The Opatija Melges 24 Cup 2026 delivered thrilling racing, dramatic retirements, and standout performances from crews across Europe. Held in the famously fickle conditions off the Croatian coast, the regatta saw 17 boats compete over three intense days, with early morning starts and rapidly shifting winds testing every team on the water.
Stipe Vitaljić sailed aboard Cro A Sail with a crew of four young sailors operating under the Under 25 category. While Vitaljić himself is older than the age limit, the rules allow a more experienced sailor on board to serve as a coach figure, and he has been pushing the team hard. Winter training sessions laid the groundwork, with their primary target being the World Championship in Pula next year. That preparation paid off early in the regatta. A strong start and smart decision to pick the right side of the course helped Cro A Sail round the windward mark in first place and hold on through intense pressure at the finish. The fading tramuntana proved unpredictable and difficult, but the young crew defended their lead impressively.
Vitaljić noted that the conditions in Opatija are well known among competitors. The early morning tramuntana is the main opportunity for wind, so getting out on the water early is essential. A second race was abandoned after conditions became inconsistent, and by the afternoon the only realistic hope was a maestral breeze. Long days on the water are simply part of the deal.
Stjepan Ćesić, helmsman on Little A, reflected on a day of improvement. The morning race under the tramuntana did not go to plan, with a tenth-place finish, but the crew corrected their mistakes in the afternoon and secured a third and fourth. Ćesić credited recent work on their starts and upwind sailing for the gains. Opatija’s tradition of dawn starts is something he and his crew are accustomed to, and this year’s first signal was actually relatively late compared to previous editions. With the Corinthian division featuring some of the best amateur crews in the world, including strong British and Italian teams, Ćesić knew the competition would be fierce.
Roko Stipanović, helm of Cro-A-Sail, expressed satisfaction with how the pieces came together. At 23 years old and part of the Under 25 crew, he acknowledged that much of their winter preparation was devoted to assembling the boat and preparing equipment, with only a handful of on-water training sessions. Despite that, the team performed well across multiple races in conditions that ranged from medium winds to light breezes and shifting directions. The crew opened the day with a second-place overall finish and stayed at the top through two afternoon races. With two more days of racing still ahead, Stipanović said the plan was to sail calmly and cleanly, avoiding unnecessary technical errors, and to get a good night’s sleep before another early start.
The Boat of the Day overall went to Razjaren. Antonio Milišić, who normally sails with the One 4 Fun crew, joined Razjaren for this event and worked the bow. His job covers everything forward of the mast, including hoisting and dropping the gennaker and ensuring smooth maneuvers. With 16 boats and top-tier competition, the morning’s four races in shifty conditions were physically and tactically demanding. The crew had taken on two new members the day before, including Antonio and Boris, which initially caused some coordination issues. By the second day, however, they found their rhythm and posted top-three finishes in all of the morning’s races, a huge improvement over the previous day. Antonio anticipated two more races the following morning before hauling out and heading home to Split. He noted that compared to the previous year, which produced barely two races across three or four days, this edition was a resounding success with seven races completed over two days.
The regatta was not without drama. Cro-A-Sail was forced to retire during the sixth race after a rare structural failure. Vitaljić explained that the bulkhead, the internal partition where the blocks for the gennaker retrieval are attached, detached from the hull and snapped clean in half. With the break running right down the middle, no temporary repair was possible on the water. By the time the failure occurred, the crew had already lost four legs of the race, making it pointless to continue. With the National Championships just three weeks away, the team decided to get the boat to a shipyard immediately for a proper repair rather than risk an improvised fix. Vitaljić described the failure as a shock but framed it as a step forward, vowing to rebuild the structure stronger than before and be ready for the next race in Biograd.
Niccolò Bertola, helmsman of Taki 4, led his Italian crew to first place in the Corinthian division and third overall. The team has been sailing together for about ten years, with Marco as owner, Giacomo as tactician, Giovanni as sail trimmer, and Pietro as bowman. Their pedigree is remarkable: four Corinthian World Championship titles and two fifth-place overall finishes at Worlds. Bertola was pleased with the eight completed races, which gave the crew a chance to find their form. The result provides a strong platform as they target the 2026 European Championship as their main goal for the season. After Opatija, Taki 4 planned to race in Trieste in May before heading to the Europeans in Norway at the end of August. Bertola praised the Croatian fleet, which has grown significantly in recent years, and noted that strong crews from across Europe, including Italy, made for a very high level of competition. He also congratulated the Melgina crew on their overall victory, acknowledging their impressive improvement and recent top-five finish at the Worlds.
Andrea Racchelli, tactician aboard the overall winner Melgina, described his first experience sailing with owner Paolo Brescia’s team. The crew featured Jaš Farneti as trimmer, Lorenzo Centuori as bowman, and Alexander Harej as mid-bow. Racchelli found the conditions tricky, with a very narrow window for wind mostly between 7:00 and 10:00 in the morning. He praised the race committee for doing a fantastic job finding solutions despite the weather. The racing was intense, with short courses, frequent shifts, and gusts that made tactical decisions critical. The battle with Razjaren went down to the wire. In the final morning’s first race, Melgina had a poor start and finished fifth while Razjaren took second, leaving them on equal points in the overall standings. No final race was possible due to conditions, meaning the rankings stood, and Melgina took the win. Racchelli admitted there was a touch of luck involved but pointed out that a race where Melgina had been leading on the first day was also cancelled, so things balanced out. The plan for Melgina includes a return for the Croatian National Championship in Biograd, followed by the Italian Nationals on Lake Garda and the European Championship in Norway. Racchelli himself will rejoin his own team, Altea, for those later events.
Paolo Brescia, Melgina’s owner, echoed the sentiment that the overall victory was not expected given the quality of the competition. He highlighted the race committee’s excellent decisions throughout the weekend and noted that early morning starts were the key to catching wind in Opatija. The regatta came down to identical points with Ante Ćesić’s Razjaren crew, making for riveting competition. Brescia was generous in his praise of Taki 4’s Corinthian win and confirmed plans to return for the National Championship in Biograd, explaining that Croatia currently boasts the best Melges 24 fleet in Europe and that competing against it is the ideal way to prepare for the season. With 17 boats from across the continent, the atmosphere and level of racing left Brescia thoroughly impressed.
Tin Fike and Barbara Perusic of the Otavic crew wrapped up the regatta with a clear focus on what comes next. Barbara explained that the immediate priority is returning to Kostrena to get the boat back in peak condition, addressing both planned maintenance and new wear and tear from the event. After repairs, the crew will dedicate two intense weeks of training before the regatta in Biograd. Tin credited the race committee’s decision to start early for making the regatta possible, noting that the tramuntana wind was the only realistic opportunity for sailing. Barbara added that early starts are a well-known tradition across all classes racing in Opatija, whether Optimist or 420, with 4:00 AM wake-ups being standard. Tin described how quickly conditions can change: the previous two days had been cloudy, keeping the tramuntana blowing until around 10:00 AM, but when the sky cleared on the final day, the wind vanished in seconds. Despite the challenges, the crew made the most of their time on the water and are looking forward to competing in Biograd.
