“Our plan was to take the right side of the first beat, but certainly not the way we did it!” said Reggini tactician Branko Brcin, referring to the 10-boat pileup at the final start that left Reggini at a standstill immediately after the start. “Fortunately, the right turned out to be the place to be,” said Brcin. Their epic recovery began with a near-perfect windward leg, and by the top mark, they passed most the fleet, rounding in 10th place.

Value Team helmsman Francesco Scarselli had a much better start, though tactician Chicco Fonda chose the left side of the first leg – a choice which would prove disastrous. “I thought there was something over there, and on the first leg, I was wrong,” he said. By the top mark, Value Team had fallen back to 17th position. “We kept it positive and had an incredible downwind run, and by the bottom, we’d caught Farneti,” said owner Benedetto Giallongo. Fonda wanted to cross behind Farneti and continue to the right side of the lake, though Scarselli instead chose to gybe close to Reggini, who took advantage of the situation and forced Value Team into a foul. “We had an unfortunate misunderstanding on our boat, and the resulting penalty turn meant that we had to once again come back from a big deficit,” said Fonda. In the end, despite a brilliant second beat Value Team didn’t have enough race course to catch and pass Farneti.

Principal Race Officer Fabio Barrasso sent the teams to shore after patiently waiting for the wind to stabilize, though it never would. Sailors filled the Fraglia Vela Malcesine restaurant, patiently waiting for an Ora wind that would arrive far later than usual, and too late for the event’s rules. “With a strong North-flowing current and a very weak and spotty wind from the North, I could not find a way to set a fair course, before the wind shut off,” said Barrasso, who hoisted the signal abandoning racing promptly at 1430 to the crowd’s cheers. The sailors then turned their attention on the winning crew, gently urging them into the chilly waters of Lake Garda in celebration. “We’re very happy for Francesco and Andrea,” said Giallongo as he watched the traditional dousing. “They worked very hard, they deserve their win, and we look forward to a rematch in Rimini.” After 23 races in the 2010 Audi Sailing Series, Giallongo leads Farneti/Musone by just 9 points going into the final event. “We’re going home, and we can’t wait to sail the last event there,” said Farneti. When asked whether the venue would provide an advantage for his team over Giallongo and Domenici, he said nothing – but he smiled.

A long delay to resolve a protest gave sailors time to haul and pack up their Audi Melges 20s and enjoy the hospitality of the FVM’s staff, and by 5 PM, the protest was decided against Luca Domenici and Team Notaro, who were disqualified from the final race for a mark rounding incident, dropping them one position to fourth place overall, and allowing Sei Tu 20a chance to sneak into fifth place on countback, tied on points with America’s Michael Kiss. “Disappointed? No way!” said Kiss after being incorrectly awarded a trophy that he knew he’d just missed out on. “I bought a boat for Italy because I love everything about this place, even if it means I don’t take home any silverware.”

Sei Tu 20 tactician Flavio Favini seemed far more happy to have sailed with son Luca than he was with any trophy, as his high-profile racing career rarely allows such a treat. “I love sailing with my dad,” Luca said.

GRATITUDE ALL AROUND
The International Audi Melges 20 Class offers deep thanks to the Fraglia Vela Malcesine and all its volunteers and staff, Audi and all the event sponsors, and the international media for its attendance and strong interest. “We are gracious to have such good support from so many sources, but especially, our owners and crews,” said International Class Vice Chairman (Europe) Giallongo. “We also invite everyone to visit the Melges Europe Facebook Page to see the hundreds of photos posted there, and we encourage all our sailors and their friends to tag the pictures so everyone can see them.

WHAT’S NEXT?
Three more impeccable events are forthcoming for the Audi Melges 20 - 2010 U.S. Nationals Championship (August 27-29 in Macatawa, Mich.), the final Audi Sailing Series Circuit event in Rimini (September 11-12). The fleet will also participate at Oktoberfest on September 24-26 on Lake Starnberg, Germany.

Top Ten Results (After 8 Races)
1.) Francesco Farneti, Reggini Sailing Team; 3-2-1-4-8-[11]-2-4 = 24
2.) Benedetto Giallongo, Value Team; 1-1-[8]-2-1-8-8-7 = 28
3.) Marco Perazzo/Renato Vallivero, Turnover; 10-4-2-9-7-2-5-8 = 37
4.) Luca Domenici, Notaro Team; 5-8-4-1-16-4-4-[DSQ] = 42
5.) Marco Morina, Sei Tu 20; 2-6-[12]-10-3-1-10-9 = 48
6.) Michael Kiss, Bacio; 6-[23]-DNF-3-2-9-3-2 = 48
7.) Federico Strocchi, Cheyenne; 8-[16]-9-7-6-13-7-1 = 51
8.) Stefano di Properizio, HULK; 4-3-14-6-12-[15]-9-3 = 51
9.) Fausto Rubbini, Thule; 13-5-3-19-[23]-6-6-6 = 58
10.) Ivan Venturi/Luca Modena, Luca; 14-10-[17]-17-13-3-1-(DNC) = 75

Benedetto Giallongo’s Value Team drew first blood, winning the first race from wire to wire and taking over the regatta lead, after Francesco Farneti’s Reggini barely finished in the top ten. Giallongo’s team would struggle for the rest of the day, though Farneti continued his troubles in Race 2, while 3rd place Notaro Team and fourth place Turnover were both on fire with the leaders in their sights. “We just could not find our speed,” said Value Team tactician Chicco Fonda. “Francesco [Scarselli, helm] flies in this big air, but boats were coming in and crossing us from the left, the right – everywhere.” Reggini finally found their legs in the final race, the windiest of the day, finishing second over the line and giving the team a slim one-point lead over Giallongo. Fonda was looking forward to the battle tomorrow. “We think we found our problem, but we can easily finish this regatta anywhere from first to fourth place,” he said. “We think we’ve found our problem, but we’ll find at 9:30 if that’s the case.”

A replacement driver and tactician aboard Luca took the final bullet with a substitute crew and a helmsman who’d never driven a Melges 20 before, and Luca tactician Daniele ‘DeDe’ Deluca was as surprised as anyone. “Ivan Venturi and I jumped on board this morning to replace our friends when work called them away, but it was his first time on a Melges 20, so our expectations were not too high,” said Deluca. When asked if tomorrow would bring more top finishes for the team, Deluca was stoic. “We had a great time and these are very good sailors, but we had a lot of luck today. We’ll just have more fun tomorrow and see what happens.”

Starboat sailor Oleg Chtchetinine drove 8 hours through the heart of the Alps to have a look at the Melges 20 as he searches for his next boat for his home lake in Switzerland. “The boat is obviously a lot of fun and very fast, but what really stands out are the event organization and the support of the Class provided by Melges,” he said. “I think if the circuit continues along its path, we will see plenty of new fleets growing all over Europe over the next few years.”

The 2010 Audi Melges Gold Cup Champion will be crowned after an expected three final races, which will begin at 0930 CET on Sunday. Local experts expect typical Pelear morning and Ora afternoon conditions.

Top Ten Results (After 7 Races)
1.) Francesco Farneti, Reggini Sailing Team; 3-2-1-4-8-[11]-2 = 20
2.) Benedetto Giallongo, Value Team; 1-1-[8]-2-1-8-8 = 21
3.) Luca Domenici, Notaro Team; 5-8-4-1-[16]-4-4 = 26
4.) Marco Perazzo/Renato Vallivero, Turnover; 10-4-2-9-7-2-5 = 29
5.) Marco Morina, Sei Tu 20; 2-6-[12]-10-3-1-10 = 39
6.) Michael Kiss, Bacio; 6-[23]-DNF-3-2-9-3= 46
7.) Stefano di Properizio, HULK; 4-3-14-6-12-[15]-9 = 48
8.) Federico Strocchi, Cheyenne; 8-[16]-9-7-6-13-7 = 50
9.) Fausto Rubbini, Thule; 13-5-3-19-[23]-6-6 = 52
10.) Luca Modena, Luca; 14-10-[17]-17-13-3-1 = 58