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Pete Melvin, sailing a new stock NACRA A2 A Class Catamaran, won the hotly contested 2005 A Class Catamaran World Championships in Sanguinet, France. Here is Pete's report - Enjoy.
Gino Morrelli and the crew at the Morrelli & Melvin Product Development facility in Santa Ana, California build the resin-infused carbon fiber hulls and foils. Boats are marketed, assembled, and distributed by Performance Catamarans, also of Santa Ana. Jan DeBoer Catamarans in the Netherlands provide European distribution. We have a great group of sailors at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach. Jay and Pease Glaser of Glaser Sails trained with me in the months preceding the Worlds and developed the sail that I used. Howard Hamlin has one of our A2's and trained with me and contributed to the development process in many ways. Olympic Tornado medallist Charlie Ogletree of Ullman Sails also sails A Cats and trained with us several times over the last six months. I was very fortunate to work with this talented group, especially since we are somewhat isolated from the larger and deeper fleets in Europe and Australia. The regatta included 100 of the worlds' best A Class Catamaran sailors from 16 countries. The fleet was comprised of seven former A Class Catamaran World Champions (including Melvin), and at least four Olympic medallists. Steve Brewin from Australia came out of the blocks on fire with two wins on the first day. Glenn Ashby, also from Australia and World Champ for the last two years, scored a second and third place. I had a third and a second. After we got back to the beach, we were informed that Glenn had been "black flagged" on one of the many recalled starts from the race in which he had finished second, giving me a pair of seconds for the day. Day two was light and puffy/shifty, making for a long and mentally draining day on the racecourse. Ashby and Brewin were deep at the first windward mark but clawed back to a 16th and 17th respectively. I was in the thirties at the first mark but was able to salvage an eighth. In the second race of the day, Brewin and Ashby battled for the lead while I recovered from a mid twenties first mark rounding to finish fourth. I was finding that going up the middle and picking shifts and puffs upwind was netting positive deltas even though the sides paid big if you hit it right. Downwind I was probably the fastest boat in the fleet and I could make my biggest gains. After the end of the second day I was leading the regatta, but a throwout race had not been figured into the scores yet. On day three, only one race was completed due to very light and variable winds. I managed another comeback to finished second, Brewin was fourth, and Ashby 7th. On day four, we did not start the race (race number six) until about 6PM. Glenn Ashby and I rounded the first mark in the top five and then battled for the lead, with Glenn taking the gun by less than a boatlength after the race committee shortened the course due to the fading breeze. Steve Brewin was back in the pack at the first mark and recovered to 21st at the finish, so now he had to keep his previous 17th place since this was a one-throwout series. The R/C scheduled racing to begin early the last day in an attempt to try and get two races in. We waited around for a couple of hours before the wind finally filled in and they started a race. I had a mediocre start but was able to find a good shift and puff upwind and round the first mark in second place behind Glenn Ashby. We held these relative positions for another lap (of three), with me letting Glenn go and trying to cover the rest of the fleet and keeping an eye on Steve Brewin, who was lurking in about tenth place. The wind was getting fluky again and I was having trouble covering the other 98 boats, who were fanning out to the edges of the course. In the end, I just tried to stay between Steve Brewin and the mark, stay in decent wind, and try and stay in the top ten so that I had a chance of wrapping up the regatta even if Ashby won the race. Fortunately due to good downwind speed and going the right way, I was able to hold onto my second place and clinch the series! Steve Brewin and Glenn Ashby were virtually tied for second place going into the last race and had an epic match race, with Glenn just slipping by at the finish to win the race and take second overall. See http://www.mondial-voile-2005.org/Version%20anglaise/cadre2.htm for complete results. Special thank you to my sponsor Kaenon Polarized, whos polarized sunglasses helped me stay one puff ahead of my competition. About
A Class Catamarans: About
Morrelli & Melvin: Pete Melvin has been competing at a world-class level since his youth. He has won three World Championships; over 25 National and North American titles, crewed in five WSSRC sanctioned World Records, and has competed in the Olympics. Pete is a founder and principal at Morrelli & Melvin, and manages the Design Office on a daily basis.
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