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Melges 24 Nats Go Down to Wire

Brian Porter’s Full Throttle works upwind at the 2009 Melges 24 Nationals.

© Ellen Hoke

With the 2009 Melges 24 Nationals Trophy on the line, Brian Porter’s Full Throttle was over early at the Alcatraz start for Sunday’s eighth and final race. But the four-time national champions never threw in the towel, and had ground down two-thirds of the 21-boat fleet by the time they reached Crissy Field. As the fleet short-tacked up the Cityfront in a healthy flood, Porter and his crew — brother John, Harry Melges and Andy Burdick — kept grinding away. With Vince Brun’s Bailout and Dave Ullman’s Pegasus 505 sitting 1-2, the Lake Geneva, Wisconsin-based Full Throttle crew knew they had to get up to fourth place to get into a three-way tie for first, which they’d win on the countback. At the first weather mark, they’d worked their way into fifth, but were a good dozen boatlengths behind the fourth place boat.

"We knew we had to get fourth to win, and we just kept working hard," Porter said. "Harry kept putting us in the right spots and going in the right direction. We were fast . . . upwind and down."

The Full Throttle team clockwise from left John Porter, Harry Melges, skipper Brian Porter and Andy Burdick.

latitude/Rob
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC

On the first run, Full Throttle made up a lot of time and by the time the peloton was headed back upwind to the finish, Porter and crew were trading tacks with the fourth-place boat — which they passed with 50 yards to spare before the finish off the Presidio. That fourth installed them them into the top-spot for the week, with Brun in second and Ullman in third. Bruce Ayres’ Monsoon — in fourth overall — topped the seven-boat Corinthian Division for non-pro boats. The top local finisher was regatta chair Kristen Lane’s Brick House 623, which vaulted into seventh overall on the strength of a 1-6 final day.

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