Melges 24 Charleston

Melges 24 racer Simon Strauss from Larchmont Yacht Club in Connecticut would have a shot at the podium but for the broken jib halyard he suffered in Race 4 on Friday.  The rest of his regatta has been an up and down affair, mostly up.  He has a 2-1-5-7 as well as a 15 and 20 plus the DNF from the broken jib halyard.  If you replace the DNF (32 points) with a 7, his worst good finish, then you shave 25 points off his score.  Simon would have 25 points overall and be sitting in 4th overall instead of his current 9th.  He would be just 5 points out of first place.

In my pre-regatta predications, I guessed that Simon would finish 3rd overall, behind Nixon and Campbell, but in front of Kolius.  But for the broken headstay, those predictions look remarkably on target.  If I’d known that John Pollard was helming Party Girl, I would have put them high in my original prediction.  John has had a number of top finishes both in the U.S. and Europe, especially in his home country.  It also appears that I didn’t rate Steve Kopf and Michael Miller highly enough.  They’re currently in 5th overall.

Let the racing begin and let’s see where the chips fall told.  Look for a dog fight between Nixon and Campbell at the front of the pack.