After winning the final two races at the third Melges 24 world championship in truly impressive style, Giorgio Zuccoli (ITA139 ‘Ale Ali’) finally claimed the world title he has been coveting for so long.

The day saw racing in north-westerly 18-20 knots with a difficult chop on top of the underlying swell. In race nine Zuccoli took the lead from the start and was never challenged. Overnight joint leader Morgan Reeser (USA450 ‘White Loaf’) was in third place down the final run when he suddenly found himself without a rig leaving it all between Zuccoli and Brian Porter (USA409 ‘Full Throttle’), whose sixth place left him well in contention.

The 10th race saw Porter and Zuccoli virtually match racing out of the start and up the first beat. As a result Mike Budd (GBR454 ‘Gul’) took the lead with the two favourites down in the front of pack. At the first weather mark Zuccoli just slotted into fifth whilst Porter found himself on the wrong side of a bunch and ended up rounding in the teens. An incident at the top of the run then saw Porter forced into a penalty turn whilst Zuccoli took off downwind with impressive speed.

At the bottom mark, Paul Brotherton (GBR407 ‘Racketeer’) finally showed his face at the front of the fleet, closely followed by Budd and Zuccoli. Zuccoli was a man possessed up the last beat and by the final top mark had taken the lead. Downwind his outstanding speed and conservative tactics ensured he was out on his own at the finish.

The emotion of finally winning the event, at which he has been second twice, clearly showed on his face as he crossed the line. Zuccoli, a long time supporter of the class, is an enormously popular winner and arrived on the dock to a huge welcome from the other Melges crews.

The other big battle of the day was between Sebastien Col (FRA382 ‘Eurosail’) and Cedric Pouligny (FRA383 ‘Plan Gestion Big Ship’) for third and fourth place. In race nine Pouligny managed a sixth while Col found himself down in the cheap seats at 25th. All Pouligny had to do was sail safe in the final race for the third slot to be his and this he achieved easily finishing up seventh.

Provisional Overall Results (One Discard)

1. ITA139, Ale Ali, Giorgio Zuccoli, 30 points, 28 points, 1 1 15 6 1 2 2 1 1

2. USA409, Full Throttle, Brian Porter, 39 points, 7 6 3 12 2 2 1 3 6 9

3. FRA383, Plan Gestion Big Ship, Chabanne/Supiot/Jaricot/Veniard/Cedric Pouligny, 62 points, 20 1 3 16 4 8 11 5 7 7

4. FRA382, Eurosail, Christian Roman/Sebastien Col, 77 points, 2 2 4 26 9 10 10 9 25 6

5. GBR454, Gul, Mike Budd, 82 points, 22 4 ZPG 1 29 6 17 13 3 2

6. FRA422, Nantes St Nazaire/Bougues, APCC/Pierre Loic Berthet, 100 points, 17 10 13 3 10 17 18 14 8 8

7. USA418, Rock N’Roll, Argyle Campbell, 101 points, 6 5 10 13 1 1 39 48 22 4

8. FRA375, Minnie The Moucher, Francoise Lebourdais/Voile Performance Manche, 101 points, 15 13 31 6 5 3 19 7 2 BFD

9. USA450, White Loaf, Scott Elliot/Morgan Reeser, 107 points, 5 8 2 2 2 17 4 1 DNF DNF

10. FRA428, Human Cannon Ball, Jean Pierre Dick/Nicolas Charbonnier, 120 points, 3 11 18 33 4 3 27 30 12 12

Silver Fleet Provisional Overall Results (One Discard)

1. NOR341, Dolly, Caroline Moller/Arthur Erik, 178 points, 41 38 6 37 38 53 5 1 2 10

2. FRA471, Mu, Nebout, 186 points, 55 24 41 52 22 24 1 3 16 3

3. ITA138, Hagar, 196 points, 45 32 15 31 51 44 2 5 7 15

4. BEL473, Spilleboudt, 203 points, 40 28 35 29 41 45 3 6 13 8

5. FRA387, Hera, 207 points, DNS 19 11 55 52 31 ZPG 9 4 2