Porto Venere, Italy (Mar. 31, 2017) - Opening day in Porto Venere got underway with a brief postponement that soon lead to three highly competitive races commencing the 2017 Melges 32 World League, European Division. The breeze filled in nicely awarding the first race of the day to long-time Melges 32 owner and Class stalwart Edoardo Pavesio aboard FRA MARTINA. With tactician Manuel Weiller Vidal on duty, Pavesio made winning the opening heat look easy.
The wire-to-wire win came under 10-15 knots of breeze out of the west, Matteo Balestrero's Giogi followed in second. Claudia Rossi at the helm of Lasse Petterson's Pippa sailed well into the third place position.
Another class veteran - Andrea Lacorte with Gabriele Benussi calling tactics aboard Vitamina Amerikana took charge to win Race Two, proving that he too could take the immediate lead and command the fleet around the track for a consistent start to finish win.
Fleet newcomer and top Corinthian Kilian Holzapfel aboard Germany's Homanit Junior had a great opening day/class debut to finish in second, followed by International Class President Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio at the helm of G-Spot in third.
The last race of the day went to Balestrero making him the most consistent of the three daily winners, ultimately putting him in the lead overnight.
CORINTHIAN COUTH
Three contentious Melges 32s are competing in the all-amatuer ranks of the Porto Venere fleet, and atop the division is Holzapfel. Fleet newbies Martin Reintjes on Caipirinha is currently seated second. Francesco Graziani on Vitamina completes today's Corinthian podium in third.
Tonight, teams will enjoy a wonderful crew dinner hosted at the Grand Hotel Porto Venere.
Racing continues tomorrow, Saturday with the first warning signal scheduled for 11:00/Italy.
The Melges 32 World League European Division races in Porto Venere are sponsored by the Comune di Porto Venere and organized in collaboration with the Comitato dei Circoli del Golfo, Porto Venere Sviluppo srl and Porto Venere Servizi.
MEDIA AND RACING COVERAGE
As with all Melges 32 events around the world, racing updates will be posted online at the Official Melges 32 Facebook Page. Tune in for the latest racing information, results, video interviews, and photos. Race reports, press releases and photos will be available online each day post-racing at melges32.com.
TOP FIVE RESULTS (PRELIMINARY - After Three Races)
1.) Matteo Balestrero/Paolo Cian, Giogi; 2-7-1 = 10
2.) Andrea Lacorte/Gabriele Benussi, Vitaminia Amerikana; 6-1-8 = 15
3.) Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio/Branko Brcin, G-SPOT; 8-4-3 = 15
4.) Edoardo Pavesio/Manuel Weiller Vidal, FRA MARTINA; 1-13-5 = 19
5.) Claudia Rossi/Matteo Ivaldi, Pippa; 3-16/UFD-2 = 21
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