Melges 24 World Championship - The Canadian connection

3:59 AM Wed 4 Nov 2009 GMT

'Chris Larson and crew winners of the Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis 2009 Melges 24 World Championship' &copy IMCA/ Pierrick Contin

The Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis 2009 Melges 24 World Championships wrapped up over this past weekend. Fifty-one international teams from across North America and Europe competed in a challenging 11 race series. Chesapeake Bay presented a little bit of everything for the competitors, ranging from soft and variable to the final days racing in double digit wind strengths.

Chris Larson of the USA at the helm of West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes won the event with an extremely consistent score card that included four 2nd place finishes and only a single finish outside the top 8 (a 12th). It is Larson's team of all-star Canadians that provides a special interest story for us. Larson's crew included, Canadian Olympic Medallist Mike Wolfs (Star Silver in 2004), Olympian Richard Clarke (Finn 96, 2000, 2004), and amateur bowman Curtis Florence.

The story on Curtis Florence is truly exceptional, his World Championships win in the Melges 24 is added to his 2009 Farr 40 World Championship victory on Barking Mad and his 2008 Mumm 30 World Championship on Optimum, (no class worlds in 2009) giving him a hat-trick of World Championships across these classes. Further the hat-trick was almost a quartet as he finished second at the 2009 J24 World Championships, narrowly missing the overall title after leading going into the final race of that event.

Congratulations, to this team on their recent success, and specifically to Curtis Florence for his exceptional performances over this past year.

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by Canada Yachting Association