Melges 24 U.S. National Championship Draws Top Competitors

DETROIT, August 9, 2007 – Less than seven weeks remain until the 2007 Melges 24 U.S. National Championship hosted by Detroit’s Bayview Yacht Club on September 21 – 23, and Midwestern Melges racers are honing their skills in anticipation of a great showing for this Grand Prix event.

With 25 teams registered and at least 25 more expected, this year’s Nationals will be remarkably deep in talent. Competitors from Florida, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, California, England, Canada, and all over Michigan have confirmed their entries, and the weeks ahead will bring more surprises to the scratch sheet.

World Champion Dave Ullman will be racing under the Latis Yachting Solutions banner, while his World Champion tactician, Bill Hardesty, will be racing against his former skipper as helmsman aboard a competing boat. They’ll both have to contend with Argyle Campbell and his Rock & Roll team, who won the 2004 North American Championship on these very waters, as well as multiple past National and North American Champion Brian Porter with his supremely experienced Full Throttle team.

Other teams ready to join the action can visit www.yachtscoring.com/event_registration_info.cfm to register, avoiding any extra fees incurred after the early registration deadline of September 10.

DETROIT MEDICAL CENTER TO HELP POST-RACE RECOVERY For the first time, the DMC’s Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan will be on site for the Melges 24 Nationals at Bayview Yacht Club, with massage therapists and physical trainers giving mini-massages from 4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. daily. Given the likelihood of strong winds in September and the bruising competition on Lake St. Clair, the masseuses expect to be very busy.

ORGANIZERS PREPARE FOR VISITING CREWS
With the final preparations underway for the event, Race Chairman Paul Hulsey is ready to deliver on all his promises to out-of-town teams. Knowing how tiring it can be to travel across the country for a regatta, he has orchestrated early weigh-ins, streamlined launching procedures, motor tows to and from the race course, free post-race boat storage, and free internet terminals at Bayview Yacht Club throughout the regatta.

Race Vice-Chairman Greg McCliment continues his plans for spectacular post-race festivities with help from sponsor/partner Barefoot Wines of Modesto, California. Social events include live music nightly and a “garden luau” at nearby Crescent Sail Yacht Club, complete with a seafood extravaganza. Individual race winners will collect prizes, with special prizes given to the top 5 Corinthian teams of the regatta.

Race Organizers continue to work with interested sponsors to offer even more amenities to National Championship competitors.

ABOUT YACHTSCORING.COM
Longtime Bayview member Luiz Kahl developed Yachtscoring.com as a tool for event organizers to easily manage regatta registration, scoring and event management. A simple on-line interface lets competitors satisfy their entry requirements and pay fees over the internet, while Race Committee and administrators can use tools for everything from reports to scheduling juries and PROs. Event results are available the instant the finish times are entered into the system, with handicap calculations built in for PHRF, IRC, ORR, and Americap-scored events. More information is available at www.yachtscoring.com.

ABOUT BAYVIEW YACHT CLUB
From its humble beginnings in 1915 in a little shack on the Detroit River, Bayview is now recognized as one of the finest yacht racing clubs in the nation. The host club of the Detroit NOOD, Bayview Long Distance Race, and Port Huron to Mackinac event, BYC prides itself on the quality of its sailors and their dedication to the development of youth and adult sailing programs. Bayview is proud to add the 2007 Melges 24 U.S. National Championship to the roster of marquis events it will host in 2007, including the 2007 U.S. National Women’s Match Racing Championship and the T-10 North American Championship. More information is available at www.byc.com.

ABOUT THE 2007 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP The 2007 Melges 24 U.S. National Championship is hosted by Bayview Yacht Club, with the support of Sponsor/Partners Barefoot Wines, Yachtscoring.com, Latis Yachting Solutions, and the Detroit Medical Center’s Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan.

All race information, including on-line registration, is now available at www.melges24racing.com/nationals. The Midwest Region’s home page is www.melges24racing.com.

The Melges 24 is the most unique one-design sportboat in the world, and the class continues to enjoy strong growth. More information on the U.S. Melges 24 Class is available at www.usmelges24.com.