Ramrod by less than a point

Rod Jabin claims Melges 32 Gold Cup

Congratulations are in order for Rod Jabin on Ramrod as he and his crew consisting of tactician Gavin Brady, Mike Beasley, Joe Gibson, Ted Kaczmarski, Kate Torgeson and Ray Wulff are the 2009 Melges 32 Gold Cup Champions.

"We rocked it! We really didn't expect this," said Jabin after racing. "I love the downwind run in this boat. The feeling that you get while crossing boats at 15 knots is just incredible. This is pure exhilaration."In second overall is Joe Woods on Red and in third is current U.S. National Champion Andy Lovell on Rougarou.

Going into today’s races, Kip Meadows on roXanne led the charge by five points, followed by Jabin. A turn key moment in the regatta for Jabin was being given redress for Saturday’s first race after a collision with Edward Tillinghast on Dark n’ Stormy at the start. This put him within reaching distance of the Gold Cup title. With this decision, Lovell (New Orleans, La.) shuffled back to third while John Taylor on Ninkasi assumed fourth.

The Lauderdale Yacht Club rolled out the red carpet last night for the twenty-three teams. Prime rib, filet mignon and grilled colossal shrimp were all on tap as well as an exquisite wine selection. Teams enjoyed a world class dinner, while catching up on the day’s racing.

As usual, the final day of racing at the 2009 Melges 32 Gold Cup Regatta was intense. The weather, superb. Although a little cooler than desired, the Florida sunshine was quick to warm and was a welcome sight after the doom and gloom of last evening’s frontal boundary lined with thunderstorms and rain.

Racing got underway on time with a course bearing of 010, 8-10 knots with flat seas. Dalton Devos on Delta took charge almost from the very start. Lovell rounded the mark in first with DeVos, right on his transom. Downwind, DeVos put the breeze to his advantage passing through the gate, now commanding the lead. Lanfranco Cirillo moved ahead to second while Lovell slipped to third. Jabin, Bob Hughes on Heartbreaker and Taylor all challenged for the lead, but DeVos managed to hang on until the finish. Lovell recovered nicely to take second while Cirillo was third.

Things really picked up for race two with the breeze clocking an easy 15-18 knots. Great big, waves made for perfect plaining conditions as overnight leader Meadows looked to be back in the groove with a big win. Second place finisher Phil Lotz on Arethusa also got the hang of things with a great race and in third was Hughes.

Race three delivered another exceptional performance of the power and speed of the Melges 32 with International Class President Jeff Ecklund on STAR out front from the get go leading the entire race for the win. Lotz got in on the action once more with a phenomenal second place finish, just ahead of Woods in third.

Full results:

Pos	Sail no	Boat	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot
1	USA 206	Ramrod	Rod Jabin	1	2	16	7.14/RDG	7	4	16	4	41.1
2	GBR 700	Red	Joe Woods	9	19	3	1	16	6	4	3	42
3	USA 136	Rougarou	Andy Lovell	3	1	9	7	14	2	14	11	47
4	USA 1315	Ninkasi	John Taylor	6	3	8	3	15	8	6	14	48
5	USA 77	Roxanne	Kip Meadows	10	6	4	6	3	20	1	19	49
6	USA 128	Argo	Jason Carroll	4	8	12	11	5	7	10	5	50
7	ITA 212	Fantasticaaa	Lanfranco Cirillo	16	4	2	4	22	3	13	12	54
8	USA 32	Star	Jeff Ecklund	8	7	15	18	4	14	9	1	58
9	USA 153	Lake Effect	Bob Hesse	2	15	5	8	11	15	20	6	62
10	Arial	Heartbreaker	Robert Hughes	20	16	7	12	8	5	3	20	71
11	USA 13131	Samba Pa Ti	John Kilroy Jr.	23	18	1	20	2	17	7	10	75
12	ITA 174	Leenabarca	Alex Jackson	21	13	22	19	1	9	5	9	77
13	USA 211	Arethusa	Philip Lotz	13	23	18	9	12	23	2	2	79
14	USA 131	New Wave	Mike Carroll	15	9	14	2	18	18	8	13	79
15	USA 158	Taboo	Stephen Pugh	14	22	17	13	9	11	12	8	84
16	USA 162	VIVA	Don Jesberg	5	11	20	5	17	10	22	17	85
17	USA 178	Shakedown	Geoffrey Pierini	12	12	13	14	19	19	11	7	88
18	USA 184	Bronco	Michael Dominguez	7	14	11	17	13	13	19	18	93
19	USA 1215	Delta	Dalton Devos	18	10	19	16	21	1	15	15	94
20	USA 84845	Team Barbarians	Stuart Simpson	17	5	6	10	20	16	24/DNF	24/DNS	98
21	USA 180	Volpe	Ryan Devos	11	20	10	22	6	22	18	21	108
22	USA 208	Celeritas	Malcolm Gefter	19	17	21	15	24/DNS	21	17	16	126
23	USA 151	Dark N' Stormy	Edward Tillinghast	22	21	23	21	10	12	21	22	129