London (22 June, 2022) French match racing skipper Damian Michelier and his crew were crowned champions of the 2022 OM International Ledro Match Race at the weekend. This year marks the first year for the popular Italian match racing event as an official World Tour event and seventh stage of the 2022 World Match Racing Tour series.
The four-day event took place on Lake Ledro, Italy hosted by the Associazione Vela Lago Di Ledro. British skipper James Pinder and his crew led the round robin series on Day 1 of the regatta winning all seven of their matches in the steady 7-12 knot conditions. Italian skipper Rocco Attili won six out of his seven races, with Polish skipper Igor Tarasiuk winning five out of six matches and US skipper Dave Hood winning five out of eight matches.
The round robin closed out on Day 2 with the top 4 skippers advancing to the semi-final. After leading the qualifying round, Pinder was defeated 1-2 against opponent Damian Michelier. In the second semi-final match, Australian Will Boulden had a clean 3-0 win against opponent Igor Tarasiuk, advancing Boulden and Michelier to the final.
In the final, Michelier and crew found their form on the lake conditions winning 3-0 straight against Boulden and awadring the French skipper and crew the 2022 OM International Ledro Match Race title. Poland’s Igor Tarasiuk secured third position after winning 2-1 in the petite-final against James Pinder. Italy’s Rocco Attili finished in fifth place ahead of USA’s Dave Hood in sixth place, followed by Mati Sepp, Riccardo Sepe, Megan Thomson, Jon Eriksson, Celia Willison and Jean Baptise Bernaz.
“Il Ledro did not disappoint this year and the same can be said of the Associazione Vela Lago di Ledro” commented Camilla Baruzzi, President of the Associazione Vela Lago di Ledro. “My congratulations to Damian Michelier and crew for their win, and my thanks to all the race officials and volunteers for their efforts in running a successful and efficient event!”
2022 OM International Ledro Match Race Final Results;
DAMIAN MICHELIER – THOMAS GALLIACHE – HUGO ROCHE
WILL BOULDEN – NICHOLAS CONOR – MASHLAN CONNOR
IGOR TARASIUK – KRZYSZTOF MAZECKI – RAFAL KUSZKA
JAMES PINDER – ARTHUR HENDERSON – JAMIE WEBB
ROCCO ATTILI – LUDOVICO MORI – GIULIO TAMBURINI
DAVE HOOD – KEITH SWINTON – DAVID GILMOUR
MATI SEPP – KEVIN MELVIN – MARTIN MUURRICCARDO SEPE – GIANLUCA PERASOLE – SIMONE TAGLIATELA
MEGAN THOMSON – ZAK MERTON – HARRY THURSTON
JON ERIKSSON – KENNET BLOMSTE – FLORENT HERSONCELIA WILLISON – LISA DARTNALL – REBECCA COLES – SERENA WOODALLJEAN BAPTISE BERNAZ – JULIEN BIDEGARY – THOMAS DEPLANQUE
