Melges 24 European Sailing Series 2024 – Peter Karrie’s Nefeli Triumph

13/05/2024

Marina Portoroz Melges 24 Regatta

It’s Peter Karrie’s Nefeli who takes the honor of winning the traditional Marina Portoroz Melges 24 Regatta, the second event of the 2024 Melges 24 European Sailing Series organized by Yacht Club Marina Portoroz in collaboration with the International Melges 24 Class Association. Impressive second place for the youth team of Strambapapa with Leonardo Centouri at the helm, awarded as the best Corinthian team in Portoroz the weekend of May 10-12.

Despite initial weather concerns, PRO David Bartol successfully executed two races on Sunday afternoon, capitalizing on a brief window of Mistral winds ranging from 6 to 8 knots.

After waiting for one and a half hours, the sailors were anxious to start and had two attempts with a general recall. Black Flag preparatory flag on the third attempt, kept the starting line clean. Croatian Razjaren of Ante Cesic commanded the race from the beginning up to the end to cross the finish line first, tightening the gap with Nefeli still in the lead. But Nefeli, trailing in the heels of Razjaren, took the second and a great satisfaction for the Croatian team Cro-A-Sail with Miroslav Reljanovic at the helm, finishing third.

Being in the time constraint, the final race got off under a black flag, sadly, it penalized Razjaren and Arkanoe of Sergio Caramel and eliminated them from the final fight in Portoroz. For the current leader Nefeli, this race was like a home run, finishing first to celebrate the regatta’s victory. Following tight Nefeli was Austrian Pure of Michael Schineis to finish second and Foxydry of Massimiliano Antoniazzi, having onboard reigning European champions Giulia Pignolo and Davide Bivi, crossed the finish line third.

Arriving at the Marina Portoroz, the regatta winner Peter Karrie didn’t surrender his satisfaction: “We are very happy! It was a perfect weekend for us! We had nice conditions – a little bit light but sailable all the time, and the Race Committee delivered great races.

“It was a hard fight with Croatian Razjaren, and I feel sorry for the black flag penalty they got in the final race because we would have liked to fight it until the end. It’s part of the game, and we are super happy! We have had the same crew for a long time, and have also been doing the Bacardi events in Miami in the wintertime, which pays off now.

“But the best impression of this weekend was seeing young crews come to the class and do very well. I really like the style of how the youth team of Strambapapa sails—super cool! Congratulations also to them!” said Peter happily.

Peter Karrie’s team comprises Niccolo Bianchi, Alessandro Franci, Saverio Cigliano, Karlo Hmeljak, and coach Simon Sivitz.

In the heat of sunny Sunday, Marina Portoroz witnessed another prizegiving, held here for the 10th time in the history of the Melges 24 European Sailing Series. Next to the winner of Nefeli, the Strambapapa youth team took second place, and the podium was completed by the 2023 series winners of Hungarian Chinook by Akos Csolto.

Corinthian’s podium has two-thirds of the overall podium, with Strambapapa, Chinook, next to the winner, and German White Room of Michael Tarabochia, with Luis Tarabochia at the helm, completing the podium.

The winning Corinthian team comprises Leonardo Centouri, Luca Coslovich, Francesco Altran, Alessio Castellan, and Giacomo Conti.

The smiles were all over the place when the draw for the Melges 24 anchor set, donated by the marina shop Skipper Portoroz and shuffled by the youngest one in the fleet, Bela Jelaca, an 11-year-old Croatian sailor, brought the lucky winner, the team White Room, to the stage.

As the Marina Portoroz event drew to a close with smiles and celebrations, anticipation now turns to the upcoming Melges 24 Austrian Open Championship on Lake Attersee on May 24-26, promising another nice traditional sailing event.

Overall Top 10 after 8 races and a discard: