Reid on Zingara Captures Big Win at the 2023 Melges 24 North Americans in Toronto

20.09.2023

September 20, 2023 - Toronto, ON, Canada - It was a very Canadian 2023 Melges 24 North American Championship in Toronto this past weekend. Richard Reid’s Melges 24 Zingara with tactician Brian Kamilar along with crew members Ian Sloan, Bill Gooderham and Serena Vilage won the highly-coveted International Class title by two points. Top Corinthian teams Dan Berezin on Surprise and Megan Ratliff’s Decorum brought out the best in heavy competition finishing the event in second and third respectively.

Hosted by the National Yacht Club (TheNYC) in Toronto, Canada, teams enjoyed 3 days of world-class racing.

“The event was extremely well organized. The NYC and its volunteers did a remarkable job,” said Mike Gozzard, owner of Rush and defending 2022 Quantum Great Lakes Cup Series Champion. “Despite what appeared to be an unfavorable forecast, the race committee pulled off 10 high-quality races that provided some of the closest boat-to-boat action I have seen in a while. It really was tight sailing out there.”

Consistency was definitely the name of the game. Every day, at every mark rounding, the leadership of the fleet changed, but in the end, it was Reid’s string of top-three finishes that helped him get the overall win.

Both Berezin and Ratliff grabbed their share of race wins, which kept the overall competition on edge. Scot Zimmerman’s Bad Idea and Robert Wigny’s Notorious enjoyed a successful weekend of high-performance racing to finish in the top five.

Melges 24 North American Champions 2023 - Zingara CAN853 - Richard Reid (Skipper), Billy Gooderham, Brian Kamilar, Ian Sloan, Serena Vilage

Christian Bonin/TSGphoto.com

Overall Winners

Zingara CAN853 - Richard Reid (Skipper), Billy Gooderham, Brian Kamilar, Ian Sloan, Serena Vilage - 3-2-4-2-3-1-3-12-[12/RET] | 21
Surprise CAN629 - Dan Berezin (Skipper), Rachel Harris, Denys Kalchenko, Alex Kapustin, Misha Mayevskyy - 2-1-3-5-4-3-1-3-[6]-1 | 23
Decorum USA805 - Megan Ratliff (Skipper), Nicholas Diephouse, Miro Kaffka, Steve Liebel, Hunter Ratliff - 4-4-1-1-6-[8]-2-4-1-6 | 29

Melges 24 North American Runner-Up 2023 and Corinthian Champion - Surprise CAN629 - Dan Berezin (Skipper), Rachel Harris, Denys Kalchenko, Alex Kapustin, Misha Mayevskyy

Christian Bonin/TSGphoto.com

Corinthian Winners

Surprise CAN629 - Dan Berezin (Skipper), Rachel Harris, Denys Kalchenko, Alex Kapustin, Misha Mayevskyy - 2-1-3-5-4-3-1-3-[6]-1 | 23
Decorum USA805 - Megan Ratliff (Skipper), Nicholas Diephouse, Miro Kaffka, Steve Liebel, Hunter Ratliff - 4-4-1-1-6-[8]-2-4-1-6 | 29
Bad Idea USA717 - Scot Zimmerman (Skipper), Bob Clark, Kevin Fisher, Andy Girrell - 1-3-7-4-2-4-5-2-[10]-7 | 35

Melges 24 (One Design - 11 Boats)
1. Zingara, Richard Reid, CAN - 3 -2 -4 -2 -3 -1 -3 -1 -2 -[12/RET] ; 21
2. Surprise (COR), Dan Berezin, CAN - 2 -1 -3 -5 -4 -3 -1 -3 -[6] -1 ; 23
3. Decorum (COR), Megan Ratliff, USA - 4 -4 -1 -1 -6 -[8] -2 -4 -1 -6 ; 29
4. Bad Idea (COR), Scott Zimmerman, USA - 1 -3 -7 -4 -2 -4 -5 -2 -[10] -7 ; 35
5. Notorious, Robert Wigny, CAN - 5 -7 -6 -3 -[9] -2 -4 -6 -3 -2 ; 38
6. Rush, Mike Gozzard, CAN - 6 -6 -5 -7 -[11] -5 -6 -8 -5 -5 ; 53
7. Fasttrak (COR), Mark MacLeod, CAN - 7 -8 -[11] -9 -5 -7 -7 -5 -4 -4 ; 56
8. Spitfire (COR), John Marentette, CAN - 9 -9 -8 -[10] -1 -6 -9 -7 -9 -3 ; 61
9. Hot Mic, James Hulderman, USA - 8 -10 -2 -6 -10 -11 -8 -9 -[12/DNC] -12/DNC ; 76
10. 723, Uri Saks, CAN - 10 -5 -10 -[11] -8 -10 -11 -11 -7 -8 ; 80
11. Huzzah (COR), Greg Chamberlain, CAN - [11] -11 -9 -8 -7 -9 -10 -10 -8 -9 ; 81

2023 Melges 24 North American Championship Full Results
Photos by Christian Bonin/TSGphoto.com

Full galleries by Christian Bonin / TSGphoto.com

The trophies of the Melges 24 North Americans 2023 were created by an Indigenous artist Corinne Hunt and are from the "Namwayut - We are All One" collection

Christian Bonin/TSGphoto.com

Awards were given for the Top 3 overall and the Top 3 Corinthian teams, with two Corinthian teams clinching two burgees each. The trophies were created by an Indigenous artist, Corinne Hunt, and are from the "Namwayut - We Are All One collection". These intricate platters and bowls are carved from recycled glass and can be displayed as an art piece or used as tableware. The first-place awards are entitled "Where Air Meets Water: The Eagle and the Orca."

THANKS

A big thanks go to the National Yacht Club for hosting and to the organizing committee for putting on such a great event!

A big thank you also goes out to the sponsors and donors: National Yacht Club, Bellwoods Brewery, The Shotgun Fund (Argosy Partners), Wellington Altus, Fidelity Investments, Next Edge Capital, Canoe Financial LP, Fogh Marine, North Sails, Mad Max Works, Compass Dermatology, Quantum Sails, KruBox.

The National Yacht Club (TheNYC) hosted the 2023 Melges 24 North American Championship by a delegation of the Canadian Melges 24 Class Association (CanM24CA) under the authority of the International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA) from 15 to 17 September.

ARE YOU SURPRISED?

The 2023 Melges 24 North American Championship was the eighth of eleven scheduled events on the U.S. Melges 24 Class' National Ranking 2023 (NRS), and served as the penultimate stage of the Quantum Melges 24 Great Lakes Cup.

NAC runner-up Dan Berezin is atop the fleet as he leads the NRS by an impressive 12 points. Things are a little bit tighter on the Quantum Great Lakes Cup Series though. His five-point lead over Cyler Morris’ Dark Horse and Fred Rozelle’s Rustler means that racing on Geneva Lake at the 2023 U.S. National Championship in three weeks' time will be intense.

2023 USM24CA National Ranking Series Results (Preliminary After 8 Events)
2023 Quantum Melges 24 Great Lake Cup Series Results (Preliminary After 3 Events)

UP NEXT: MELGES 24 CELEBRATES 30 YEARS AT NATIONALS

2023 marks 30 years of racing the Melges 24 and to celebrate properly, 30+ teams are currently registered to race the Melges 24 Nationals on Geneva Lake, October 6-8 — the birthplace of the Melges 24! Among those competing are fifteen all-amateur teams from across the United States and Canada. There is still plenty of time to register as the entry deadline is not until October 5th.

Melges 24 NAs website: https://www.melges24.com/northamericans2023
Scoring website in YachtScoring
National Yacht Club: https://thenyc.com/
CanM24CA website: http://melges24.ca/