03 October 2024—Split, Croatia – The Yugo wind continued to blow across the Split racecourse, allowing three more races at the Melges 24 European Championship to be completed for the second consecutive day. With eight completed races and two remaining, Croatian Razjaren is in firm control (today 8-1-1).
Despite finishing outside the top five in the first race, Ante Cesic’s team reminded everyone of their dominance by scoring two bullets, putting them in a strong position for the overall victory.
Razjaren holds an 11-point lead over former World Champion Altea (ITA, 19-3-9), led by Andrea Racchelli, who managed to hold off a challenge from the two-time Corinthian World Champion Mataran 24 (CRO, 3-8-4), currently third overall and just three points behind Altea.
Ivo Matic, owner of Mataran 24, expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance, leading the Corinthian division: “We love strong winds and trained hard in San Francisco under heavy conditions. That’s why we’ve performed well over the last two days. Now, we’re hoping for some Mistral tomorrow to finish the event in the best possible way.”
Mataran 24 displaced Ivan Kljaković Gašpić’s Universitas Nova (CRO, 2-13-8) from the provisional podium but sits just one point ahead of Cuyler Morris’ Dark Horse (USA,1-9-6), which earned the satisfaction of another bullet today.
In the Corinthian division, Ákos Csolto’s Chinook, winner of the 2023 European Sailing Series, holds second place, with Miles Quinton’s Zhik Race Team in third.
The Melges 24 European Championship will conclude on Friday, with the final two races. PRO Marko Misura has scheduled the first warning signal at noon, with the time limit set for 4 p.m.
The event will conclude with a prizegiving ceremony at JK Split, organized in collaboration with the International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA).
Today’s race winners:
Race 6:
- DARK HORSE (USA 870) – Cuyler Morris
- Corinthian: MATARAN 24 (CRO 649) – Ante Botica
Race 7:
- RAZJAREN (CRO 867) – Ante Cesic
- Corinthian: BLUE LABEL (CRO 827) – Hrvoje Petrovic
Race 8:
- RAZJAREN (CRO 867) – Ante Cesic
- Corinthian: CHINOOK (HUN 850) – Ákos Csolto
Top 10 boats after 8 races (one discard):
- RAZJAREN (CRO 867) – Ante Cesic, 19 (1, [14], 1, 5, 2, 8, 1, 1)
- ALTEA (ITA 722) – Andrea Racchelli, 30 (5, 4, 7, 1, 1, [19], 3, 9)
- MATARAN 24 (CRO 649) – Ante Botica, 33 ([12], 3, 2, 9, 4, 3, 8, 4)
- DARK HORSE (USA 870) – Cuyler Morris, 34 (7, 1, 3, 7, [BFD], 1, 9, 6)
- UNIVERSITAS NOVA (CRO 760) – Ivan Kljaković Gašpić, 35 (3, 8, 6, 3, 5, 2, [13], 8)
- MELGINA (ITA 854) – Paolo Brescia, 58 (17, 6, 4, 2, [BFD], 6, 11, 12)
- CHINOOK (HUN 850) – Ákos Csolto, 58 (10, [34], 12, 10, 7, 5, 12, 2)
- CRO-A-SAIL (CRO 782) – Matija Reljanović, 60 (2, 11, 13, 11, 11, [33], 5, 7)
- PANJIC (CRO 739) – Luka Šangulin, 61 ([21], 16, 5, 6, 6, 13, 10, 5)
- ZHIK RACE TEAM (GBR 694) – Geoff Carveth, 74 (6, 18, 15, 4, 8, 20, [23], 3)
Top 3 Corinthian boats:
- MATARAN 24 (CRO 649) – 33
- CHINOOK (HUN 850) – 58
- ZHIK RACE TEAM (GBR 694) – 74
Full results
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Sponsors and partners of the Melges 24 European Championship 2024:
Luki Baustoffe
Grad Split
North Sails
Pomorsko Je Dobro
Quantum Sails
Splitsko Dalmatinska Zupanja
Hrvatski Jedrilicarski Savez
CRO Melges 24 Cup, is supported by a number of partners, including Angelina Yacht Charter, Sailing Point, North Sails, One Sails, Akvarij digital studio, regate.com.hr, Raiser digital agency, EmergenSea, and Dustom Sails.