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BRIAN PORTER WINS THE 2006 MELGES 24 FALL CHAMPIONSHIP

12 OCTOBER 2006 • Brian Porter aboard Full Throttle won the 2006 Melges 24 Fall Championship in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin last weekend, Oct 6-7. This regatta is a legend in it's own right as the Lake Geneva Yacht Club played host.

Six championship races were conducted with no throwouts. In race one Porter lashed out with good speed landing to top spot with no problem. Following in second was Shawn Vowels and Mike Dow from Traverse City, Michigan. The tables turned in race two as Melges 24 veteran racer Chuck Holzman took the lead winning the race. It was Vowels again on the warpath, settling for second and Ryan Fitzgerald took third. Shakedown — Melges 24 style was the theme for race three as Paul Hulsey and his Hoodlum racers, from Detroit, Michigan grabbed a bullet, Kelly Gough nailed second place and Paul Sagan landed in third.

At the mid point, front runner Holzman was in the overall lead with Gough, from Texas trailing by two points and Porter in third overall with fifteen points. It was down to the wire as Porter got back on track and went for a 2, 1, 1 to take the overall win. Despite the fact that Holzman was tied up with Porter neck-and-neck at the end of race four, the lead slipped away bit-by-bit as Chuck's 4, 11 score was far below his expectation resulting in 32 points overall, finishing second. Hulsey had a fantastic last stretch with a 1, 7, 2 score enabling him to finish third overall with 33 points. Gough's 14th place finish in race four diminished his potential for anything above a fourth place finish, despite his 3, 5 finish in the last two races.

TOP TEN RESULTS:
1.) BRIAN PORTER; 1, 10, 4, 2, 1, 1 = 19
2.) CHUCK HOLZMAN; 6, 1, 5, 5, 4, 11 = 32
3.) PAUL HULSEY; 11, 11, 1, 1, 7, 2 = 33
4.) KELLY GOUGH; 7, 5, 2, 14, 3, 6 = 37
5.) JOHN PODMAJERSKY; 10, 7, 16, 6, 5, 4 = 48
6.) JACK JENNINGS; 5, 18, 17, 3, 8, 5 = 56
7.) PAUL SAGAN; 12, 9, 3, 8, 21, 7 = 60
8.) MARC HOLLERBACH; 8, 4, 10, 7, 18, 13 = 60
9.) MIKE DOW; 3, 12, 7, 22, 5, 12 = 62
10.) RYAN FITZGERALD; 9, 3, 18, 11, 13, 8 = 72

FULL RESULTS

Saving the best for last! The 2006 Melges 24 National Championship, coming this November 16-18 will be an outstanding event and the last event on the 2006 North American Ranking! The newly appointed Southeast District Governor Reid Collins is the point of contact for this regatta and can be contacted via email