IMCA Chairman Riccardo Simoneschi Announces New Melges 24 European Sailing Series For 2013

Dear Friends. We had a great year of sailing in the Melegs 24 Class in 2012. A record breaking World Championship with 126 teams from four continents and 23 nations was, obviously, the pinnacle event of the year, but for me the most important signal has been that we had many events with more than 30 boats taking place across Europe and North America.

I believe that to build a consistent fleet in a specific district or region it is helpful to have one "big" event in that area every year. It is my experience that to have one big event every 3/4 years does not create the continuity that is needed to satisfy the sailors. When you know that every year there will be a big international event in your local area it is a given that all the local sailors will try to improve and to race much more activity to be well prepared for this "local big event".

It is with this idea in mind that we, the IMCA Executive Committee, have decided to create the Melges 24 EUROPEAN SAILING SERIES, for which the dates and the trophy are shown below. We will publish the Notice of Race and more details soon but in the meantime please book these date into your sailing programme.

As I said it has been a great year of sailing for all of us, but we are looking forward to an even better season next year laying the foundations for a new international development of our Class.

See you sailing
Riccardo

Riccardo Simoneschi International Melges 24 Class Association Chairman

MELGES 24 EUROPEAN SAILING SERIES 2013

April 26-28 - Lake Balaton Melges 24 Regatta, Hungary
June 22-26 - Kiel Week, Germany
July 18-21 - Torbole Melges 24 Regatta, Lake Garda, Italy
August 16-24 - Melges 24 European Championship, Medemblik, Holland
September 6-8 - Melges 24 Norwegian Open Championship