The 2023 Melges 24 North American Championship in Toronto, Ontario, Canada concluded the weekend of September 14-17th, after 3 days of racing and 10 races. Canadians dominated the top two positions, with Richard Reid’s Zingara taking the overall win, and Dan Berezin’s Surprise taking 2nd place (trailing by just 2 points) and winning the Corinithian division. Megan Ratliff’s Decorum finished 3rd overall (2nd Corinthian) and Scot Zimmerman’s Bad Idea took 3rd place Corinthian.
The 2023 Melges 24 North American Championship in Toronto, Ontario, Canada concluded the weekend of September 14-17th, after 3 days of racing and 10 races. Canadians dominated the top two positions, with Richard Reid’s Zingara taking the overall win, and Dan Berezin’s Surprise taking 2nd place (trailing by just 2 points) and winning the Corinithian division. Megan Ratliff’s Decorum finished 3rd overall (2nd Corinthian) and Scot Zimmerman’s Bad Idea took 3rd place Corinthian.
(Photo credit: Christian Bonin/TSGphoto.com)
The event was hosted by the National Yacht Club, and consisted of 3 days of world class racing and hospitality just west of the Toronto Harbour and Island. There was some anxiety about the wind filling in and getting races off, but each day the wind managed to fill in within a couple hours.
“What can I say? If one were to read wind models only you would have guessed we’d have had no racing at all. Instead PRO Sprague got the full schedule of 10 (good) races in over 3 beautiful days. The largely Corinthian fleet was very competitive with Dan Berezin’s “Surprise” being in contention down to the last day, Kudos to Dan and his Team. Our host National YC acquitted itself in exceptional style with many competitors remarking just how impressive the Club and its event organization was.”
– Richard Reid (Skipper of Zingara – 2023 Melges 24 North American Championship Winner)
Overall Winners
- Zingara | CAN 853 | National Yacht Club | Richard Reid (Skipper), Billy Gooderham, Brian Kamilar, Ian Sloan, Serena Vilage 3-2-4-2-3-1-3-12-[12/RET] | 21
- Surprise | CAN 629 | National Yacht Club | Dan Berezin (Skipper), Rachel Harris, Denys Kalchenko, Alex Kapustin, Misha Mayevskyy | 2-1-3-5-4-3-1-3-[6]-1 | 23
- Decorum | USA 805 | Columbia Yacht Club | Megan Ratliff (Skipper), Nicholas Diephouse, Miro Kaffka, Steve Liebel, Hunter Ratliff | 4-4-1-1-6-[8]-2-4-1-6 | 29
Corinthian Winners
- Surprise | CAN 629 | National Yacht Club | Dan Berezin (Skipper), Rachel Harris, Denys Kalchenko, Alex Kapustin, Misha Mayevskyy | 2-1-3-5-4-3-1-3-[6]-1 | 23
- Decorum | USA 805 | Columbia Yacht Club | Megan Ratliff (Skipper), Nicholas Diephouse, Miro Kaffka, Steve Liebel, Hunter Ratliff | 4-4-1-1-6-[8]-2-4-1-6 | 29
- Bad Idea | USA 717 | Grand Traverse Yacht Club | Scott Zimmerman (Skipper), Bob Clark, Kevin Fisher, Andy Girrell | 1-3-7-4-2-4-5-2-[10]-7 | 35
Overall Results (11 Boats)
- Zingara – CAN 853 (Richard Reid) 3-2-4-2-3-1-3-12-[12/RET] | 21
- Surprise (Cor) – CAN 629 (Dan Berezin) 2-1-3-5-4-3-1-3-[6]-1 | 23
- Decorum (Cor) – USA 805 (Megan Ratliff) 4-4-1-1-6-[8]-2-4-1-6 | 29
- Bad Idea (Cor) – USA 717 (Scott Zimmerman) 1-3-7-4-2-4-5-2-[10]-7 | 35
- Notorious – CAN 523 (Robert Wigny) 5-7-6-3-[9]-2-4-6-3-2 | 38
- Rush – CAN 031 (Mike Gozzard) 6-6-5-7-[11]-5-6-8-5-5 | 53
- Fasttrak (Cor) – CAN 130 (Mark McLeod) 7-8-[11]-9-5-7-7-5-4-4 | 56
- Spitfire (Cor) – CAN 99 (John Marentette) 9-9-8-[10]-1-6-9-7-9-3 | 61
- Hot Mic – USA 615 (James Hulderman) 8-10-2-6-10-11-8-9-12/DNC-[12/DNC] | 76
- 723 – CAN 723 (Uri Saks) 10-5-10-11-8-10-11-[11]-7-8 | 80
- Huzzah (Cor) – CAN 491 (Greg Chamberlain) 11-[11]-9-8-7-9-10-10-8-9 | 81
The National Yacht Club did a spectacular job of hosting, working alongside the regatta organizing committee, to ensure smooth sailing and socializing onshore and offshore. From securing sponsorship, marketing, logistics, procuring awards and entertainment, working tirelessly throughout the event, they managed to pull off a highly successful and memorable weekend for all.
Here are some highlights from the weekend.
A big thank you also goes out to the sponsors and donors:
“Congratulations to our own Richard Reid and Team Zingara for a well earned overall win in the Melges 24 North American Championships held at our club last weekend.
Thank you to all of the volunteers and staff members who worked tirelessly to provide a top notch international event. NYC has shown once again that we are the premier racing club on Lake Ontario. We can all be proud of our club, our volunteers and our staff who make it all possible.” – Scott Blair (Regatta Chair)
We would like to thank our sponsor who with their support made this regatta possible.
Bellwoods Brewery, Canoe Financial LP, Compass Dermatology, Fidelity Investments, Fogh Marine, International Melges 24 Class Association, KruBox, Mad Max Works, National Yacht Club, Next Edge Capital, North Sails, Quantum Sails, The Shotgun Fund (Argosy Partners), Wellington Altus.
To view the complete album of regatta photos by Christian Bonin (TSG Photo) please go to TSG Photo – 2023 Melges 24 North American Championship.