Thirty-eight Melges 24s descended on Pensacola, Florida, and the Pensacola Yacht Club this past week to compete in the national championship. Racing took place between Thursday, November 14th, and Sunday, November 16th.
Over the course of the weekend, the group completed nine races. After six races, a drop race was factored in. The first two days of the event brought light conditions that made races challenging. Finally, on Day 3, the seabreeze filled to close out the event on a high note.
Congratulations to the 2025 National Champion team Dark Horse (Portland YC), sailed by Cuyler Morris, Charlie Smythe, Dean Curtis, Mark Ivey, and Manuel Weiller. Their key to success seemed to be consistency, only dropping out of single digits once to discard an 11 from their scoreline.
Close behind, with just one point more, was team Mavi (Bayview YC), sailed by Bora Gulari, Jyle Navin, Nick Ford, Norman Berge, and Trevor Burd. This team was able to win several races but was just edged out by the top team.
Finally, rounding out the top three was team Catapult (Wayzata YC), sailed by Joel Ronning, Victor Diaz De Leon, Thomas Dietrich, Lorenzo De Felice, and Will Ryan. This team had a strong start, winning the first two races, and then posted top scores to stay in front of this competitive fleet.
The top Corinthian boat, team WombMates Racing (Vermillion Boat Club), held their own against the pros, finishing 16th overall. This team, consisting of John Shockey, Timothy Zacher, Ian Moran, Michael Komar, and Eliot Caple, sailed an excellent event and demonstrated that any team willing to put the training and regatta time in can succeed in the Melges 24 class.
You can find the rest of the results HERE.
It looks like the Melges 24 class will be heading north for next year’s nationals, with Grand Traverse Yacht Club in Traverse City, Michigan, set to host the event. About a month later, Little Traverse Yacht Club will host the 2026 Melges 24 World Championship. Those of us at S1D are looking forward to seeing how these back-to-back events at two well-known Midwest venues shake out!
Keep an eye on our EVENT CALENDAR for more regatta dates and further event details. It’s the best way to stay ahead of everything happening across the sport.
Photos pulled from the event GALLERY by Anna Susslova.
Leave a Reply