Melges 32 US Nationals at Little Traverse Yacht Club - Day 3

No breeze, no racing in Harbor Springs

The 2010 Melges 32 U.S. National Championship is officially two-thirds complete. With only one day left to race, Ryan DeVos (Harbor Springs, Mich.) on Volpe leads by a substantial margin followed by John Kilroy, Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif.) on Samba Pa Ti and John Porter (Winnetka, Ill.) on Full Throttle, second and third respectively.

No racing took place today, due to the absence of wind. PRO Bruce Golison kept the fleet well informed, but ended up pulling the plug around 3 o'clock. The discussion was of course, what was the forecast for Sunday. "Generally speaking if the breeze arrives, it may not be until the afternoon. The NOR and Sailing Instructions clearly state the we cannot start a race after two. So, we'll have to do our best and wait and see." said Golison.

Competition is taken quite seriously in the Melges 32 class. Without enough breeze for suitable racing, they found other ways to entertain themselves. For example, DeVos' Volpe and John Taylor's (Jupiter, Fla.) Ninkasi decided to take matters into their own hands with a little bit of paddle board racing. On the city dock, it was a beer-festive relay encouraged by Heineken with Volpe taking the win. Other teams like Michael Dominguez's (Newport, R.I.) Bronco and Rod Jabin's (Annapolis, Md.) Ramrod found go-cart racing and miniature golf just their speed. Joe Wood's (Torquay, UK) Red took a fancy liking to tennis and the countless ice cream and coffee shops down Main St. kept everyone well nourished as they awaited Golison's decision.

Looking ahead to Sunday's racing, there is likely to be a fox hunt. Guaranteed the dogs will be called, buggles and horns will sound as Kilroy will attempt to chase down the young DeVos. Porter's Full Throttle team will be full steam ahead as they only sit two points out of second place. Beyond, the points spread is tight. Woods and Jabin sit fourth and fifth, dead even with 33 points each. One point separates sixth place holder Jason Carroll (New York, N.Y.) on Argo and Bob Hughes (Macatawa Bay, Mich.) on Heartbreaker in seventh. Rounding out the top ten is Jeff Ecklund (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) on STAR in eighth, Taylor is ninth and Kip Meadows (Rocky Mount, N.C.) on roXanne is tenth.

Party time

After a day of fun activity, teams are ready to enjoy the famous Ugotta Regatta 50th Anniversary party. Held at Little Traverse Yacht Club, in addition to the 15 Melges 32 teams, 70 other event entries are in attendance, making it a monumental big party bash.

On Friday evening, the Irish Boatshop Party was another staple social event in Harbor Springs. Check Out The Photo Gallery as the beer flowed freely to a great band. It was the perfect afternoon for a kick-off party!

Fully supported

Sail22, the premiere sailing concierge service, is proud to support the Melges 32 U.S. National Championship and Harbor Springs UGotta Regatta in conjunction with Line Honors-Performance Sailing Supply. Look for the Sail22 support trailer and the Line Honors tent at the Harbor Springs Marina by the Harbormaster's office. Line Honors will be offering regatta participants 15% off any in stock Musto and Harken products. Sail22 will also be taking photos of the regatta and posting them on Sail22.com.

Results after Day 3: (top ten, 5 races)

1.) Ryan Devos/Ed Baird, Volpe; 4-2-2-1-1 = 10pts
2.) John Kilroy/Stu Bannatyne, Samba Pa Ti; 5-4-1-7-9 = 26pts
3.) John Porter/Charlie McKee, Full Throttle; 3-5-9-6-5 = 28pts
4.) Joe Woods/Paul Goodison, Red; 1-1-8-10-13 = 33pts
5.) Rod Jabin/Chris Larson, Ramrod; 2-3-12-12-4 = 33pts
6.) Jason Carroll/John Baxter, Argo; 8-7-7-8-6 = 36pts
7.) Robert Hughes/Steve Hunt, Heartbreaker; 11-10-3-5-8 = 37pts
8.) Jeff Ecklund/Bill Hardesty, STAR; 13-6-10-2-7 = 38pts
9.) John Taylor/Andrew Campbell, Ninkasi; 7-8-13-3-12 = 43pts
10.) Kip Meadows/Andy Horton, roXanne; 14-9-6-4-10 = 43pts