ITALIANS TAKE THE MELGES 24 WORLDS

Congratulations Team Altea and Team Full Circle, Winners in the Open and Corinthian Divisions

Great breeze and blue skies welcomed forty-one teams from five different nations for the 2018 Melges 24 World Championship held at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Victoria, BC, Canada. Tough competition with a total of ten races made for some very close results. The Italian team Altea, skippered by Andrea Raccelli with crew of Filippo Togni, Gaudenzio Bomni, Matteo Ramian, Michele Gregoratto claimed their first Melges 24 World Championship title finishing the event with only 30 points.

We caught up with Andrea Racchelli to get his impressions and emotions on his big win:

How did you and the team prepare for the Worlds?

This year we sailed two events in Italy (Punta Ala and Malcesine) and had one training in Malcesine. We are quite experienced on the Melges 24 as we have been sailing since 2001, so usually we don’t do a lot of training. We arrived late in Victoria for the World Championship as most of our crew members were busy in a Melges 32 regatta in Italy. We had just one day of training on the racing area of the event, while other teams spent there more time to learn about difficult current and wind conditions.

What were the 3 main factors contributing for the winning?

The three main factors were:

1. We used a charter boat that was really perfect and super-fast.
2. We had a new set of North sails fast as well (we used the AP-3K main, J-7K jib and P-3 Runner)
3. Of course the crew! We have been sailing together from many years and we are a group of friends first of all.

What was the most exciting moment of the event?

Winning two races in day 2 in light and shifty wind conditions we nice, and of course the last day: We had two points to recover, it was a perfect day with strong wind and huge current. After the first two races we were leading and we had just to control the last one. We didn’t have a very good start in the last race but we had very good speed and a fast upwind leg, and… we crossed the finish line as the 2018 World Champions!

What’s next for Team Altea?

In the end of June we are going to an event of European Sailing Series in Torbole, followed by the European Championship in August.

Congratulations again to the Team Altea!
Learn more about North’s fast Melges 24 sails.

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