VOLVO MELGES 24 WORLDS

LORENZO BRESSANI AND UKA UKA RACING WIN

PORTO CERVO, ITALY (6 June 2008)—The final day of racing at the Volvo
Melges 24 World Championship, hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in
Porto Cervo, Sardinia, brought high drama and great celebration as the
Italian Uka Uka Racing team of Lorzeno Bressani (helmsman), Lorenzo Santini
(owner), Federico Michetti, Francesca Prina and Francesco Bruni (tactician)
claimed victory over the 114-strong, 16-nation fleet in one of the most
hotly contested sailing events this year.

The Uka Uka Racing team was a favourite from the outset, but going into the
final day and with three more races to sail, it was still a five-way
shootout between Bressani; IMS and Melges 24 World Champion Alberto Bolzan,
sailing ITA727 Pilot Italia for Gianni Catalogna; America’s Cup veteran and
2001 Melges 24 World Champion Flavio Favini, sailing SUI521 Blu Moon for
Franco Rossini; Luca Valerio, sailing ITA722 Alina Helly Hansen for Maurizio
Abba; and 2006 Melges 24 World Champion Nicola Celon, helming ITA638
Marchingenio for Giorgio Marchi.

Race ten in the series got underway after an initial general recall in 10-12
knots from 280 degrees and on relatively flat seas. Favini led the fleet at
the weather mark ahead of Bressani, with Nicolo Bianchi, sailing ITA716
Saetta, and Gabrio Zandona, sailing ITA633 Joe Fly for Giovanni Maspero,
also on his heels. Down the first run, Favini began to pull away, but behind
him the battle for second was still a three-way tousle until the second beat
when Zandona was suddenly forced to pull out because of a broken shroud
turnbuckle. As Favini stretched out his lead, the battle between Bressani
and Bianchi raged, with Bianchi eventually claiming victory in the closing
moments. Meanwhile back in the pack, Alberto Bolzan, Luca Valerio and Nicola
Celon were dealing with problems of their own. Bolzan and Celon fought a
hard battle for 11th place, which Celon eventually won, while Valerio
trailed in 26th place.

Going into race 11, Bressani now led with 27 points; Celon held second on
41, Bolzan third on 44, Favini fourth on 53, and Valerio fifth on 63, but
more surprises were to come. Favini was one of several teams called over the
line and had to go back. Despite his very best efforts he knew the game was
over, and he ultimately pulled out of the race. John Pollard, sailing GBR690
A-Team Westaway, led the fleet at the first mark from Bianchi, with Valerio
third and Roberto Martinez, helming Carla Ubertalli’s ITA574 Online-Sim
Firebolt, following in fourth. Pollard went on to win the race and after a
terrific battle Valerio took second from Bianchi with Martinez fourth.
Bressani sailed across the line in tenth place and knew that the World
Championship was his.



Therefore, race 12 was to decide second place between Favini (53 points),
Bolzan (57 points), and Valerio (65 points). Although out of the running for
the title, Binachi was determined to end his week in style and sailed to a
superb win giving him seventh place in the overall standings. Bressani was
keen to put the seal on his victory and took an extremely relaxed second
while Celon came through to take third in the race and finish the regatta in
6th overall. Behind them, Favini, Valerio and Bolzan were all well buried
and concentrating as much on each other as the fleet. Valerio got the best
result at 15th, followed by Bolzan in 22nd and Favini in 30th to give Bolzan
second place overall, with Valerio third and Favini fourth.

Bressani, already a J24 World Champion and a veteran of world class
campaigns in Mumm 30, Farr 40 and many other classes, teamed up with owner
and Mumm 30 World Champion Lorenzo Santini and trimmer and team manager
Federico Michetti, already a Melges 24 European Champion in his own right,
last year specifically to challenge for this event. He completed his
formidable team by adding America’s Cup and Melges 24 veteran and Italian
Olympic 49er sailor Francesco Bruni as tactician and Women’s World and UFO22
European Champion Francesca Prina as bow woman.

A delighted Lorenzo Bressani commented, “It’s my sixth world championship
win, but in conjunction with the J/24 World Championship in 2003 it is the
best win that I can remember! Obviously we are very happy. There are some
really great teams here internationally as well as those that came from the
U.S. The fact that Flavio did not have a good race – it was a turning point
today. So, we are very happy.”

Team Manager Federico Michetti, who started his Melges 24 sailing career
with the late, great Giorgio Zuccoli (Melges 24 World Championship in 2000),
concurred, “This is amazing. Really, on every leg I was thinking of and
praying to Giorgio to please, please help me. Please help us. This has been
a really unbelievable season. I am so proud for everything, because we
started with this team one and a half years ago and the goal was to win
these Worlds. We have been looking forward to this so much. It’s amazing,
being the World Champion in Porto Cervo!”

In the Volvo Melges 24 Corinthian World Championship, for the all-amateur
crews, competition was equally fierce with Oyvind Peder Jahre, helming
NOR554 Terra Eindomsmeglng with owner Stian Briseid and crew Sivert
Denneche, Marius Falch Orvin and Taja Zaikova, ultimately taking the title
by 14 points from reigning Melges 24 Corinthian North American Champion
Bruce Ayres of Newport Beach, CA, sailing USA637 Monsoon. Third place went
to the 2006 Melges 24 Corinthian World Champions FRA612 Bouygues Telecom,
helmed by Jean-Francois Cruette and owned by Cedric de Kervenoael.

The results on the Silver Course were the closest fought of all, with
Corinthian teams filling the top three positions. Paolo Brescia, sailing
ITA585, took victory by just four points from Sonke Boy, helming SUI578
Music 55 for Reudi Huber, with fellow Swiss Matthias Keller, helming SUI530
Acqua for Gianluca Tribo in third place.

“We are so happy to have won the Silver fleet,” said Paulo Brescia, “however
we would have liked to have been sailing in the Gold fleet. This is just
great, as we are a group of amateur sailors – I am an architect, the crew is
comprised of a lawyer and engineers. The Melges 24 is great because we can
sail against such great sailors in the world. We have only sailed together
for a short time, but my crew is a combination of some very good 470
sailors. We worked well together so we decided to race together; this is
such a great class.”

Speaking after racing Gold Course Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio said,
“It’s been spectacular. The people here working on the committee and the
mark boats – you don’t see it better than it gets here. They’re the ones who
make it work, I’m just an enabler. The mark boat guys are outstanding as is
the whole organisation. We got through the entire event without a single
black flag.”

“It has been a fantastic championship, it required a huge organizational and
logistical effort but it was well worth it in the end,” said Edoardo Recchi,
YCCS Sports Director. “We managed to hold all 12 of the races scheduled for
the worlds, something which is rarely achieved and, in view of the
conditions, is really quite remarkable. The level of competition was
incredibly high and the racing was always close-fought and exciting, a
really excellent championship.

Looking ahead, the 2008 Melges 24 North American Championship and the 2009
Melges 24 World Championship will be hosted by the Eastport Yacht Club,
Annapolis, Maryland, USA. The 2008 North American Championship will run from
October 26 to November 2 and the 2009 World Championship will run from
October 27 to November 7. Further information about both events can be found
at www.annapolismelges24.com. The 2009 Melges 24 European Championship will
be hosted by the COYCH, Hyeres, France from August 20 – 29. Further
information about this event can be found athttp://www.melges24.com.