HARRY MELGES & ANDY BURDICK HELP COMPETITORS TUNE UP FOR YACHTING KEY WEST RACE WEEK

In the build up to Race Week Harry Melges & Andy Burdick took time out from their own preparations to run a “University Of Zenda” training day for other Melges teams. Harry & Andy’s track records in the Melges 24 are second to none and both will be racing for the title here in Key West, Harry helming his own boat “Zenda Express” and Andy crewing for Brian Porter aboard “Full Throttle”.

The Melges Team are always on hand to help owners get the most out of their boats and their enthusiasm and knowledge know no bounds. Around 20 teams joined in with the training day taking advantage of a shore side session in the morning to go through key points on boat preparation, boat handling, trim, rig settings and crew work.

For the afternoon session Harry’s brother Hans was called into service to provide a committee boat and the crews went afloat to put into practise the ideas they had discussed ashore. Using a short course with numerous starts and lots of mark rounding practise the crews all had a chance to shake out the Christmas holiday cobwebs and get back into race mode. With input from the coach boat throughout the afternoon everyone was able to find some area where they could improve their game and those sailors new to the fleet took full advantage of the opportunity to quiz the grand masters of the sport.

Racing starts tomorrow and the dock and race area are a hive of activity with crews enjoying the moderate breeze and glorious sunshine as they practise, check out new sails, make final sail selections and finish their boat preparation. With so many great sailors in the 60-boat fleet the excitement is really beginning to build and we can’t wait for racing to start at 10am Monday morning. Watch this space for all the news as it happens.