2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship - Strong Fleet Confirmed As Entry Deadline Approaches

14 June 2011 - Aarhus, Denmark - With six weeks to go until the start of the 2011 Böklunder International Melges 24 European Championship (22-28 July) more than 60 teams from 16 nations have already confirmed their entries. Teams will travel from across Europe and from as far afield as Japan to race in this premiere event of the 2011 International Melges 24 calendar.

The racing will be run by the Aarhus Sailing Club on the Bay of Aarhus, one of Europe's best sailing venues. The International Melges 24 Class Association's (IM24CA) Championship Coordinator Hank Stuart will lead the race management team as PRO working in close coordination with Vice PRO Børge Dammand and his exceptionally strong Aarhus team to bring the competitors the very best racing possible.

Amongst the special facilities the club has been preparing ready for the arrival of the Melges 24 teams is a brand new 166-meter long pier on which the competitors will be berthed. This is located right in from of the race management office and the event social facilities making the already outstanding facilities in Aarhus even more competitor friendly.

The line up for this event is as strong as ever with a host of Olympic, America's Cup, World and Continental Champions joining the fray. Fresh from top ten successes at the recent Melges 24 World Championship will be Flavio Favini and the Blu Moon team, keen to add a second European Championship title to their CV, Riccardo Simoneschi and his Audi team and Andrea Racchelli and the Altea crew, whose long standing devotion to the Melges 24 must surely be rewarded with a major title soon.

The Baltic Melges 24 fleets have been going from strength to strength in recent years and now the quality of sailing amongst the northern European teams is more than a match for their Mediterranean based counterparts. Leading the charge for the Baltic nations will be Estonia's Tonu Toniste in Lenny, Tiit Vihul in Rock City and Peter Saraskin in Zuxu. The home Danish fleet has grown exponentially in the past year and it will be interesting to see how this new group fares amongst the more experienced teams. Germany, Norway, Italy and Sweden also field very strong teams with names like Kicker Schaefer, Kristoffer Spone, Oyvind Jahre, Herman Horn Johannessen and Alberto Bolzan all throwing their names into the hat.

Pre-event registration will open on Friday 22 July. There will be practice racing on Saturday 23 July and the European Championship will be raced from Sunday 24 to Thursday 28 July with up to twelve races scheduled.

Media representatives who would like to attend the event are asked to contact IM24CA Media Coordinator Fiona Brown on fiona.brown@melges24.com.

Corinthian competitors are reminded that the absolute closing deadline for Corinthian (all amateur) entries including full crew lists is tomorrow, Wednesday 15 May. To take advantage of the early entry fee discount competitors must complete and pay for their entries by close of day tomorrow, Wednesday 15 May. Late entries to the open division will be accepted but with a 50% late entry surcharge. Online entry and further details are available at www.2011melges24europeans.dk.

Aarhus Sailing Club and the International Melges 24 Class would like to thank event title sponsor Böklunder for their most generous support of the 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship. Böklunder is the producer of a delicious range of meat and sausage products.

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The 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship will run from 22 to 28 July. Registration will open on the morning of Friday 22 July, there will be practice racing on Saturday 23 July and Championship racing will run from Sunday 24 to Thursday 28 July inclusive. You can keep up with all the latest news and developments from the 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 World Championship via the Championship Facebook Page, the event web site and www.melges24.com.

The 2011 Böklunder Melges 24 European Championship is sponsored and supported by:-

Böklunder
Aarhus Kommune
Sport Aarhus Events
Idraetssamvirket Aarhus
Canon
Volvo
Kongres Kompagniet
Sailing Aarhus

The Melges 24 is designed by Reichel Pugh and considered the most unique one design sportsboat in the world as well as one of the fastest-growing classes of high performance yachts. For more information please visit the official website of the International Melges 24 Class Association.

For more information please contact:

Fiona Brown
International Melges 24 Class Administrator & Media Coordinator
fiona.brown@melges24.com
Skype fpbrown
Tel +44 7711 718470

Thomas Capitani Nielsen
Sailing Aarhus
tcn@sailing-aarhus.dk
Skype capitani-nielsen
Tel +45 30 11 42 90

René Bruun
Chairman Danish Melges 24 Association
rene.bruun@bni.as
Tel +45 41 12 11 24