Melges 20 and Melges 32 World Championships in Puntaldia, Sardinia
by Melges Press Office 20 Sep 2022 13:16 PDT
21-24 September 2022
Puntaldia, Sardinia © Melges Europe
Melges returns to the Puntaldia race course (after the 2019 and 2021 events) bringing with it the most important titles of the 2022 season for the Melges 20 and the Melges 32 classes.
The races valid for the World Championship of both classes will be held in parallel from Wednesday 21 to Saturday 24. The World Championship challenge is reached with different balances and power relationships in the two classes and with different stories and therefore different perspectives regarding the fight for the title of World Champion.
In the class of the youngest Melges 20, the script until the penultimate round of the season was only one: the Italian Fremito d'Arja of Dario Levi who was the real protagonist, winning the Grand Prix of Marina di Scarlino, Porto San Giorgio and Gaeta. In Villasimius, Fremito d'Arja found in front of him a double wall raised by his opponents and in particular by the two Monegasque teams of Nika of Vladimir Proskhin and Raya of Matteo Marenghi Vaselli who occupied the first two steps of the podium.
The prediction in this class is therefore not easily given the return of the Italian Brontolo of Filippo Pacinotti to the race course where last year won the European Championship.
Different season script in the Melges 32 fleet where the initial equilibrium (with the podium of Porto S.Giorgio made by Homanit, Farfallina and Heat) has changed in the two subsequent stages of Gaeta and Villasimius with the "photocopy" podium which saw respectively the Germans of Wilma by Fritz Homann (on the top step), the blue Enfant Terrible by Alberto Rossi and the Norwegian Pippa by Lasse Petterson.
The double World Championship challenge also coincides with the final stage of the Melges World League circuit for both classes with Fremito d'Arja and Wilma called to defend their provisional leadership in the ranking.
Marie Hélène Polo, Chief Executive Officer Marina di Puntaldia - "It is a great pleasure to return to welcome the champions of the Melges classes to Puntaldia, not only for the importance and value of this season's competitive events but also because the whole story of The Puntaldia race course's has begun with Melges. In 2019, a lucky meeting with the organizers of the Melges World League led our navy to commit to new goals, thus entering the world of competitive sailing which up to now has given us great gratitude.
"Today the same regatta field hosts the challenge for the double assignment of the Melges 20 and Melges 32 World Champion titles and this fills us with pride as it is the first ever World Championship to be held in Puntaldia. Heartfelt thanks to all the people and realities who, for various reasons, have made it possible to realize this appointment and without which Puntaldia would not be what it represents today in the chessboard of great racing sailing."
The Melges World League 2022 counts on the support of: Helly Hansen, Quantum, North Sails, Garmin and Madonna di Campiglio as well as the technical partners Free Ride Cosmetics, Equilibra, Rigoni di Asiago, Revì, Acqua Cedea, Azienda Agricola il Ponte, Birrificio Petragnolo, Dai Dai, La Bellanotte, Sabatini Gin, Caffè Toscano, FoodNess and le Formiche di Fabio Vettori.
Melges Europe and the Melges World League support the One Ocean Foundation message by signing the Charta Smeralda.