first downwind leg Carl Akerson on SWE 508 Sitting Duck kept his breeze clear enough to ease past Koppelaar and Barrue and round the gate in second behind Hestbaek. The second beat saw regatta leader Fracassoli push the turbo button, moving from sixth at the gate to second, close behind Hestbaek at the final top mark. These two were locked together for the entire last downwind leg, but despite of all Fracassoli’s best moves, Hestbaek held his nerve to take a well winner’s gun, ahead of Fracassoli in second and Koppelaar in third.

    With a 22 point lead and just two more races left in the schedule for the final day of the championship tomorrow, the remarkably consistent Fracassoli is now looking all but invincible. The battle for second place is a much closer one however, with Bolzan holding a tenuous single point advantage over Flavio Favini on SUI 782 Blu Moon. Fourth going into the final day is Fiala who is 18 points clear of Tonu Toniste on EST 790 Lenny in fifth.

    Back ashore the crews relaxed in the afternoon sunshine at a post racing Oysters and Beer party thrown by the Dutch Melges 24 Class who will host the next Melges 24 European Championship in 2013 in Medemblik.

    Results after 5 Races

    Overall

    1st Carlo Fracassoli ITA 803 Gullisara 20 points
    2nd Alberto Bolzan ITA 716 Saetta 42 points
    3rd SUI 782 Flavio Favini Blu Moon 43 points
    4th Petr Fiala CZE 752 Aloha 50 points
    5th Tonu Toniste EST 790 Lenny 68 points

    Corinthian Division:

    1st Tonu Toniste EST 790 Lenny 18 points
    2nd Tiit Vihul EST 761 Rock City 25 points
    3rd Oyvind Peder Jahre NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing 28 points

    Reply

  6. Peter Gustafsson
    Jul 28, 2011 @ 19:31

    2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship

    Fracassoli Crowned European Champion

    Toniste Wins Corinthian Division

    Aarhus, Denmark July 28 – Day 5 of the 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship saw the regatta series come to a close with the final two races completed in breezes ranging from 6 – 10 knots. Overnight leader Carlo Fracassoli on ITA 803 Gullisara, who went into the day with a 22 point advantage, finished the regatta in style with a hard fought win in the first race of the day. Fracassoli’s race win initially appeared far from assured however. Rounding the first windward mark in sixth place he clawed his way up to third by the leeward gate before playing the shifty second beat to perfection to take the lead at the second windward mark. Once in front he was totally in control and on the final run to the finish he cruised home to take his third race win of the championship. This result sealed Fracassoli’s championship victory with a race to spare and unsurprisingly he and his Italian crew immediately headed for the harbour to begin their victory celebrations.

    Meanwhile the battle for the order of the remaining podium positions was still a close one. Flavio Favini on SUI 782 Blu Moon had gone into the final day in third place, just a single point behind second placed Alberto Bolzan on ITA 716 Saetta. A sixth in the first race for Favini with Bolzan two places back in eighth, handed the advantage to Favini and set up an exciting final race showdown. With Christoffer Sunby on NOR 697 on his way to a comfortable race win, the first windward mark of the 5 leg last race saw Favini and Bolzan locked together in sixth and seventh place, with Favini ahead and keeping a close cover on Bolzan on the first downwind leg. By the first leeward gate however, Bolzan had sneaked through to third with Favini now back in fifth. On a somewhat one sided second beat the roles were reversed, with Favini moving up to third and Bolzan dropping to seventh. The final beat presented few opportunities for changing places and Favini was able to finish in third to secure second place overall. Bolzan came home in sixth to claim the final overall podium position.

    A final day 9,6 scoreline from Petr Fiala on CZE 716 Aloha enabled him to lock down the fourth place which he had looked good for all week. Fiala and his young crew on Aloha had impressed a lot of people with their speed and boat handling during this championship and for sure this is a team with great potential for the future. Having lain in second place early on in this championship, Andrea Racchelli on ITA 735 Altea hit a sticky patch in the middle of the series which dropped him out of contention for the podium. An 11,5 score today however, brought them back up to fifth in the overall standings.

    Despite a difficult final day which tumbled him 3 places in the main fleet order to eighth overall, Tonu Toniste on EST 790 Lenny, was ultimately able to able to maintain his advantage over Oyvind Peder Jahre on NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing in the all amateur Corinthian Division. Jahre certainly took the fight to Toniste in the first race today, chalking up a second in the overall fleet as well as a Corinthian race win, whilst Toniste only managed Corinthian twelfth. The final race saw the two Corinthian leaders finish deep in the main fleet, with Toniste 4 places ahead, closing out his Corinthian Melges 24 European Championship victory. A lacklustre performance compared to normal on the last day saw Tiit Vihul on EST 761 Rock City unable to challenge either Jahre or Toniste, but it was still good enough for him to lock down third in the final Corinthian standings.

    International Melges 24 Class Chairman Riccardo Simoneschi, who finished the regatta in seventh place aboard ITA 819 Audi, had this to say about the success of this year’s European Championship. “With 80 boats from 16 nations competing this week, the size and the quality of fleet here in Aarhus is a real testimony to the strength of the Melges 24 Class. It is also encouraging to see so many Corinthians and young teams racing here this week. For sure the standard of racing was fantastic and confirms my belief that this class has the highest quality racing outside of the Olympics.

    The 2012 Melges 24 World Championship will take place in Italy and the 2012 North American Championship will take place in San Francisco, CA. More details at http://www.melges24.com

    Final Results after 10 Races

    Overall

    1st Carlo Fracassoli ITA 803 Gullisara 34 points
    2nd Flavio Favini SUI 782 Blu Moon 52 points
    3rd Alberto Bolzan ITA 716 Saetta 56 points
    4th Petr Fiala CZE 752 Aloha 66 points
    5th Andrea Racchelli ITA 735 91 points

    Corinthian Division:

    1st Tonu Toniste EST 790 Lenny 29 points
    2nd Oyvind Peder Jahre NOR 751 Storm Capital Sail Racing 33 points
    3rd Tiit Vihul EST 761 Rock City 48 points

    Reply

  7. L-B Gustafsson
    Jul 29, 2011 @ 09:08

    Ingen resultatmässig succé för de skandinaviska båtarna.

    Reply

  8. Johan
    Jul 29, 2011 @ 14:03

    En fjärdeplats är väl inte så dåligt för Berntsson & Co…
    Kul med JVM-Guld i en OS-klass till Sverige i går också.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.