DeVos family own lead at Melges 32 US Nationals

Newport, RI (August 16, 2014) – An additional three races were held on day two of the 2014 Melges 32 U.S. National Championship for a total of six heats complete. A discard took effect and ever so slightly shuffled the leaderboard to give Ryan DeVos on Volpe an extended overnight lead. Ryan is followed by his cousin Dalton DeVos on Delta in second, while Jason Carroll and his Argo team, after a very tough day are now third.

Racing took place offshore again, and with a little less than yesterday’s heavy air conditions, teams were content with the 8-10 knots of breeze and moderate seas. While some teams seemed to have struggled more in the lighter air, the Delta and Volpe teams rallied.

Ryan, who was in first going into today’s racing tied in points with Carroll, extended his lead with a solid 2-2-2 daily performance. Carroll struggled to keep up the pace, sliding a notch backwards to now sit third overall.

The left paid off big in Race Four, the first of the day with Ryan and Dalton battling hard into the top mark. Dalton rounded first with Ryan close behind, followed by Richard Goransson’s Inga From Sweden in third. Downwind, Goransson chased hard and gained some ground passing through the gate to take second while Ryan turned the corner in third. The battle for position carried on between the three with Ryan challenging for the lead right at the finish line. The photo finish revealed Dalton edging out Ryan by a nose. Goransson was third, Carroll was fourth and Rob Wilber’s Cinghiale was fifth.

Race Five in the series was basically a continuation of the family battle for first. Practically a carbon copy of Race Four, Dalton took the win just ahead of Ryan in second, while Wilber upped his game to finish third.

The story of the day was Wilber, chartering a boat for the event, coming on strong early leading Race Six wire to wire. Wilber was first around the mark with Ryan in second and Dalton in third. “We got an awesome pin end start, got ahead and spit everyone out from behind.” said Wilber. “It was awesome. It was really a great ride today.”

The next warning signal is at 11 a.m. Sunday, August 17 marking the final day of competition with the last two final races of the eight race series taking place.

Day Two Results (Top 5 of 9; 6 races, 1 discard)
1.) Ryan DeVos/James Spithill, Volpe; [5]-1-1-2-2-2 = 8
2.) Dalton DeVos/Jonathan McKee, Delta; 4-[5]-2-1-1-3 = 11
3.) Jason Carroll/Anthony Kotoun, Argo; 1-2-[10/DSQ]-4-7-4 = 18
4.) Rob Wilber/Mike Buckley, Cinghiale; 6-[8]-3-5-3-1 = 18
5.) Richard Goransson/Morgan Larson, Inga From Sweden; 3-3-4-3-[6]-6 = 19

Event website: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1157

Report and photos by class media.