Melges 24 European Championship 2024 in Split - Day 1
by International Melges 24 Class Association 1 Oct 11:02 BST
27 September - 4 October 2024
The 2024 Melges 24 European Championship opened with light and unstable winds, challenging both sailors and the Race Committee. Hosted by the JK Split and the International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA), the event welcomed 41 boats from 10 nations.
After an unsuccessful first attempt by the Race Committee led by the PRO Marko Misura and IM24CA Championship Coordinator David Bartol on the Bravo course near Split's commercial harbour, the fleet moved to the Alfa race course, within the bay between Trogir and Split. The two races, characterised by tricky winds, saw success for Ante Cesic's Razjeren (CRO, 1-14) and Cuyler Morris' Dark Horse (USA, 7-1), the latter boat making its debut launched only a few days ago. Dark Horse's performance earned them the Boat of the Day title, giving them the provisional overall lead by one point ahead of Andrea Racchelli's Altea (ITA, 5-4), the former Melges 24 World Champion.
Cuyler Morris expressed his excitement, saying: "After two false starts, we moved to the Alfa course where we had a good breeze and completed two nice races. It was our first real chance to test the boat in a competitive fleet, and we couldn't be happier."
See the Facebook video interview
Former Finn class Olympian sailor Ivan Kljakovic Gašpic's Universitas Nova (CRO, 3-8) sits in third after a strong recovery in the second race, climbing from the back of the fleet to finish eighth. "The first upwind was challenging, but we finished strong thanks to good tactical choices," said Gašpic. While he was pleased with the first race, the second proved tricky due to shifting winds and a tough top mark rounding, though they made up ground on the downwind.
See the Facebook video interview
Rounding out the top five are Cro-A-Sail (CRO, 2-11), led by Matjia Reljanovic, and Razjaren, the winner of Race 1.
In the Corinthian division, Miles Quinton's Zhik Race Team (GBR, 6-18), with Geoff Carveth helming, and reigning Corinthian World Champion Mataran 24 (CRO, 12-3), helmed by Ante Botica, claimed victories as the Corinthian race winners. Mataran 24 leads the non-pro rankings with a nine-point advantage over Zhik Race Team, just one point ahead of Jonas Berntsson's SWE-715 (9-16).
Racing continues on Tuesday with at least two more races, which promises to be challenging in light wind. The warning signal is set for 12 p.m.
Top 10 boats (after 2 races, no discards):
1. DARK HORSE (USA 870) - Cuyler Morris, 8 points (7, 1)
2. ALTEA (ITA 722) - Andrea Racchelli, 9 points (5, 4)
3. UNIVERSITAS NOVA (CRO 760) - Ivan Kljakovic Gašpic, 11 points (3, 8)
4. CRO-A-SAIL (CRO 782) - Matija Reljanovic, 13 points (2, 11)
5. RAZJAREN (CRO 867) - Ante Cesic, 15 points (1, 14)
6. MATARAN 24 (CRO 649) - Ante Botica, 15 points (12, 3)
7. MAKAKO 24 (CRO 383) - Marko Matic, 18 points (16, 2)
8. CEZIBORDO (CRO 517) - Enia Nincevic, 19 points (4, 15)
9. YIKES (CRO 516) - Tonci Stipanovic, 21 points (14, 7)
10. MELGINA (ITA 854) - Paolo Brescia, 23 points (17, 6)
Top 3 Corinthian boats:
1. MATARAN 24 (CRO 649) - Ante Botica, 15 points (12, 3)
2. ZHIK RACE TEAM (GBR 694) - Geoff Carveth, 24 points (11, 13)
3. NN (SWE 715) - Jonas Berntsson, 25 points (9, 16)
Full results