Teams Prepare For Cut And Thrust At 2010 Melges 24 North American Championship
Rochester, NY, USA - 15 September 2010 - In just over a week the cream of the North American Melges 24 Fleet will gather at the Rochester Yacht Club on Lake Ontario to vie for the title of 2010 Melges 24 North American Champion. With crews from across the US and Canada competing we can look forward to cut and thrust racing in both the Open and Corinthian divisions. Racing will take place from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 September with up to ten races scheduled.
As always at International Melges 24 Championships the depth of talent will be impressive. This is amply demonstrated by the fact that eight of the top ten ranked North American Melges 24 crews will be racing. Reigning US Melges 24 National Champion Alan Field, who also claimed the 2009 Melges 24 Gold Cup and the 2010 Gulf Coast Championship and Detroit NOOD as well as placing third at Key West Race Week, is the number one seed at this event. Alan and his "WTF?" team will be traveling all the way from California and have their sites firmly set on taking home their first International Melges 24 Championship Trophy.
Field came to the Melges 24 Class from the Farr 40s and sums up his decision to move succinctly, "Switching to the Melges 24 was an easy choice as it is one of the most fun boats I have sailed. But what really attracted me to the class was the level and depth of competition. Because of its international status, I knew this class would afford me the opportunity to go head to head with some of the best sailors on the planet. Just look at the list of contenders that show up at the ranked regattas and you can see why I continue to look forward to each and every event. From World Champions through Gold Medalists to America's Cup sailors; knocking heads with the best of the best is what The Melges 24 Class is all about for me and my team."
Field's closest rivals include Michigan's Paul Hulsey, South Carolina's Guy Mossman, Nick Amendola from Connecticut, Canadian Richard Reid from Ontario, Chicago's August Hernandez, Henry Filter from Annapolis and Steve Kopf from South Carolina. Leading the charge for the home fleet will be Peter Cucci, who also happens to be the Chairman of the Championship Organizing Committee and must be hoping that the Rochester Yacht Club will need space in it's trophy cabinet to house the Melges 24 North American Trophy for the next year
US Melges 24 Class President Steve Kopf confirmed that he is looking forward to some excellent competition. "Rochester is an outstanding venue and we are expecting some of the top boats in the North American Fleet. Rochester is known for its great sailing conditions, excellent facilities, and we couldn't ask for a better PRO. Hopefully we will see some of those early fall frontal systems that can deliver the exciting racing that Melges 24 sailors love.""
More than half of the teams entered also qualify for the Corinthian Division, which is open to ISAF Classification 1 (amateur) sailors only. Looking at the quality of the amateur teams we may well see a few professional feathers ruffled during the regatta. Paul Hulsey, August Hernandez and Henry Filter may be the top seeds in the Corinthian Division but there are plenty of teams with the potential to take the trophy so they will have to look to their laurels to fight off the challengers. The full entry list is available at the Event Website.
Registration will open at noon on Monday 20September. There will be Practice Racing on Wednesday 22 September and Championship Racing from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 September. Alongside great racing, which will be presided over by IM24CA Championship Coordinator and PRO Hank Stuart, the Rochester Yacht Club will also be keeping the teams royally entertained après sailing. The partying gets underway with the opening night Melges Performance Sailboats Cookout featuring music by the Dirty Bourbon Blues Band on Wednesday. The daily award's ceremonies will be sponsored by a combination of Pusser's Rum, who are once again bringing us their legendary Pusser's Painkiller Parties as well as a Pusser's Painkiller Wipeout Of The Day Award, and Latis Yachting Solutions and Lake Beverage Corporation, who are sponsoring the après sailing beer. On Thursday evening there will be a pasta dinner with music by Marty Roberts, on Friday the club will be serving Hors d'oeuvres during the awards ceremony and afterwards there will be music by Johnny Bauer. On Saturday competitors are invited to join in the Oktoberfest celebrations at Camp Eastman (bring your own lederhosen and dirndls!) and the event closes with the final awards ceremony with more beer from Latis Yachting Solutions and Lake Beverage Corp plus Chili and Chowder on Sunday.
The regatta organizers are delighted to welcome four new sponsors to the event. Kodak, perhaps the world's most recognized photographic brand which was founded in Rochester, North Sails, Coca-Cola and West Marine. Kodak is generously donating Kodak PlaySport Video Cameras to the event. North Sails is sponsoring the bow numbers and Corinthian sail decals (a large red spot on the top of the sail will identify the Corinthian competitors). Coca-Cola is donating beverages for the competitors to take on the water. And West Marine is donating great sailing goodies for the competitor bags. We're hugely grateful to all the event sponsors and the generous contributions of the following companies and individuals make the Championship possible:-
Pusser's Rum - The Official Rum of the 2010 Melges 24 North Americans
Weather Routing Inc.- The Official Weather Forecast Provider of the 2010 Melges24 North Americans
Coral Reef Sailing Apparel - The Official Apparel Provider of the 2010 Melges 24 North Americans
Melges Performance Sailing
Ikon Document Efficiency
Shumway Marine
Kodak
Coca-Cola
Latis Yachting Solutions
APS
Quantum Sail Design Group
North Sails
Lake Beverage Corporation
Sail22, LLC
Doyle Security Systems
West Marine
Members of the press who would like to receive further information about the 2010 Melges 24 North American Championship or who wish to attend the event should contact IMCA Administrator & Media Coordinator Fiona Brown on fiona.brown@melges24.com, Skype fpbrown or Tel +44 (0)7711 718470.
Visit the Official Event Website of the 2010 Melges 24 North American Championship.
The Melges 24 is designed by Reichel Pugh and considered the most unique one design sportsboat in the world as well as one of the fastest-growing classes of high performance yachts. For more information, visit the official class websites of the International Melges 24 Class Association and the United States Melges 24 Class Association.
For more information please contact:
Fiona Brown
International Melges 24 Class Administrator & Media Coordinator
fiona.brown@melges24.com
Skype fpbrown
Tel +44 (0)7711 718470
Betsy Lawless
RYC Press Officer
Blawless@frontiernet.net
Skype betsy.lawless
Tel +1 585 739 7248
Joy Dunigan
USMCA Press Chair
Joy.dunigan@usmelges24.com
Skype joysavannah
Tel +1 912 398 5776
Peter & Megan Cucci
Regatta Organising Committee Co-Chairs
M24na@rochesteryc.com
Tel Megan +1 585 230 5196
Tel Pete +1 585 703 2867