All Change At SNIM As Maxim Paul Takes Overall Lead On Day Three
Day three for the Melges 24 Class at the 2009 SNIM regatta in Marseille, France, initially brought rain and an unusual East North East wind (usually the precursor of snow). The first two races of the day (numbers six and seven of the series) saw overnight second place Maxim Paul, sailing FRA389 Marsail, put in a sella performance to take two wins and the overall lead from Andrea Racchelli, sailing ITA735 Altea, who had to be content with a 3rd and 4th (his worst result of the regatta so far).
As the race committee was setting up for race eight the sudden arrival of the Mistral obliged the committeeto re-examine its plans and to move Melges 24 course into the shelter of Point Rouge for the two last races of the day. Although Maxim Paul couldn't quite repeat his performance from the morning a 4th and a 2nd were just sufficient to retain the overall lead on 12 points. For Andrea Racchelli it was time to dig deep and prove why the Altea team is such a regular face at the front of the Melges 24 fleet and with a 2nd followed by a win they succeeded in keeping themselves firmly in contention and just one point behind Maxim Paul as they go into the final day.
One of the most consistent performers of the day was Italy's Paolo Brescia, sailing ITA585, who put in an impressive 2, 3, 1, 3 scoreline on the day and took advantage of the double discard which now comes into play to throw out a DNF and an OCS and move up into third place overall on 21 points. French Class President Denis Infant, sailing FRA639 Eurovoiles, had a mediocre day scoring 5, 9, 7, 6 but having discarded the 9 and 7 he remains in fourth place overall on 30 points. Fellow Frenchman Ronan Dreano, sailing FRA193 Cotes d'Armor, who had been lying in third place overnight, also had a disapointing day finishing 6, 7, 5 and 9 and now share 30 points overall with Infant but takes fifth place on countback.
“We left with an east wind which turned in the second race to the north-north-west, with much irregularity in both force and direction. It was very technical, not easy to read, it was necessary to remain very concentrated”, summarized Vanessa Paul from the leading team after racing.
The weather forecast for Monday's final day of racing promises sun with a good Mistral. The day is due to begin with a wind from the North-western sector from force 2 to 4 and 5 locally in the West from Marseilles and increasng after midday making for ideal conditions to close the regatta.