Melges 32s racing in the US National Championships. Image copyright Joy Dunigan.
by Joy Dunigan
Ideal racing conditions just weren't meant to be on the final day of scheduled races at the 2010 Melges 32 U.S. National Championship, hosted by Little Traverse Yacht Club, although initially it did appear early on to be promising. "When we saw it wasn't filling in like we had hoped by 12:30 p.m., it was just silly to make those guys sit out there and wait." said PRO Bruce Golison. "So, we sent everyone ashore. There was no indication as to how long it would take for the breeze fill like we wanted it to, and with a two o'clock cut-off we were pretty limited."
Congratulations to Ryan DeVos (Harbor Springs, Mich.) on Volpe as he is the 2010 U.S. National Champion. DeVos, alongside of his father Dick, tactician Ed Baird, and crew consisting of Scott Nixon, Brian Janney, Mike Hill, Drew Weirda and Marty Kullman, he produced an impressive 4-2-2-1-1 result winning by a remarkable 16 points. "I would have loved to have got some more racing in." said DeVos in celebration of winning his very first major Melges 32 title. "With the conditions we saw this weekend, there was no easy way around. This was really tough racing."
2010 Melges 32 Key West Race Week Champion John Kilroy, Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif.) on Samba Pa Ti offered up some great competition yet settled for second place with Stu Bannatyne on tactics and Sam Rogers, Morgan Reeser, Eric Dorman, Kimberly Arnstson, Alan Nakanishi and Justin Smart as crew. John Porter (Winnetka, Ill.) on Full Throttle claimed third with the help of tactician Charlie McKee and team — Andy Burdick, Fritz Langzinger, Vincent Porter, Corbett Porter, Matthew Woodsworth and Kelly McKenna.
THANK YOU
A very special thanks to all the teams that joined the class in Harbor Springs for this premiere event. Many traveled great distances, including Joe Woods (Torquay, UK) on Red, and all the way from New Zealand, Stefan Goldwater on Tirade. The championship would not have been the same without you!
Championships of this magnitude do not happen successfully without a team of dedicated individuals — within the class, yacht club and on the race committee working hard, almost around the clock to make everything smooth. The International Melges 32 Class Association wishes to recognize the great efforts of Tom Geisler (who put in plenty of overtime on the details), Melges Performance Sailboats, Laura Melges and team, Regatta Chair Rich Lehmann, Kathy Breightner and Donna Weber, most especially to Dick and Doug DeVos for the cordial hospitality.
Melges 32
