Today was really the Matrix day of Luigi Melegari with tactician Francesco Bruni, winning two races and now in first position in the provisional standing of European Championship from the third of yesterday.

The event is taking place in Venice, with the organization of Compagnia della Vela in collaboration with the International M30 Class Association and the Italian M30 Class, supported by a prestigious sponsor, in the world of sailing since many years, the Casino di Venezia, with the only name is synonymous with elegance, history and tradition.
The racing day has been very interesting. The wind was initially unstable that led to interrupt the procedures of the first departure and a change of course during the first race but finally the wind stabilized at Scirocco, with an intensity in the first race of 6-7 knots and increasing during the day with gusts of 20 knots in the third and final race. Even the sea was calm in the morning and more choppy later making races more challenging.
In the first race Cheyenne helmed by Federico Strocchi with Portuguese tactician with olympic experience Hugo Rocha rounded the mark first and they kept this position until the finishing line, behind them a nice comeback of Magic Mitsubishi Gasperoni-Franchini-Zaoli with a truly inspired Gabriele Benussi in choosing the right side of the course supported by a very good crew including the Italian Stefano Rizzi, third Black Rose of Black Rose Sailing Team with Paul Montefusco.

Great start for the second race with Magic Mitsubishi again in front of the fleet and able to maintain this position until the third leg when Matrix was able to take the leading position and win the race. In third position Cheyenne.
In the third race more wind and higher waves making the race very challenging for the crews.
The World Champion holder Matrix did even more than before, with an excellent start ahead of the fleet.
On each leg they were able to increase the distance from the followers. In second place Mummy One of Assotubi Mingozzi-Bonora with Branko Brcin, followed by Magic Mitsubishi completing a very successful day with two second places and on third, bringing them up to the 5th place in the provisional standing.

After six races the leader is Matrix of Luigi Melegari with 19 points, followed by MON01 Frimpeks of Farneti-Musone at 25 points. In third place Mummy One Assotubi of Mingozzi-Bonora with 27 points, followed at equal points Cheyenne of Federico Strocchi and in fifth position Magic Mitsubishi with 36 points.
Two more days with 6 races and a maximum of 12 races to awarded the title of Champion of Europe. The boats are at berth to the island of St. George’s island where the sailors will gather at the end of each race day.

Here are the comments of the day:
Cheyenne (Federico Strocchi, Hugo Rocha, Andrea Racchelli, Andrea Bussani, Matteo De Luca, Giulia Mazzotti, Fulvio Manuelli)
Federico Strocchi owner-helmsman: “We are now close to the podium. The victory of the first race was exciting and we did three great race. The injury on the cheek during a jibe on the way back to the port was just painful nothing serious. We are ready for tomorrow and we hope in a clement weather”
Magic Mitsubishi (Marco Franchini, Gabriele Benussi and Stefano Rizzi, Paolo Franchini, Nevio Sabadin, Fabio Gasperoni, Claudio Castiglioni)
Marco Franchini, owner helmsman, joking on the dock with the tactician Gabriele Benussi: “After the “grey” results of yesterday the tactician gave us the task to be in the first five places within today and the mission was accomplished! The M30 is a tough boat, sailing upwind is very challenging, but we have never surrendered. We are aware of our potential: two second and third confirm it.”
Diletta (Mauro Mocchegiani, Andrea Casale, Andrea Collina, Paolo Mascino, Vittorio Rosso, Irene Bezzi, Saverio Cigliano)
Marco Mocchegiani, owner helmsman: “We were thinking to have a racing day similar to yesterday based on the light wind of the first race but Venice is always surprising the wind was getting stronger during the day and we had to change the boat setting. Our performance was consistent in a wide wind range of today”
Standing after six races (boat owner, tactician):
1. Matrix (ITA), Melegari, Bruni (p. 19)
2. MON 01 Frimpeks (ITA), Farneti-Musone, Bressani (p. 25)
3. Mummy One Assotubi (ITA), Mingozzi-Bonora, Brcin (p. 27)
4. Cheyenne (ITA), Strocchi, Rocha (p. 27)
5. Magic Mitsubishi (ITA), Franchini-Zaoli-Gasperoni, Benussi (p. 36)
6. Diletta (ITA), Mocheggiani, Casale (p. 41)
7. Charis (ITA), Mangifesta, Figlia di Granara (p. 47)
8. Uka Uka (ITA), Santini, Eulisse (p. 49)
9. Black Rose (ITA), Black Rose Sailing Team, Montefusco (p. 54)
10. Cro-A-Sails (CRO), Reljanovic, Hajdinjak (p. 57)
11. Topas (GER), Bruening, Gerbin (p. 61)
12. White Shark (RUS), Los, Kalita (p. 63)
13. Uluc (TUR), Caner, Karakaplan (p. 66)
14. Rara Avis (RUS), Basalkina, Sverdlov (p. 70)
15. Oguzhan jr. (TUR), Sumer, Baykal (p. 79)
Press Office Italian M30 Class
Stefania Pilan
stefania.pilan@gmail.com
Ufficio Stampa Compagnia della Vela-Venezia
Francesca Pitacco
f.pitacco@cdsailing.it