Volpe Holds Lead at Melges 32 Worlds

Newport, RI (October 1, 2016) – While the nor’easter over Newport has done its best to deflate the fleet at the 2016 Melges 32 Worlds hosted by Sail Newport, the strong winds and persistent rains have only added to what has been a wild, wet and seriously exciting championship.

Initial forecasts showed a lighter and drier day, however, while en route to the racecourse, it didn’t take long for sailors to discover that conditions might be the most adverse yet with a strong headwind and sideways rain.

With an eye on the prize and a solid night’s rest behind him, Ryan DeVos and his Volpe team declared that their prior race wins were no fluke and claimed the bullet in the first race of the day (their third of the championship) followed by Richard Goransson’s Inga from Sweden and Alessandro Rombelli’s STIG.

On his secret of success thus far DeVos commented, “Despite the tough conditions, we have been having a good time on- and off-the-water. The racing has been full-on, very competitive and the breeze has been a lot of fun. We are looking forward to sailing hard in the last two races.”

Finishing third in Race Seven, Rick Devos on Delta has successfully strung together as many third place finishes as his younger brother has bullets, solidifying himself in second overall. Italy’s Andrea LaCorte and his Vitamina team won Race Seven, followed by Jason Carroll’s Argo who went from ninth place rounding at the bottom gates to place second, which in turn, enabled him to remain on the podium overnight.

The final race of the day, Race Eight in a ten-part series presented big changes in angle and velocity on the racecourse providing for some tight first weather mark roundings. Goransson played the shifts nicely on the first upwind beat, however it was Ryan DeVos’ Volpe who stayed hooked up and planing downwind to lead at the gates, ultimately hanging on for the race win. Goransson claimed another second place finish, while Rombelli came third.

Despite the seven point cushion, the event is still up for grabs with Ryan DeVos looking to defend his lead against his brother Rick and World Champion veterans on Argo. Not far off the podium is a pack of fast teams who will be looking to finish the final two races and move up in the standings.

In the Corinthian division, Morgan Kiss and the ‘kids’ on Hydra have leapfrogged Chris Wientjes’ Stormvogel for the top position. After sitting in fourth place in Race Seven, Wientjes was the victim of a tough call from the umpires for excessive pumping and had to spin losing his strong position. Only three points separate these two teams, which means the final races tomorrow will be do or die.

For fleet newcomer and Corinthian entry Jeremy Alexis aboard Lucy, it has been a blessed baptism by fire. “We’ve experienced just about everything while racing, but we are still having great fun and super excited to be out here racing with this amazing group of competitors. This is like playing a game of pick-up basketball with Michael Jordan,” said Alexis. “We’ve learned so much so far and look forward to carrying it forward into tomorrow’s racing and future regattas.”

Thirteen teams from five countries will compete in up to 10 races on September 29 to October 2 with each team discarding their worst score.

Day Three Results (8 races, 1 discard)
1. Volpe, Ryan DeVos , USA – 2 -7 -1 -1 -6 -1 -[9] -1 ; 19
2. Delta, Rick DeVos , USA – [9] -5 -3 -3 -3 -4 -3 -5 ; 26
3. Argo, Jason Carroll , USA – 1 -6 -5 -5 -4 -6 -2 -[8] ; 29
4. STIG, Alessandro Rombelli , ITA – 4 -2 -6 -[7] -7 -3 -7 -3 ; 32
5. INGA, Richard Goransson , SWE – 3 -[14] -7 -9 -2 -2 -8 -2 ; 33
6. Vitamina, Andrea Lacorte , ITA – 6 -4 -[12] -4 -5 -10 -1 -4 ; 34
7. G-Spot, Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio , MON – [14] -3 -2 -8 -1 -11 -5 -6 ; 36
8. La Pericolosa, Christian Schwoerer , GER – 5 -1 -4 -[10] -9 -7 -4 -9 ; 39
9. Dark N’Stormy, Edward Tillinghast , USA – 8 -9 -9 -6 -8 -5 -[11] -7 ; 52
10. Bliksem, Pieter Taselaar , USA – 11 -[14] -8 -2 -12 -8 -6 -11 ; 58
11. Hydra, Project Sail , USA – 10 -8 -10 -[12] -10 -9 -12 -10 ; 69
12. Stormvogel, Chris Wientjes , USA – 7 -10 -11 -11 -11 -[12] -10 -12 ; 72
13. Lucy , Jeremy Alexis , USA – [14] -14 -14 -14 -14 -14 -13 -13 ; 96

Event details – Scoreboard – Crew list – Facebook

Source: Sam Rogers, Melges 32 Class