Riva Del Garda, Italy – After one final race, John Kilroy at the helm of Samba Pa Ti, tactician Paul Goodison and crew Jeff Reynolds proved they were more than deserving of the 2014 Audi Melges 20 World Champion title. Four days of racing and no worse than a fourteenth in a fleet of fifty-seven entries, the Samba Pa Ti team excelled in almost every condition and under a wide variety of pressure.
“All we wanted to do for the start of the race today was to control Mascalzone as they were the only ones that could possibly win the event other than us. So, we did a little match racing on the start,” commented a very happy Kilroy. “Things just went our way. Everything just went right for us. We’ve trained a lot and we have a great team.”
Kilroy attributes much of this week’s success to the training he has been doing in his home town of San Francisco, California with his son, 11-year old Liam Kilroy who helms Wildman. “The training we did against and with Wildman made me a much better small boat driver. We did a lot of match racing, practiced straight-line speed work and crew kinetics so, hats off to Wildman as they really made us a better team.”
In second overall is Achille Onorato helming Mascalzone Latino, Jr. with tactician Malcolm Page and Stefano Campialini as crew. Rounding out the top three is Guido Miani on Monaco Racing Fleet with tactician Gabriele Benussi and crew member Massimo Gherarducci who are the only other team other than Samba Pa Ti to hold three race wins in Riva.
In the all-amatuer Corinthian division (all ISAF Group 1 on board), Marco Gambarella’s Chimera edged out American John Brown’s Blind Squirrel for the overall title. From Canada, Paul Currie’s Wild Deuces finished third.
For now the World Championship title remains in the hands of the Americans.
A huge congratulations to the 2014 Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series Champion Miani. Over the last few months, since the start of the Series in Naples, which then traveled onward to Porto Ercole, Talamone and Riva Del Garda, Miani has been challenged by Dario Levi’s Fremito D’Arja all season long – until today. Onorato placed second in the series, while Levi finished in third overall. Pasquale Orofino’s Raffica and Mirko De Falco’s Peccere completed the Series in fourth and fifth respectively.
In 2015, the next World Championship will take place in San Francisco, California hosted by the San Francisco Yacht Club on September 30-October 3.
A VERY SPECIAL THANKS
The 2014 World Championship was not only the largest ever in International Class history, it has been one of the most incredible events ever. The venue, conditions, competition, shore-side atmosphere and camaraderie have been nothing short of world class. It has been the absolute best. This is in great gratitude to Sailing Series and circuit title sponsor Audi, the entire B.Plan Sport&Events staff, Melges Europe, and host Yacht Club Fraglia Della Vela Riva and their league of volunteers, race committee and management. Most especially to all the participants that traveled from eleven different countries, made this Championship fantastic.
Thanks to everyone who joined the fleet this past week on the Official Audi Melges 20 Facebook Page. Be sure to follow the fleet on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Re-live the Worlds through a collection of race reports, photos and video online at melges20.com.
TOP TEN RESULTS (FINAL – After Ten Races, One Discard)
1.) John Kilroy/Paul Goodison, Samba Pa Ti; 13-4-4-2-1-2-[14]-12-1-1 = 40
2.) Achille Onorate/Malcolm Page, Mascalzone Latino, Jr.; [18]-9-3-4-8-9-6-1-4-12 = 56
3.) Guido Miani/Gabriele Benussi, Monaco Racing Fleet; 27-5-17-1-3-1-1-[30]-3-2 = 60
4.) Naofumi Kamei/Manu Weiller, Mamma Aiuto!; 17-21-[30]-13-11-5-13-8-2-7 = 97
5.) Russ Lucas/Harry Melges III, Shimmer; 5-6-16-12-17-15-[22]-3-11-35 = 107
6.) Dario Levi/Niccolo Bianchi, Fremito D’Arja; 6-17-8-3-4-6-21-15-30-[45] = 110
7.) Paul Reilly/Andy Burdick, Red Sky Sailing Team; 12-22-[27]-9-5-8-8-14-24-21 = 123
8.) John Taylor/Bill Hardesty, Ninkasi; 8-8-[36]-35-10-10-4-20-5-25 = 125
9.) Wes Whitmyer/Max Fraser, Slingshot; [45]-24-9-14-12-13-16-18-7-16 = 129
10.) Alessandro Rombelli/Daniele Cassinari, STIG; 11-1-2-23-9-[43]-10-41-14-20 = 131
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