JOE FLY LEADS ACURA KEY WEST ON DAY ONE
From Joy Dunigan in Key West - The start of the 2007 ACURA Key West Race Week has been very exciting and the enthusiasm for the Melges 24 is at an all time high. Forty-seven teams from nine countries arrived looking forward to one thing — a week's worth of vastly competitive Melges 24 racing, great fun (on and off the water) warm temperatures and plenty of Florida sunshine. To compliment, the first day of competition in Key West was nothing short of spectacular as Gabrio Zandona at the helm for Giovanni Maspero on "ITA-550 Joe Fly" immediately took the lead. "We made very few mistakes today and had great speed. First race we had a good start and very good speed. The second race was tougher. I had a bad start and had to look to my tactician or help," said Zandona. "Overall though, we had very good speed."
The first race commenced around noon, with winds out of the northeast at 8-10 knots. Zandona got a great start off the pin end favoring the right. Alongside of Zandona, was Andrea Rachelli driving for Franco Rossini on "SUI-596 Blu Moon." All the way to the top mark the two raced with Zandona rounding several boat lengths ahead. Miles Quinton on "GBR-654 Mojo" from the UK rounded second, then Chris Larson driving for Scott Holmgren on "USA-631 Rosebud" was third, Riccardo Simoneschi on "ITA-693 Giacomel Audi Racing" rounded fourth and Eivind Melleby at the helm for Lars Horn Johhannessen on "NOR-366 Siste Stein" in fifth. As the race went on Zandona increased his lead until he was some twenty boat lengths ahead of the fleet and won leaving the remaining top four slots in big contention. At the finish, in second place Rachelli just edged out Melleby right at the line. Then Simoneschi, although looking a little slower downwind picked up the pace grabbing fourth over Quinton.
For Race Two the wind diminished a bit, yet would fluctuate on and off for the remainder of the day. The seas calmed in comparison to before which helped some and for others only caused further detriment to their campaign in the five leg race with a slight wind shift further to the east. In the words of Dave Ullman, "It was a great day, beautiful day for sailing. The first race was light and lumpy. The second race just got lighter and lumpier. The Italians were looking really good today." The second race had Zandona pushing hard up the center of the course after a poor start with Ullman getting off nicely looking right. As they approached the weathermark it paid off big for Ullman as he took the lead, but not for long. The strength of Maspero's Italian team was just too much for Ullman to hold off as they charged forward on the first downwind run. Melleby got the best of Zandona as they battled going into the second windward mark. Melleby rounded first with a clean set, then Zandona, Francois Bernac at the helm for Philippe Ligot on "FRA-571 Partner & Partners" got into the game rounding third. Melleby had great boat speed on the last leg as he took the first place position. He was followed by Zandona in second, then Eamonn O'Nolan on "GBR-676 Bateauneuf" got it in gear gaining in the last portion of the race for third, then Quinton and Bernac respectively.
The overall standings after one day of racing has Zandona in first leading by one slim point over Melleby in second. Tied with nine points a piece Rachelli is third and Quinton is fourth. Also tied with thirteen points each is Simoneschi in fifth and Ullman in sixth. O'Nolan is in seventh one point ahead of Larson in eighth. Brian Porter helming "USA-649 Full Throttle" is in nineth followed by Bernac in tenth.
TOP TEN RESULTS
01. GABRIO ZANDONA/GIOVANNI MASPERO 1, 2 = 3
02. EIVIND MELLEBY/ LARS HORN JOHANNESSEN 3, 1 = 4
03. ANDREA RACHELLI/FRANCO ROSSINI 2, 7 = 9
04. MILES QUINTON 5, 4 = 9
05. RICCARDO SIMONESCHI 4, 9 = 13
06. DAVE ULLMAN 7, 6 = 13
07. EAMONN O'NOLAN 12, 3 = 15
08. CHRIS LARSON/SCOTT HOLMGREN 6, 10 = 16
09. BRIAN PORTER 10, 8 = 18
10. FRANCOIS BERNAC/PHILIPPE LIGOT 15, 5 = 20