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2007 MELGES 24 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: COUNTDOWN FOR THE 4TH ROLEX BALTIC WEEK

Paul Todd Photography | www.outsideimages.co.nz

16 AUGUST 2007 • As published from Regatta News - 24 hours to go: The participants of the 4th Rolex Baltic Week had their final tests on Thursday (16 August) on the Baltic Sea off Neustadt, Germany. The European Championship of the international Melges 24 class will start on Saturday (18 August).

On Thursday, most of the Melges 24 crews were still in the process of checking in before they will have to stand the measurers' scrutiny. They will start their European Championship one day later on Saturday afternoon at 14 h local time. The entry list shows 79 teams from 14 nations, a number which sets a new record for European Championships being held in the Northern parts of Europe. "The sailors have already been impressed of the set-up which we established in the ancora Marina by the help of our title sponsor Rolex," said Torben Knappe of the organizing club Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), Hamburg.

The Italian teams are the favourites in the Melges 24 field. World Champion Nicola Celon on board Bete Bessini and Lorenzo Bressani sailing on Uka Uka owned by Lorenzo Santini are obvious contenders for the title. Santini who experiences the Melges 24 class for the first season entrusted the helm to the hands of Bressani, who won the IMS 600 World Championship during the Rolex Baltic Week in 2005. Francesco Bruni joins the crew as tactician. He had been the strategist of the Italian America's Cup syndicate Luna Rossa Challenge.

The Rolex Baltic Week is the one and only regatta in Germany which enjoys the support of Rolex. The worldwide calendar of the Rolex regattas comprises famous yachting events such as the now finishing Rolex Fastnet Race in England, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup held at the beginning of September in Porto Cervo (Italy), the Rolex Middle Sea Race at the end of October in Malta and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race starting on Boxing Day in Sydney, Australia.

Information and photos:

Andreas Kling
Key Partners (KPMS) Germany
for Rolex Yachting Events
T: +49 (4561) 71408-24 (15.-24.8.)
M: +49 (172) 257-8817
E: andreas@regattanews.com

Media center Rolex Baltic Week
An der Wiek 7-15
23730 Neustadt in Holstein
T: +49 (4561) 71408-27 (15.-24.8.)
F: +49 (4561) 71408-31

International media contact
Key Partners (KPMS) Head office
T: +41 32 724 28 29
F: +41 32 724 28 33
E: info@regattanews.com
I:www.regattanews.com;
www.kpms.com