Lea into the lead

Good opening day for Ocean BMW Melges 24 Worlds in Torquay

The Ocean BMW Melges 24 European Championship 2005 got underway today with two classic light airs races that kept the 50 competitors from 10 nations on their toes and left several of the top favourites feeling decidedly off the pace.

Race one started in approx 6 knots of wind and the right was favoured. At the first mark it was Jamie Lea, helming Stuart Simpson's Team Barbaians from Philippe Ligot's Partner & Partners, sailing with new helm Francois Brenac. Frenchman Thomas Rouxel in Cotes D'Amor Sail de Mer rounded third with the Austrian team of Michael Schineis fourth and Henri Samuel fifth.

By the second weather mark Partner & Partners had snuck past Barbarians as behind them Italy's Gabrio Zandona, helming for the reigning European Champion crew of Giovanni Maspero aboard Joe Fly, pulled into third. Fourth was Schineis with Frenchman Antoine Albaret in Cotes D'Armor Perros Guirec fifth and Samuel sixth. The leading three held position on the last run. Andrea Racchelli played the shifts from seventh to fourth with Schineis fifth and Rouxel sixth.

By the second race the wind had increased to 8 knots. Right was still preferred and at the first mark Alba Batzill, fresh from winning the 6m Worlds and sailing Eddy Eich's No Woman No Cry, led from Barbarians with Tim Collins in third, Antoine Albaret fourth and Andrea Racchelli fifth. Race one winner Partner & Partners had a disasterous start and rounded in the 40s.

Bazill confidently defended to the finish as the pack did battle. The shifts ensured many place changes. Racchelli eventually ground Barbarians into third. Rouxel pulled into and held fourth as Stuart Rix, helming Team Gill for Britain's Quentin Strauss, claimed fifth despite a mediocre fifteenth at the first mark. Back in the pack Partner & Partners worked every little shift moving steadily through the fleet from 40th to 11th.

In the overall standings Jamie Lea and Team Barbarians lead with 5 points from Andrea Racchelli in Altea on 6 points. Thomas Rouxel in Cotes d'Armor Sail de Mere is third, Philip Ligot's Partner & Partners Sailing Team, helmed by Francois Bernac, is fourth and Stuart Rix, with Quentin Strauss's Team Gill, lies fifth.

	Sail No	Boat	Owner	Helm	Pts	R1	R2
1	GBR406	Team Barbarians	Stuart Simpson	Jamie Lea	5	2	3
2	ITA438	Altea	Andrea Racchelli	Andrea Racchelli	6	4	2
3	FRA470	Cotes d'Armor Sail de Mer	CDVH	Thomas Rouxel	10	6	4
4	FRA571	Partner & Partners	Philliipe Ligot	Francois Brenac	12	1	11
5	GBR431	Gill	Quentin Strauss	Stuart Rix	14	9	5
6	FRA261	Cotes d'Armour Perros Guirec	CDVH	Antoine Albaret	17	8	9
7	SUI599	PoiZon Rouge	Jean-Marc Monnard	Jean-Marc Monnard	25	10	15
8	FRA423	Zig Zag 15	Henri Samuel	Henri Samuel	26	7	19
9	MON601	Sogeti	Benjamin Cohen	Antoine Frickey	27	14	13
10	FRA193	Cotes d'Armor	CDVH	Vincent Biarnes	30	13	17
11	FRA387	Douarn-Mason	Winches Club	Vincent Sauleau	32	11	21
12	GER582	No Woman No Cry	Eddy Eich	Alba Bazrill	33	32	1
13	ITA550	Joe Fly	Giovanni Maspro	Zandona Gabrio	34	3	31
14	AUT531	EdelweiB	Michael Schineis	Michael Schineisssssss	34	5	29
15	GBR546	Helmut Rises Again	Nigel Grogan	Nigel Grogan	34	16	18
16	GBR269	Ali 2	Joe Woods	Ann Ashworth	37	25	12
17	FRA173	Au Planning	Jerome Aubert	Jerome Aubert	38	24	14
18	FRA383	Merck Generique	Jean-Marc Sparfel	Jean-Marc Sparfel	38	22	16
19	GBR368	Team Turn-Turtle.com	A Brown, B Cooper, G Birbeck	Alan Brown	39	15	24
20	FRA422	Dyneema-Euros	Remy Arnaud	Remy Arnaud	42	19	23
21	FRA358	Dottore Jigolo	Douchy & Marcadet	P Y Lambert	43	37	6
22	GBR611	WKD Red	Joe Woods	Joe Woods	43	21	22
23	GBR527	Comfortably Numb	Andrew Dellow/Simon Dobson	Simon Dobson	46	20	26
24	FIN476	Suunto	Henrik Thelen	Kennet Thelen	48	41	7
25	GBR334	Easy Tiger	Tim Collins	Tim Collins	50	42	8
26	GBR535	March Hare	Simon Henning	Mike Henning	53	43	10
27	GBR432	Wolf Cub	Glyn Williams	Glyn Williams	53	28	25
28	FRA461	Euro-Voiles	Denis Infante	Christophe Barrue	54	12	42
29	ITA297	Pioneer Investments	Igino Angelini	Andrea Formaro	56	18	38
30	NOR341	Dolly	Per Andresen	Erik Arthur	60	40	20
31	FRA473	Gybe Set	Anne Gellez	Oliver Gellez	60	23	37
32	SUI578	Music 55	Ruedi Huber	Ruedi Huber	60	33	27
33	NOR349	Party Girl	Jens Wathna	Jens Wathna	61	29	32
34	GBR573	Xcellent	John Pollard	John Pollard	62	34	28
35	FRA471	Mu	Emmanuel Nebout	Emmanuel Nebout	67	31	36
36	GBR516	Highland Heritage	Ian Cleaver	Paul Brotherton	68	17	51
37	GBR453	Ramshackle	Steve Williams/Dave Farrimond	Paul Owen	70	26	44
38	NOR279	Marella V	Nils Nordenstroem	Nils Nordenstroem	70	35	35
39	GBR403	Envy	Martin Miller	Dean Argent	71	30	41
40	GBR377	Henri Lloyd	Tony Jaffa	Tony Jaffa	76	46	30
41	GBR452	Eric's Mate	Martin Wedge	Martin Wedge	78	27	51
42	SUI382	Zerowo/e-brokerline.com	Michael Good	Michael Good	78	45	33
43	GBR534	Hooligan	Norman Broom	Norman Broom	78	39	39
44	GBR589	Badger	Paul Lovejoy	Paul Lovejoy	83	49	34
45	GBR478	www.formulacars.co.uk	Tim & Steve Jones	Tim Jones	83	36	47
46	FRA272	Speed'eau	Antoine Jeu	Antoine Jeu	87	44	43
47	GBR548	Team Panasonic	Adrian Peach	Adrian Peach	89	38	51
48	GBR340	White Rabbit	Simon Henning	Simon Henning	90	50	40
49	SUI270	Boorinsla	August Schram	Ann-Kathrin Hoh	92	47	45
50	MLT435	Wild Thing	David S Franks	David S Franks	94	48	46