Volpe Takes Lead at Melges 32 Worlds

Newport, RI (September 30, 2016) – New England nor’easters are signified by not only by their strong winds, but also their driving rain, and on the second day of the 2016 Melges 32 World Championship hosted by Sail Newport, competitors returned to the Newport Shipyard with three races completed and no need to wash off the boats, foul weather gear or sails.

The rain did all the work.

At the halfway point of the regatta, the standings are still tight and despite the wet conditions, the sailing has been full throttle and extremely competitive.

Shaking off an OCS on Day One, Ryan DeVos’ Volpe owned the pin end in Races Three and Four. Both starts allowed DeVos to put his bow down and rumble for max speed while tactician Mark Mendelblatt picked his way up the first beats like a surgeon.

Using solid speed all the way around the track, Ryan was able to fend off International Class President Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio on G-Spot and his older brother Rick DeVos at the helm of Delta. He then tangled with Pieter Taselaar’s Bliksem in the middle race only to extend on the final run and take their second crystal race winner bowl.

“We had really fun conditions beside the sideways rain,” Ryan Devos commented. “In the first two races, we had clean starts at the pin and were able to play the shifts pretty effectively. Overall we climbed up the leader-board with a few bullets which makes all the difference in a fleet like this.”

Wasting no time, PRO Anderson Reggio got the third race of the day underway at 1330, but this time DeVos’ Volpe found themselves premature and had to re-round. Nailing the pin end was Serena Di Lapigio who stepped into a solid left shift and played the fleet like a violin, ultimately winning by 200 yards.

“The day was good. We had a penalty in the second race which hurt, but we understand the on-the-water-umpires are king,” noted Serena Di Lapigio. “Winning the last race by a large margin was a great feeling and overall a great day of racing.”

Battling hard in the peloton of Race 5 was Richard Goransson at the helm of Inga From Sweden who claimed a ‘regatta saving’ second place finish ahead of Rick DeVos – a model of consistency with three third place finishes for the day.

The amateur competition raged on today with the two Corinthian teams getting a little more serious about getting ahead. The Day Two playbook resulted in a tit-for-tat battle between event leader Chris Wientjes aboard Stormvogel and Morgan Kiss at the helm of Hydra, now tied with equal points.

“We felt faster as a group and overall we executed our positions better,” commented helmsman Kiss. “More time on the water always helps us get better and we will Keep on making improvements as a team.”

Twelve teams from five countries will compete in up to 10 races on September 29 to October 2 in Newport, RI. When six or more races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.

Day Two Results (Top 5 of 12; 5 races)
1.) Ryan DeVos/Mark Mendelblatt, Volpe; 2-7-1-1-6 = 17
2.) Jason Carroll/Cameron Appleton, Argo Team; 1-6-5-5-4 = 21
3.) Rick DeVos/Jonathan McKee, Delta; 9-5-3-3-3 = 23
4.) Alessandro Rombelli/Terry Hutchinson, STIG; 4-2-6-7-7 = 26
5.) Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio/Branko Brcin, G-Spot; 14/DSQ-3-2-8-1 = 28

Event details – Scoreboard – Crew list – Facebook

Source: Sam Rogers, Melges 32 Class