Standings Shuffle at Melges 20 Worlds

Scarlino, Italy (August 26, 2016) – The second day of racing at the 2016 Melges 20 World Championship featured two races under shifty conditions, shaking up the standings and making Drew Freides’ Pacific Yankee the new leader with a one point advantage over Michael Illbruck on Pinta now seated in second place.

“It was a very difficult day, in which we made some very good tactical choices and we had luck on our side too,” said Freides. “We are only at the halfway mark in the regatta, so we must remain focused on sailing just like we’ve been doing over the last two days. We need to make every race count because the game here is very complicated, and of course nothing is really decided until the very end.”

From two perspectives, Freides and Illbruck have separated themselves from the rest of the fleet. First, they are the only two teams to have have maintained a solid single-digit scoreline thus far and second, by doing so they have extended their lead by twenty-three points.

It was moving day for Liam Kilroy on Wildman as he leaped eight positions from eleventh overnight to now sit third – special thanks to an amazing first place finish in Race Four. Alessandro Rombelli’s STIG battled hard to end up second, helping his effort of breaking into the overall top ten, and Achille Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino Jr. captured third.

Rob Wilber’s Cinghiale delivered another great performance in Race Five coming on strong to take the bullet, Freides was second and again, the younger Kilroy took third.

Tomorrow marks the third day of competition and the forecast is calling for more light air conditions. If this happens, it could potentially reduce the number of trials that can be held, resulting in fewer opportunities to catch the front runners still in hot pursuit of the World Championship title. A discard race occurs after six races are completed.

Among the nine all-amateur teams, the Corinthian division also had a change in leadership. Emanuele Savoini helming Evinrude has moved into the lead (32nd overall), while Mirko Bargolini’s Spirit of Nerina slips to second place. Cesar Gomes Neto at the helm of Portobello remains in third. Two out of several lady helms competing in the fleet complete the top five. Russia’s Marina Kaverzina on Marussia and Wilma Homann on Fantastichina are fourth and fifth respectively.

Fifty-six teams will compete in up to 10 races on August 25-28.

Day Two Standings (Top 10 of 56; 5 races)
1. PACIFIC YANKEE, Drew Freides , USA – 6 -2 -5 -4 -2 ; 19
2. Pinta, Michael Illbruck , GER – 7 -1 -1 -6 -5 ; 20
3. WildMan, Liam Kilroy , USA – 13 -4 -22 -1 -3 ; 43
4. CINGHIALE, Rob Wilber , GBR – 9 -16 -4 -25 -1 ; 55
5. SAMBA PA TI, John Kilroy , USA – 2 -11 -10 -7 -30 ; 60
6. MASCALZONE LATINO JR., Achille Onorato , ITA – 4 -6 -9 -3 -41 ; 63
7. Section 16, Richard Davies , SUI – 16 -12 -11 -11 -18 ; 68
8. OUT OF REACH, Guido Miani , MON – 18 -23 -2 -15 -11 ; 69
9. STIG, Alessandro Rombelli , ITA – 25 -18 -6 -2 -19 ; 70
10. Fremito D’Arja, Dario Levi , ITA – 11 -13 -30 -17 -6 ; 77

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Source: Melges 20 Class