Melges 24 Worlds 2015: Andrea Racchelli's Altea takes the top spot

01 July, 2015 – Middelfart, Denmark - Thanks to 7-10 knots of breeze, blowing from 170-180 degrees, one of the huge Melges 24 fleet ever complete other three races and now the standing counts on six races with one discard.

Thanks to a solid progression, Italian Andrea Racchelli’s Altea ITA735 (6-5-8 today) is now leading the ranking with five point margin on Bora Gulari’s Air Force One USA820 (4-8-13), that uses the discard to throw away the 44 points  collected in race number three. The provisional podium is completed by Swiss Chris Rast’s EFG SUI684 (20-1-16), that anticipates the first hour leader Czech Martin Trcka’s ICZ/Rodop CZE704 (30-11-23) and Italian Riccardo Simoneschi’s Audi tron ITA840 (11-2-31), together with 50 points.

Altea ITA735 - Andrea Racchelli © Pierrick Contin / IM24CA

“We are really happy about this great start and we will try to do our best to defend our leadership but it will be not easy: the fleet is really huge and wind is light and shifty. It seems that tomorrow will be a windy day and we are ready to surf the waves – finally,” said Andrea Racchelli few minutes after the end of race number six.

Musto Racing GER803 - Kicker Schäfer © Pierrick Contin / IM24CA

Also the fight for the Corinthian Trophy starts to be interesting, with German Kicker Schäfer’s Musto Racing GER803 (17-24-11) that is now in front of Austrian Four And A Half Men AUT681 (8-30-3) with Franz Urlesberger in helm and Estonian Tõnu Tõniste’s Lenny EST790 (1-18-20). The Corinthian boats are respectively on the sixth, ninth and twelfth positions in the overall ranking.

Races valid for the Melges 24 World Championship 2015 will resume tomorrow, at 11 am. Weather forecast predict the windiest day of the week: so, be ready for three more races.

We remind you that the series will count on 14 races and that after the end of race number 13 the standings will include two discards.

Melges 24 World Championship is organized by Match Racing Denmark in collaboration with International Melges 24 Class Association and Middelfart Sailing Club.

Photo gallery by Pierrick Contin / IM24CA 
High resolution images are available to acredited media. For further information please E-mail Piret Salmistu 

To follow the racing a greatest set ever of the manpower and equipment has been used. With three cameras on the water the streaming was produced by Zerogradinord and SportsXStream along with the International Melges 24 Class Association. Steve Ancsell from United Kingdom and Mauro Melandri as the official Event press Officer from Italy all three races are covering with a fascinating commentary about the racing and content about the Melges 24 Class. 

The link to the daily LiveStream can be found herehttp://www.sportsxstream.com/MultiLevelEvent/Melges-24-World-Championship-2015.html

In addition, live stream from the Morning Briefing and after the racing dock chats will be brought to the audience from the Middelfart Marina. International media team of Zerogradinord will broadcast such content daily until the end of the event. See emotional interviews afterwards and follow the action live here (https://livestream.com/zerogradinord/melges24worlds2015 ).

Day 2 highlights edited by Zerogradinord - Mauro Melandri, Janna Buriani and Simona Bellobuono

The days of the event are: 
Tuesday 30 of June to Sunday 5th of July: 2015 Melges 24 World Championship  
Sunday 5 of July: Closing Ceremony 
Full schedule of the event 

Event website: http://www.melges24worlds15.dk/

Facebook of the International Melges 24 Class Association 
Facebook of the Match Racing Denmark 
Twitter 
Instagram 

Hashtags: #melges24 #m24worlds #melges24WC #Matchracingdenmark #SailingWC2015