From Russia with love - Rytov Crowned Melges 20 European Champion

by Melges 20 on 16 Jul 2017

2017 Melges 20 European Champions - Russian Bogatyrs Barracuda Communication / Melges World League

Congratulations to 2017 Melges 20 European Champions Igor Rytov at the helm of Russian Bogatyrs and crew members Konstantin Besputin and Anton Sergeev. From the early beginning they gained the overall lead, but Rytov admits that getting to the top of this incredible Melges 20 World League fleet was not easy, and staying there was no easy task either.

'Today was really tough. It was us against the entire fleet,' said Rytov. 'Our closest opponents proved to be very strong, attempting to put us in trouble at every turn.'

2017 Melges 20 European Champions - Russian Bogatyrs © Barracuda Communication / Melges World League

'Fortunately, we were able to withstand the heavy pressure and react, a direct result of our hard training in the U.S.A. and Europe. As seen today, it rewarded us well. So, we celebrate today and return to a serious focus tomorrow because the season is not over. We are not only fighting to be victorious in the overall Melges 20 World League, but also want to do well at the Worlds in October,' concluded Rytov.

Alexander Novoselov, Victor - 2017 Melges 20 European Championship © Barracuda Communication / Melges World League

Rytov's stiff competition never let up on trying to push and intimidate him at every possible opportunity, forcing him to re-group on the run-in positions. Fellow Russian competitor Alexander Novoselov's Victor and Alessandro Rombelli's STIG/OPENJOBMETIS were left to settle finishing second and third respectively with only a couple of points of separation.

Alessandro Rombelli, STIG/OPENJOBMETIS - 2017 Melges 20 European Championship © Barracuda Communication / Melges World League

Orel Kalomeni's Arcora finished fourth overall, followed by Melges 20 Class veteran Achille Onorato's Mascalzone Latino Jr. getting fifth.

The last two races of the 2017 European Championship were happily awarded to Krzsztof Krempec on MAG TINY (Race Seven) and Matteo Marenghi Vaselli on Raya (Race Eight).

In the Corinthian division, it was an exciting final day as Marco Giannini's Evinrude pulled ahead to beat Marina Kaverzina's Marussia for the highly-coveted all-amatuer 2017 Melges 20 Corinthian Championship title.

2017 Melges 20 Corinthian European Champions - Evinrude © Barracuda Communication / Melges World League

From here to there

The International Melges 20 Class Association (IM20CA) rallies onward to Asia for the Melges Summer Regatta on July 22-23, then its back to glorious Newport for the next highlight event of the 2017 season - the U.S. National Championship on August 17-19. The U.S. Nationals will present the perfect warm-up stage, building up to the pinnacle event of the entire year - the 2017 Melges 20 World Championship, hosted by the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) on October 2-7.

2017 Melges 20 European Championship - Overall © Barracuda Communication / Melges World League

Top Five Results (Final- After Eight Races)

1.) Igor Rytov, RUSSIAN BOGATYRS; 3-1-8-6-2-6-[9]-7 = 33
2.) Alexander Novoselov, VICTOR; 1-8-9-[23]-3-3-8-2 = 34
3.) Alessandro Rombelli, STIG/OPENJOBMETIS; 5-2-3-8-8-[18]-5-4 = 35
4.) Orel Kalomeni, ARCORA; 2-7-10-5-11-9-10-[16] = 54
5.) Achille Onorato, MASCALZONE LATINO JR.; 13-18-5-13-[36/BFD]-1-3-3 = 56

Top Five 2017 Melges World League Results (After Eight Events)

1.) Igor Rytov, RUSSIAN BOGATYRS = 96 pts.
2.) Vladimir Prosikhin, NIKA = 57 pts.
3.) Drew Freides, PACIFIC YANKEE = 57 pts.
4.) Liam Kilroy, WILDMAN = 49 pts.
5.) Achille Onorato, MASCALZONE LATINO = 48 pts.

Top Five 2017 Melges World League, Europe Results (After Three Events)

1.) Vladimir Prosikhin, NIKA = 57 pts
2.) Igor Rytov, RUSSIAN BOGATYRS = 35 pts.
3.) Achille Onorato, MASCALZONE LATINO, JR. = 48 pts.
4.) Krzysztof Krempec, MAG TINY = 48 pts.
5.) Rodney Jones, CARS 167 = 48 pts.

2017 Melges 20 World League European Division // Event 4 - Preliminary Cumulative Results

			Bow	Sail Number	Yacht Name	Yacht Design	Owner/Skipper	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	T O	Total
World League Racing
	One Design Division
		Melges 20
		1.	296	RUS 296	RUSSIAN BOGATYRS	Melges 20	Igor Rytov	3	1	8	6	2	6	9	7	[9]	33.0
		2.	275	RUS 275	VICTOR	Melges 20	Alexander Novoselov	1	8	9	23	3	3	8	2	[23]	34.0
		3.	65	ITA 65	OPENJOBMETIS/STIG	Melges 20	Alessandro Rombelli	5	2	3	8	8	18	5	4	[18]	35.0
		4.	288	MON 4444	ARCORA	Melges 20	Hugo Feydit	2	7	10	5	11	9	10	16	[16]	54.0
		5.	23	ITA 23	MASCALZONE LATINO JR	Melges 20	Achille Onorato	13	18	5	13	36/BFD	1	3	3	[36]	56.0
		6.	261	RUS 261	NIKA	Melges 20	Vladimir Prosikhin	8	4	11	18	7	11	12	5	[18]	58.0
		7.	264	POL 264	MAG TINY	Melges 20	Krzysztof Krempec	36/BFD	12	7	1	4	7	1	27	[36]	59.0
		8.	47	RUS 47	KOTYARA	Melges 20	Oleg Evdokimenko	18	17	2	2	9	14	25	6	[25]	68.0
		9.	255	RUS 2	PIROGOVO SAILING	Melges 20	Alexandr Ezhkov	4	3	18	12	16	31	7	8	[31]	68.0
		10.	270	ITA 270	MAOLCA	Melges 20	Manfredi Vianini Tolomei	6	21	1	7	6	8	24	25	[25]	73.0
		11.	167	AUS 167	AUDI SUNSHINE COAST	Melges 20	Rodney Jones	16	10	6	24	1	4	16	28	[28]	77.0
		12.	219	RSA 219	TNT	Melges 20	Tina Plattner / Tony Norris	14	14	28	9	27	5	6	9	[28]	84.0
		13.	289	RUS 289	LEVIATHAN	Melges 20	Vadim Yakhinson	7	20	19	17	15	12	4	14	[20]	88.0
		14.	301	MON 301	RAYA	Melges 20	Matteo Marenghi Vaselli	24	15	4	3	36/BFD	36/BFD	11	1	[36]	94.0
		15.	180	CZE 180	ALOHA	Melges 20	Jan Kuchar	15	30	17	4	25	10	15	12	[30]	98.0
		16.	183	ITA 183	4 SALE	Melges 20	Manlio Carlo Soldani	17	5	20	15	12	22	28	11	[28]	102.0
		17.	81	MON 81	COIMMVEST	Melges 20	Corrado Agusta	21	6	23	14	14	29	2	24	[29]	104.0
		18.	410	ITA 410	GONE SQUATCHIN	Melges 20	Pietro Loro Piana	10	32	13	19	5	20	17	21	[32]	105.0
		19.	206	ITA 206	EVINRUDE (Corinthian)	Melges 20	Marco Giannini	36/BFD	22	31	10	10	19	13	13	[36]	118.0
		20.	156	RUS 156	MARUSSIA (Corinthian)	Melges 20	Marina Kaverzina	25	9	12	21	18	21	14	29	[29]	120.0
		21.	276	RUS 276	ROCKNROLLA	Melges 20	Dmitry Samokhin	9	13	25	26	17	24	18	18	[26]	124.0
		22.	44	RUS 044	RED OCTOBER	Melges 20	Artem Kuznetsov	22	19	21	30	19	13	21	10	[30]	125.0
		23.	149	ITA 149	CAMAY	Melges 20	Lauro Bonora	11	29	15	20	24	17	20	20	[29]	127.0
		24.	137	RUS137	ALEX TEAM (Corinthian)	Melges 20	Alexander Mikhaylik	26	23	16	16	26	2	27	22	[27]	131.0
		25.	185	RUS 185	ELF	Melges 20	Sergey Sobolev	27	24	14	11	36/BFD	25	22	19	[36]	142.0
		26.	135	NED 135	FANTASTICHINA (Corinthian)	Melges 20	Wilma Homann	12	26	26	32	13	16	30	26	[32]	149.0
		27.	277	JPN 277	CONTIOUS	Melges 20	Norikatsu Aizawa	20	25	24	22	29	26	19	31	[31]	165.0
		28.	208	POL 208	STARTELEKOM	Melges 20	Waldemar Salata	23	11	22	34	23	30	26	32	[34]	167.0
		29.	36	RUS 36	ANNA	Melges 20	Vladimir Silkin	19	16	27	31	21	36/BFD	23	30	[36]	167.0
		30.	236	CRO 236	CRO-A-SAIL	Melges 20	Miroslav Reljanovic	28	33	33	28	20	27	36/DNF	17	[36]	186.0
		31.	161	GER 161	MOJITO	Melges 20	Florian Rixner	33	31	34	35	22	28	29	15	[35]	192.0
		32.	146	DEN 146	GT (Corinthian)	Melges 20	Anders Junker Nielsen	30	28	32	25	28	36/DNF	31	23	[36]	197.0
		33.	181	ITA 181	MENDIETA	Melges 20	Luigi Giannattasio	29	27	29	29	36/BFD	15	36/BFD	36/DNF	[36]	201.0
		34.	294	RUS 294	PIROGOVO EVOLUTION	Melges 20	Leonid Altukhov	31	34	30	27	30	23	36/DNS	36/DNS	[36]	211.0
		35.	125	CRO 104	ŠIBENIK	Melges 20	Selcuk Balci	32	35	35	33	36/DNF	36/DNS	36/DNS	36/DNS	[36]	243.0

2017 Melges 20 World League European Division // Event 4 - Corinthian Teams - Preliminary Cumulative Results

			Bow	Sail Number	Yacht Name	Yacht Design	Owner/Skipper	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	T O	Total
World League Racing
	One Design Division
		Melges 20
		1.	206	ITA 206	EVINRUDE	Melges 20	Marco Giannini	36/BFD	22	31	10	10	19	13	13	[36]	118.0
		2.	156	RUS 156	MARUSSIA	Melges 20	Marina Kaverzina	25	9	12	21	18	21	14	29	[29]	120.0
		3.	137	RUS137	ALEX TEAM	Melges 20	Alexander Mikhaylik	26	23	16	16	26	2	27	22	[27]	131.0
		4.	135	NED 135	FANTASTICHINA	Melges 20	Wilma Homann	12	26	26	32	13	16	30	26	[32]	149.0
		5.	146	DEN 146	GT	Melges 20	Anders Junker Nielsen	30	28	32	25	28	36/DNF	31	23	[36]	197.0