Doyle Sails Melges 24 Nordic Trophy 2015 in Amal, Sweden - The winner is Kristoffer Spone and Team Baghdad II NOR-400
1 June, 2015 - Åmål, Sweden - The first Doyle Sails Melges 24 Nordic Trophy event was sailed from 29th to 31st of May in Åmål. Åmål is less than 200 km west from Oslo and north from Gothenburg. A tiny cosy village of under 10 000 inhabitants. The facilities and hospitality was superb.
1st day of racing was under a blue sky, over 10 degrees temperature and the wind coming in from SW with a velocity of 7 – 12 m/s. Race one winner NOR787 Blow Henry Lloyd helmed by Peder Nergaard. Race two winner NOR400 Kristoffer Spone. Race three winner NOR732 Herman Horn-Johannessen. After day 1 and a steady performance the race leader was NOR787 Blow helmed by Peder Nergaard with a win, 2nd and 4th.
Blow Henry Lloyd NOR-787 with Peder Nergaard - Melges 24 European Sailing Series 2015 - Portoroz, Slovenia - photo IM24CA/Zerogradinord
SEE THE VIDEO with the Day 1 leader Peder Nergaard talking about racing in Åmål and about the expectations to the approaching Melges 24 Worlds in Middelfart.
2nd day of racing was totally something else. Three races in really challenging weather – lots of rain, choppy big waves and lots of wind from east with a velocity of appr 8 – 12 m/s. This gave a lot of challenges for many teams. NOR732 helmed by Herman Horn-Johannessen's lower rudder gudgeon bolt snapped during race 4 and the first downwind. This forced them to come immediately to the harbor and start fixing the transom.
SEE THE VIDEO with Herman Horn-Johannessen - interviewed by Tomi Hakola.
SEE THE VIDEO with Tomas Skålén, the local organizer. He describes weather conditions and the shape of the Swedish Melges 24 fleet looking forward to the Melges 24 World Championship 2015 in Denmark.
At the meanwhile on the lake the three Norwegian boat P. Nergaard, Spone and K. Nergaard had a nice battle. Peder Nergaard on board Blow took a 3rd,1st & 1st giving them only a 2 point lead over Spone (8 pts vs 10 pts). And behind them with 14 pts was always dangerous class veteran Kristian Nergaard.
Coming to the last day the sky had cleared up but the wind picked up. Now from SW with a velocity of 10 to 13 m/s with gusts going over 15 m/s. This really gave some nice action for the downwind legs. Lots of spectacular broaches and speed of over 20 knots! In the battle for gold Spone picked up with more speed taking a 3rd, 1st and 4th. While Peder Nergaard got a DNF, 4th and 3rd. And meaning that NOR400 Kristoffer Spone won the Swedish Nationals with 18pts just one point ahead of NOR787 Blow helmed by Peder Nergaard. Third NOR600 Kristian Nergaard with 24 pts.
Check out all the cool onboard footages and especially daily interviews from Doyle Sails Melges 24 Nordic Trophy Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/melges24nordictrophy?fref=ts
The next event of the Doyle Sails Melges 24 Nordic Trophy 2015 will be held in Tallinn, Estonia - Melges 24 Open Estonian Championship on June 12-14.
SEE THE VIDEO with Kristoffer Spone - Melges 24 Swedish Champion 2015, Team Baghdad II NOR400.
