Mornar CRO Melges 24 Cup 2023 - October 7-8

October 6, 2023 - Mornar, Split, Croatia -  The autumn part of the season begins with Mornar's regatta. Filip Jurišić: "CRO Melges 24 Cup is one of the most beautiful Croatian sailing stories."

After the summer break, the autumn part of the Croatian 'Champions League' sailing season starts in Split. The Mornar Sailing Club, in partnership with NatureSafe Marine, will host the fifth regatta of this year's CRO Melges 24 Cup calendar this weekend (October 7th and 8th). The regatta series, which visited Dubrovnik, Biograd, Opatija, and Trogir during the spring, will continue its battle for the overall winner of the CRO Melges 24 Cup. Among the 12 registered crews, special attention should be paid to Mataran 24, the Trogir team that became Melges 24 Corinthian European and World Champions During the past year.

'In the overall standings of the CRO M24 Cup, we have three points less than Panjić. The plan in Split is to reduce or completely eliminate that gap. After the Mornar CRO Melges 24 Cup, we have more regattas in the European Series in Split and the open Melges 24  Croatian Championship in Trogir, so the battle for the overall winner will be uncertain until the very end,' says Ivo Matić, a member of Mataran 24.

MATARAN 24 CRO649 of Ante Botica with Ivo Matić, Mario Škrlj, Damir Civadelić, Bruna Princivali - New Melges 24 Corinthian World Champion 2023 - Melges 24 World Championship - Middelfart, Denmark

Mick Knive Anderson

The President of the organizing committee for this regatta is Filip Jurišić, a Croatian Olympic sailor in the ILCA7 class and one of the key initiators of the currently strongest sailing series in the Adriatic. Although he won't be at the helm of Melges due to preparations for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the Hvar native enthusiastically took on the organization of the regatta with the well-coordinated team of the JK Mornar.

'Mornar is a club that invests a lot in sports sailing, and we are very proud that we can host the CRO Melges 24 Cup as one of the most beautiful Croatian sailing stories at the opening of the autumn part. I expect a great regatta, and it will be a great pleasure for me to meet the team I sailed with until the end of last season. The class continues to progress excellently, and I hope to rejoin them after Paris,' said Filip Jurišić.

The excellent progress of the class is also evident in the number of new boats. There are currently 23 Melges 24 boats in the Croatian fleet, and three of them will have their Croatian regatta debut at the Mornar CRO Melges 24 Cup. Among them is the JK Split crew with the prominent name Sugar Daddy.

'In the past two years, the CRO Melges 24 Cup has proven to be a great success, and as the sports director of the Split Sailing Club, I support every initiative that promotes the development of sailing in the Adriatic. Our club will host the 2024 European Championship in the Melges 24 class next September, so all regattas in which Sugar Daddy will sail are excellent preparation for that championship,' explained Luka Jerčić.

CRO Melges 24 Cup is sailed in partnership with Angeline Yacht Charter, Sailing Point, North Sails, One Sails, the digital studio Akvarij, the digital agency Raiser, regate.com.hr, and EmergenSea.