ARGO wins Melges 32 World Championship

Miami, FL (December 7, 2014) – The Melges 32 World Championship concluded its 5-day event (Dec. 3-7) with one final race today, concluding the 10-race series that attracted 17 teams from 8 countries. After taking the lead on day three, defending champion Jason Carroll and his Argo team stayed on top to claim their second title. Coached by Rod Davis, Carroll’s crew included Cameron Appleton, Weston Barlow, Anthony Kotoun, Mike Kuschner, Graham Landy, Scott Norris, and Phillip Wehrheim.

Additional details from class media…
For the first time in the history of the Melges 32 class, there is a back-to-back Melges 32 World Champion. After a few up and down finishes early the event and some Houdini-esque comebacks late in the event, Jason Carroll on Argo with tactician Cameron Appleton put the fleet in a sleeper hold on days 4 and 5 to secure the overall win. Edoardo Lupi and co-owner Massimo Pessina’s Torpyone with tactician Lorenzo Bressani finished second, while Naofumi Kamei’s Mamma Aiuto! with Manu Weiller on tactics placed third overall.

The one and only, final showdown race for the World title and trophy commenced under the lightest conditions seen yet with a pulsing NW wind at 6-9 kts. After an intense dial-up for the start between front-runner Carroll and Lupi/Pessina, the fleet got an all-clear start with Keisuke Suzuki’s Swing rounding the weather mark in first.

Carroll eventually took over the lead with Dalton DeVos’ Delta, Ryan DeVos’s Volpe, Alessandro Rombelli’s STIG and William Douglass’ Goombay Smash in the chase for the remaining podium positions. The breeze got even lighter for the final downwind run and to the finish with Carroll holding on, cool, calm and collected rounding through the gates for the win securing a second-consecutive World Championship title. Dalton DeVos fought hard to finish in second, while his cousin Ryan settled for third landing them both in the top five.

A special award was presented to Chris Wientjes and his Stormvogel entourage as 2014 Melges 32 Rookie of the Year.

Final Results (10 races, 1 discard)
1. ARGO, Jason Carroll , USA – 7 -1 -[12] -6 -1 -8 -5 -1 -2 -1 ; 32
2. Torpyone, Edoardo Lupi , ITA – 8 -[14] -1 -7 -8 -2 -2 -4 -3 -4 ; 39
3. Mamma Aiuto, Naofumi Kamei , JPN – 4 -2 -5 -[18] -2 -17 -11 -6 -1 -5 ; 53
4. Volpe, Ryan DeVos , USA – 6 -8 -6 -9 -10 -3 -6 -[13] -4 -3 ; 55
5. STIG, Alessandro Rombelli , ITA – 5 -6 -3 -[16] -12 -1 -1 -12 -12 -8 ; 60
6. Delta, Dalton DeVos , USA – 2 -7 -[16] -2 -16 -10 -12 -2 -7 -2 ; 60
7. Hedgehog, Alec Cutler , BER – 10 -4 -7 -12 -3 -4 -9 -3 -8 -[17] ; 60
8. Goombay Smash, William Douglass , USA – [18] -5 -4 -4 -4 -13 -3 -10 -13 -6 ; 62
9. Robertissima 1, Pierre Casiraghi , MON – 1 -7.6 -9 -1 -11 -9 -4 -9 -[17] -12 ; 63.6
10. Inga From Sweden III, Richard Goransson , SWE – 3 -10 -2 -5 -14 -[16] -8 -8 -9 -9 ; 68
11. MOMO, Dieter Schoen , GER – 15 -11 -[17] -3 -5 -7 -7 -11 -15 -11 ; 85
12. Groovederci, Deneen Demourkas , USA – 12 -3 -8 -15 -9 -6 -[16] -16 -16 -7 ; 92
13. Swing, Keisuke Suzuki , JPN – 13 -13 -10 -10 -[17] -5 -14 -5 -11 -16 ; 97
14. Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy , USA – 11 -[18] -15 -8 -7 -11 -13 -14 -5 -13 ; 97
15. ENVY Scooters, Barry Cuneo , AUS – 14 -12 -11 -13 -6 -12 -10 -[17] -10 -15 ; 103
16. Fra Martina, Edoardo Pavesio , ITA – 16 -15 -14 -11 -13 -15 -[17] -7 -6 -10 ; 107
17. Stormvogel, Chris Wientjes , USA – 9 -[16] -13 -14 -15 -14 -15 -15 -14 -14 ; 123

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