Czech Melges 24 Yachting Tour 2007 Report
From the Czech Melges 24 Class - The Czech Melges 24 Yachting Tour 2007, a series of five regattas held in the Czech Republic, was very successfully run by the new Czech Melges 42 Class. The series started with a prologue weekend regatta at lake Lipno. The following two regattas were held also at Lipno at the beginning of August.
The International Czech Championship 2007 was the highlight of the annual series. Ten teams fought for the title, including Olympic and America's Cup sailors. After three racing days and 12 demanding races team GANT became the first Czech Champion. Team ICZ and RODOP fought until the last race for the second place. After a close finish team RODOP took the silver and ICZ bronze medal. The final meeting of the series was a regatta held on Vltava river in Prague. The last regatta was sailed according to rules for triple racing that gave the final racing a dramatic atmosphere. The event was combined with the final prize giving ceremony of the Czech Melges 24 Yachting Tour 2007. The winner became team RODOP with skipper Lukas Neumann.
The Czech Melges 24 Yachting Tour is a special project run by agency YFA (Yachting Fullservice Agency). YFA has at its disposal a fleet of nine brand new Melges 24s produced in the year 2007 that are rented to teams for the whole series of regattas. YFA gives the Czech sailing not only top sportboats, but also corresponding service. For the racing all boats are equipped with matched components. There is a special team that look after the project, which means boats service, transport and complete regatta preparation. When the team arrives to the regatta venue, the boat is race ready, fully equipped and functional. The only thing the sailors have to do is sail out on the water.
All the regattas of the series were also open to all other Melges 24 boats from the Czech Republic as well as from abroad. Regularly there were 8 – 10 racing boats at each event. The number of participants for the first year is regarded to be satisfying. Nevertheless, the Czech Melges 24 Class hopes to enlarge the fleet of competing boats for 2008.