Melges 24s Vanquish the Giants at Barcolona

On the 14th of October the thirty-ninth edition of the legendary Barcolana was raced on the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Trieste. With a total entry of some 1,831 boats this is one of the biggest regattas in the Mediterranean and this year 7 Melges 24s joined the entry list.

They were racing in Category 7 against 139 other boats. The weather was fine, the race was sailed in fresh air and under blue skies and the Melges 24 crews did a good job - A VERY GOOD JOB! Melges 24s filled the top five slots in their class totally dominating the class results. Slovenia's Nikola Juretic aboard Dirty Sanchez took first place with Johann Fazokas of Austria in Saufaz second, Itlay's Guido Rocchi sailing Corto Maltese third, Italy's Franceso Berton in Blubrina fourth and Slovenian Mario Gaspic in Surukuk S5 fifth.

Even in the overall standings where they were up against a host of highly specialised machines specially optimised for the race they still managed a very respectable 94, 126, 137, 165 and 172 respectively. Not bad in a fleet of almost 2000 boats!

Congratulations to all the Melges 24 crews taking part and thank you for creating such a fantastic advertisement for the class at this huge event! Check out the FULL RESULTS and visit the EVENT WEB SITE to see some great video clips and images.

If anyone else has stories about racing their Melges 24 in unusual events, racing with their families or cruising their boats to interesting destinations please send us news and pictures so we can share you adventures with others! As always stories and pictures can be e-mailed to fiona.brown@melges24.com.