24 August 2024—San Francisco, CA, USA – Congratulations to Don Wilson and his Convexity team for capturing the 2024 Diversified Melges 24 World Champions title. Alongside Wilson, tactician Jeremy Wilmot and crew members Ian Liberty, Edward Hackney, and Tomas Dietrich executed a brilliant campaign on San Francisco Bay, showcasing their skill and tenacity throughout the event.
In the esteemed Corinthian Division, a big congratulations goes to Ante Botica and his Mataran 24 team from Croatia, who secured their second consecutive Melges 24 Corinthian World Champion title. The winning crew included Ivo Matic, Mario Skrlj, Samir Civadelic, and Boris Bakotic.
Rounding out the World Championship podium, Bora Gulari secured second place with Kingspoke, while newly crowned U.S. National Champion Geoff Fargo helmed Sentinel to a strong third-place finish, capping off a thrilling week of racing.
High-Stakes Showdown on the Final Day
After four days of fiercely competitive racing on Berkeley Circle in San Francisco Bay, the fifth and final day promised a dramatic showdown between Convexity and Kingspoke. With only one point separating the two, the stakes were sky-high going into the final race.
Bora Gulari, known for thriving under pressure, came out blazing in Race 11, taking an early lead and securing the win. This victory placed him just one point behind Wilson, setting up a nail-biting finale. In the final race, while Gulari and Wilson engaged in a tense match race of their own, Geoff Fargo seized the opportunity, surging ahead to claim his second victory of the World Championship. Fargo’s ecstatic Sentinel team crossed the finish line first in Race 12, followed by Andrew Picel’s Takeoff in second and Sandra Askew’s Flying Jenny in third.
Meanwhile, Gulari’s Kingspoke team made a final, determined push to overtake Wilson on the last downwind leg. Although Gulari managed to edge ahead, it wasn’t enough to close the crucial 1-point gap, and Wilson’s Convexity ultimately secured the championship by the narrowest of margins, earning a place in the history books and an engraving on the prestigious Melges Performance Sailboats Trophy.
Diversified Melges 24 Worlds 2024 website and Official Notice Board
About The Melges 24 – Best known for elite-level competition, the Melges 24 is a modern sport boat and the global leader in high-performance, one-design keelboat racing. Winning ‘Boat-of-the-Year’ when first launched in 1994 by Sailing World magazine, the Melges 24 raised the bar and set a new gold standard in performance keelboat racing. In 2024, the International Melges 24 Class has 900+ boats sailing competitively in 20+ countries on five continents. The World Championship is the pinnacle of the annual race schedule. Learn more at www.melges24.com
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