Steve Howe's Warpath secures title

As the Melges 32 Gold Cup concludes in Fort Lauderdale

After three days and eight races, Steve Howe aboard Warpath, alongside of tactician Morgan Larson and crewmembers Jeff Reynolds, Warwick Fleury, Zack Maxum, Mark Towill, James Maloney and Tim Klein, have been crowned 2011 Melges 32 Gold Cup Champions. For Howe, this is his first major win in the Melges 32 Class. "Things went really well with the boat this weekend. We made some changes to the team, which has been positive," he said. "We sailed really well as a group and everyone did such a great job. We certainly enjoyed the windier conditions, that was really fun."

The young and vibrant, reigning North American Champion Ryan DeVos on Volpe placed second overall. At his side was none other than Ed Baird, who over the course of the weekend, proved to be consistent and certainly a competitive force in the class. Rounding out the top three was Joe Woods and tactician Geoff Carveth on Red, which has consistently placed in the top five over the last three years at Gold Cup.

Only two races were conducted on Sunday. Epic conditions prevailed as the wave action was bigger than ever with a steady 20 knots of breeze all day. The wind was pretty civilised in comparison to Friday and Saturday, but having to deal with gigantic swells and cresting waves added a whole new dimension to the game. Racing got underway on time with a clean start. Howe, on the other hand thought he was OCS and returned to the line, giving them a deep start to the race. At the first windward mark Devos' Volpe and Jason Carroll's Argo battled for position, with Carroll winning the lead. Volpe followed in second, then Bob Hughes' Heartbreaker in third, and Dalton DeVos' Delta in fourth. Argo and Volpe ripped downwind with Hughes overtaking to round second through the gate, just behind Carroll. Joe Woods climbed the ladder to round fourth. Carroll held the lead through the last mark of the race. Volpe rounded in second, with Woods moving up for third. Downwind, it was another shuffle for position as Carroll took the win, Hughes made a huge comeback to finish second, Volpe was third, Woods took fourth and Delta completed the top five.

The last race of the day delivered the youngest driver in the fleet, 19-year-old Dalton DeVos on Delta a solid victory. Delta and Italian Lanfranco Cirillo on Fantastica jostled for position, with Cirillo winning the first windward mark of the race. Hughes was back in the action rounding third, Howe in fourth and John Kilroy’s Samba Pa Ti in fifth. Cirillo and DeVos' Delta poured on the heat for an amazing downwind run to pass through the gate respectively in first and second. Howe moved up for third. On the last leg of the race, Delta, with Jonathan McKee on tactics pressed upwind to overtake the lead, ultimately grabbing the win just ahead of Howe’s Warpath. Cirillo settled for third.

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