Bacardi to Close out Melges 24 Winter Series, Ushers in 2019 U.S. National Ranking Series

March 7, 2019, USA - The final stage of the 2018/19 Melges 24 Winter Series comes to a close this weekend at the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta. With two events complete and one final stage to go, Bruce Ayres’ Monsoon, leads the three-part Series that commenced back in December 2018. View the 2018/19 Melges 24 Bacardi Winter Series Ranking (After Two Events).

Although Ayres maintains a sizable 7-point lead over second place runner Kevin Welch aboard MiKEY, the remaining top five positions are down to a tiebreaker between Brian Porter’s Full Throttle, John Brown’s Blind Squirrel, and top-Corinthian player Megan Ratliff on Decorum.

The Winter Series has boasted the participation of 29 teams over three events with international entries from Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway. As the U.S. Melges 24 Class looks ahead to the 2019/2020 Winter Series, this number is expected to increase significantly.

For the Melges 24s, Wednesday marked registration and a fantastic mid-week Skippers Party. Racing officially gets underway on Thursday, March 7 and concludes on Saturday, March 9.

The 2019 Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta is event number one on the newly announced Melges 24 U.S. National Ranking Series.

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