Official Audi Melges 20 Blog

February 23, 2010 — The European Audi Melges 20 fleet is hyped up and excited about going racing in Pasquavela, Porto Santo, Stefano, Italy on April 3-5. Here is an updated list of participants that have confirmed attendance:

1.) Benedetto Giallongo
2.) Luca Domenici
3.) Alessandro Franzi
4.) Alessandro Molla
5.) Stefano Di Properzio
6.) Renato Vallivero
7.) Ugo Capolino
8.) Marco Morina
9.) Lauro Bonora
10.) Andrea Pisaneschi
11.) Stefano Ferri

If you are interested, racing is scheduled from April 3-5. Please provide your intention to race prior to February 28, 2010. This will assist the fleet to better organize and coordinate logistics.

For more information, contact European Fleet Secretary Niccolo Bianchi

© JOY | IM20CA

Value Team will now become the second boat of the young and successful Piazzetta Italia Sailing Team. After the first year full of success with the Audi Melges 20, the Roman team will now compete in the 2010 Volvo Cup.

This new boat, introduced by Captain Giallongo, is not a one design keel, but a D-One. The D-One is a revolutionary product, created by Luca Devoti, which will participate in the Volvo Cup this year.

Captain Giallongo has told us with great enthusiasm, “This is not a step backwards, even if the boat is smaller than the Audi Melges 20, but a step forward in innovative sailing, expanding our horizons. We are a small team with a large scope, with our experience in the Laser 4000 and support of our club in Bracciano, Planet Sail.” Giallongo adds that he will not be at the helm of the boat, because he has already committed as a helmsman for the Audi Melges 20, but Stefano De Cata, his good friend and director of Sportivo del Team, will be the ideal candidate to quietly suprise the Volvo Cup.

“Our program may appear disjointed,” De Cata says, “but we have chosen the D-One because it follows our philosophy, just as the Audi Melges 20 does, to have a fun boat, that gives a new understanding of sailing. No one here is professional. We all take time away from our personal lives to race. It has been exactly one year that we have been working on this project. Just as we were beginning with the Audi Melges 20, we saw the first design and were immediately in love. The fact that the boat was designed by Morrison and Devoti was a guarantee to us.” De Cata continues, “Captain Giallongo sent me to test the boat last September in Castiglione della Pescaia and I immediately fell in love. For us the acquisition of the D-One is an intermediate step and is necessary for the evolution of the team. In the future, there will be many surprises and you’ll see our boats in various classes and maybe in the near future we will add a ‘big sister’ to our stable.”

Organized by the Yacht Club de Monaco

http://www.assovela.it/news-7303.html

It has been confirmed that Benedetto Giallongo’s Value Team, after a huge win in 2009, has moved his program to be with friends in Scarlino, where they will also take part in the Winter/Spring Championship organized by the Club Nautico.

“It was an easy choice. It is an ideal location for logistics on the ground and water. The Scarlino Navy will be providing several boats during the weekends, storage in protected areas. The location is quite spacious.” said Giallongo. “The breeze here is a guarantee and the perfect base between Northern and Southern Italy minimizing the cost for traveling to regattas. It is a really diverse location.”

Benedetto continued, “We will train here all winter up until March in which we hope to have another great 2010 sailing season that will contain as many as nine calendar events in Italy and the U.S. In July, you can guarantee that we will be at the Gold Cup to.”

The Audi Melges 20 Class if rapidly growing with as many as 40 boats expected on the starting line as early as next April. The European Fleet will open the 2010 Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series in Lerici.

Value Team has confirmed the same team in 2010 that raced in 2009. They will be training, learning more how to handle crew distribution on board and do not rule out a possible addition of a 4th crew member as successfully done in Monaco for the Primo Cup last February. They are aiming to do well once more in 2010.

Media Relations Manager

Piazzetta Italy Sailing Team

On the eve of the final 2009 Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series, teams are practicing and preparing for event no. 5. Taking place in Porto Cervo, hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, the fleet is excited and anxious to go racing. The IM20CA plans to deliver daily race reports, photos and results etc. as the event unfolds. The official entry list includes 14 of these amazing boats. Stay close to melges20.com.

The first day of racing was stalemate with the start at 10:00 in the morning, under thick rain, 1.5 miles out into Lake Michigan, in Macatawa Bay. The weather was at the class maximum limits and the wave action was over two meters.

Fourteen competitors are here, most local to the U.S. with three exceptions — Value Team, Sei Tu 20 and a canadian team.

But today, Saturday, Value Team, at the mark just before turn 1, but after just a few seconds, you have the first break giving way to the walls of the restrictor gennaker, which means losing the gennaker yards away from the boat. But above all, the pops face so super conservative anticipating lowered to several lengths.

Julius wanted, the lightest of our three crew, sacrificed herself to remain on the bow for a good 4 heats (two races) with the tack in the hands of the stern. In between races, with luck we attempted to fix everything. The weight does not help trim the bow of the boat and often have to slow down to avoid the “nose diving”.

On the second beat of race one, and to complicate the day further, it tears the candlestick left stern thruster really hard. Nothing stayed behind the bands during any of the races of the day. Value Team still finished fifth despite a stunning first upwind leg where we were running eighth.

The real surprise of the day and ‘the arrival of the trial one. More than 7 buckets of water collected in 10 minutes between arrival and departure happened inside the hull of Value Team, water apparently came from the hole created by the candlestick uprooted. The problem will recur in all the remaining two races of the day.

The guy at the helm of Value Team, the talented Scarselli did not lose concentration and always maintained despite the continual failures, succeed to complete racing with a 10th and a 4th in the other two tests .

Unfortunately, Value Team is seated mid-fleet after two days.

The sailing talent in America is excellent. The super crew aboard Bliksem, who is in the lead, fought all day with Hollerbach in second.

Sunday, racing is supposed to start around 10:00 with the race committee pushing for as many races as possible. No additional starts will be held after 2 p.m.

Full Results: http://melges20.com/2009-nationals-results.php

PRESS OFFICE
Piazzetta Italy Sailing Team
www.piazzettaitalia-st.it

On July 27th, Audi Melges 20 Owners were asked to vote on the opportunity to extend the fifth and final stage of the 2009 Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series event in Porto Cervo to also include Friday. The International Audi Melges 20 Class Association in coordination with the European Melges 20 fleet can confirm that this concept was rejected by the majority of owners.

The regatta dates are officially confirmed in Porto Cervo, Italy on September, Saturday 19th and Sunday the 20th. As per the standard format, on September 18, a practice race will take place.

Visit Italian photographer Roberto Marci’s Website for some very beautiful Melges 20 imagery as taken during the fourth Audi Sailing Series event this past weekend in Cagliari!