Star Class Honoring the Past, Leading the Future
Author: ICARUS Sports - March 09, 2018Race Day 4 at the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta featured both the Star and J/70 fleets on the race track, in a breeze gusting up to 20 knots across Biscayne Bay, Miami.
The puffy conditions saw plenty of thrills and spills, although the heavier breeze eased to lighter shiftier conditions as the day progressed.
A packed day on the water was followed by downtime at the Bacardi Cup Happy Hour after-party at the Coral Reef Yacht Club. As the Bacardi Cup celebrates its 91st year, 2018 also marks the 56th year the event has been hosted at the Coral Reef Yacht Club.
Two races completed for the Star Class saw no change in the leader board top three, just an opening up of the points margins between series leaders Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin (NOR) over Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) and Robert Scheidt / Brian Fatih (BRA). Scheidt / Fatih won race 3 and closed the points gap, but followed up with a 15th to put them back where they were before.
“It was a bit of an up and down day for us,” reflected Brazilian sailing legend Scheidt. “The first race was really nice and we managed to lead the race from mark 1 until the finishing line with a nice gap. We were feeling very confident going into the second race, because we knew we had good speed, but we didn’t have a good start and got a bit out of pace with the shifts. And you know with this level of fleet, if you don’t get a good start it makes your life very hard".
“We managed to catch up a little bit, but it wasn’t a good race for us.”Looking ahead to the final two races of the series, Scheidt continued, “You know we need to keep working on what we are doing, and keep doing the same things and hopefully we will get a little bit better starts and a top ten at least at the top mark. If we managed to be top ten, then we can use our downwind speed and catch up”.
A regular figure at the Bacardi Cup, Scheidt is a huge fan, commenting, “I think it is one of the most traditional regattas in the world. I mean, a regatta that has 91 years that is very special. I am very happy that I was able to come, as I enjoy it a lot and hopefully will have many more years of this great regatta ahead”.
Scheidt announced his retirement from Olympic sailing last year, after notching up one of the most successful Olympic careers in history, winning a total of five medals in the Laser and Star Classes - two gold, two silver and one bronze, as well as multiple World Championship titles.
Race 4 victory went to Jack Jennings / Frithjof Kleen fresh off a black flag penalty from race 3 to sit in 22nd overall.
Predicting the leader board gains likely tomorrow when the discard comes into play after race 5, the finger points to Lars Grael / Samuel Gonclaves (BRA). Aside from their opening race score of 37, the pair has remained consistent, taking out 4,4,5 to sit in 9th overall. More of the same, and the race discard will see them accelerate up the leader board. Grael / Gonclaves won the Bacardi Cup in both 2014 and 2015, so will be chasing for name back on the trophy. There is of course the small matter of the reigning Star Class World Champions Melleby / Revkin to overcome.
Star Class - Results after Race 4:
1. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin (NOR) - 14 pts
2. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) - 19 pts
3. Robert Scheidt / Brian Fatih (BRA) - 26 pts
4. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA) - 30 pts
5. Xavier Rohart / Sebastien Guidoux (FRA) - 35 pts
6. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary (IRL) - 41 pts
7. Paul Cayard / Mark Strube (USA) - 42 pts
8. Arthur Anosov / David Caesar (USA) - 46 pts
9. Lars Grael / Samuel Gonclaves (BRA) - 50 pts
10. Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter (USA) - 51 pts
Racing on Friday March 9th features one race for the Star Class and three for the J/70.
Over one hundred and twenty teams from 20 nations are competing in the Star and J/70 fleets: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine and United States.
Author: ICARUS Sports - February 28, 2018|
MIAMI, FLA (date) - For nearly one century, the Bacardi Cup continues to attract the world’s top sailors and fans alike with its popularity and international intrigue. The event is celebrating its 91st anniversary in 2018 and for 56 straight years has called the beautiful waters of Biscayne Bay home. The organizers will welcome a stellar line-up of around 150 Star Class and J/70 Class boats when racing kicks off. As usual, the sport’s biggest names are attracted to the high-quality racing on offer, with the entry list already teeming with super-talented World Champions, Olympians, and America’s Cup stars. Teams from across the U.S. will be joined by an international line-up from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Racing gets underway in Biscayne Bay on Monday, March 5th for the Star Class. Racing for the J/70 Class commences the following Thursday. The Star fleet will compete in a single daily race, in what many today would call “endurance” style racing, which is exactly what the sailors’ relish. The J/70 fleet face 9 races scheduled across 3 days. |
Author: Rachele Vitello - March 16, 2018Diego Negri is an Italian sailor who’s been to three Olympic Games, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 in the Laser class and Beijing 2008 in the Star class. Since then he’s never stepped off a Star boat continuing his improvement curve with different crews. He’s gone so close to winning the World Championship for so many times in the recent years. In Miami in 2016 he was second for just two points after local Augie Diaz (USA) and Bruno Prada (BRA); a few months before he was leading the World Championship in Buenos Aires, when Lars Grael and Samuel Goncalves (BRA) won it after a very consistent week. Similar story happened at the Bacardi Cup 2016. Diego and Sergio Lambertenghi had a fantastic week winning three races and closing at 15 points, but Robert Stanjek and Frithjof Kleen (GER) had a better week by just one point and took home the trophy. 2018 was the year that Diego and Sergio could write history and become the first Italian team to win the Bacardi Cup, one of the oldest trophies in sport. “It’s such an honor and a joy to be the first Italian to win the Bacardi Cup, it is almost unbelievable.. only when I look at the price giving pictures I realize it’s true! We had great time, both on and off water, everything just fell into place and even on the last day, where we were going on the racecourse with three teams behind us by only four points, we were calm and sailed our race. At prize giving then, we were just rocking it with everybody cheering for us, it’s been amazing and we so much needed this after the past few years… We have always been there among the best, on the podium or just down one step, but for some reason we were never able to grab the victory and the gold star isn’t still on our mainsail. We will try and win it at this coming World Championship next October in Oxford USA, but at the moment we’re still working on the logistic, while we’ll more likely attend Eastern Hemisphere and might participate to the Western in Miami too. Winning 3,000 points and going back to the leadership of the SSL Ranking it is also great, I can’t deny I came to Bacardi also for that, I didn’t want to risk the possibility to go again to Bahamas and give it a go to winning that big prize pot..but I am afraid I am not cut for the knock-out system, it has always somehow penalized me. I am happy sailing with Sergio, we achieved a lot together and I am looking forward to winning more regattas with him at my side. Certainly for him it was easier here with the NO pumping (and weight) rule.. that rule it’s written for the youngster, more powerful sailors - particularly the ones coming from Finn.”
Author: Rachele Vitello - March 05, 2018The 91st edition of the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta starts today with 82 boats on the line ready to battle it out to conquer the prestigious trophy who was first held in Cuba in 1927.
This year this epic race begins with a much deserved tribute to one of the heroes of this legendary class, a man who wrote history for his Country and for the sailing world: Sir Durward Knowles passed away at age 100 on February 24th at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas. Today the whole Bacardi Cup Fleet saluted him with a special memorial.
Bahamian and Star class flag were hoisted by the ISCYRA President Hubert Merkelbach joined by past presidents Lars Grael and Jack Rickard, the two times Star class Gold Medalist Mark Reynolds and Paul Cayard at 9am before the competitors started docking out towards the racecourse. A touching moment for a past Star class commodore who won the first Olympic medal (bronze) for his country, Bahamas, in 1956, who then succeeded and won gold eight years later, in Tokyo. Sir Durward is also a Star World Champion, winning the title in 1947 in Los Angeles, and his name is written on the Bacardi Cup as he won it in 1951 with Ding Shoonmaker as crew.
While we are posting this, his funeral is being held in Nassau, and, in his honor, the Fleet sailed for one minute on that direction (100 degrees on the compasses) right before the first warning signal at 11,49. (Video will follow)
Fair winds to you Sir Durward, you will be missed and never forgotten.
Author: ICARUS Sports - March 11, 2018One concluding race for the Star Class today awarded victory to Italy’s Diego Negri /Sergio Lambertenghi, with top spot in the J/70 seized by Joel Ronning and his crew on ‘Catapult’ from two races.
An up and down breeze of 10-15 knots in a choppy sea and tropical temperatures on Biscayne Bay, Miami presented a whole new set of race conditions on the final day of the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta 2018. It was another day of reading the windshifts or reacting to pressure to make the gains, and even top sailors get caught out when breeze spotting. Make one mistake and you pay.
The Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta and 91st Bacardi Cup came to an end lateSaturday night, but not before huge celebrations for the Star and J/70 sailors who once again descended on Coral Reef Yacht Club for the final Bacardi experience at the Bacardi Cup Regatta Prize Giving dinner and closing ceremony. The final after party of superb Bacardi cocktails, dinner and socializing marked a tremendous finale to six days of racing presented by the eminent Bacardi brand.
In the seventy-six boat Star fleet, Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi managed to maintain the lead they opened the day with, retaining pole position as the battle heated up behind, with three teams neck and neck on 14 points apiece.
Robert Scheidt (BRA) / Brian Fatih (USA) led the final race off the starting line, with Negri / Lambertenghi languishing back around 7th place at the first mark - giving the title to Scheidt at that point in the race. A determined fightback unfolded from Negri / Lambertenghi, accelerating in the first downwind to 3rd and ultimately crossing the finish line in 4th, whilst Scheidt / Fatih lost ground and dropped back to 2nd in the final leg; in an unbelievably close finish to the 91st Bacardi Cup.
Negri / Lambertenghi make history by becoming the first ever Italian team to win, with Negri’s name added to the list of sailing icons on the Bacardi Cup Trophy, and Lambertenghi added to the crew names on the Tito Bacardi Cup. Scheidt / Fatihupgraded to second, with Melleby / Revkin picking up third over Lars Grael / Samuel Goncalves (BRA) in fourth.
“Today has been a great race”, said an overjoyed Negri. “It has been perfect conditions up to 15 knots. We had a good start, played the left and some other boats played the right. We were very close with another three boats for winning the Bacardi Cup, so we were sailing close to Melleby, and we knew that Scheidt and Grael were windward to us, so we were playing leeward side of them, and arrived at the top mark not far from them. We arrived at the top mark around 7th to 8th but with a good call of judgement soon after the windward mark we succeed to recover in the first downwind, and rounded in 3rd so pretty safe for us, as we just needed to be in the top four”.
The pair held their position, and could afford to be overtaken by Paul Cayard / Mark Strube in the final downwind leg, knowing they had victory in the bag.
“It is a very good result and an amazing week and consistent, and I think we did a great job together,” said the super-talented Negri who, together with Lambertenghi, has claimed medals at each of the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Star World Championships. But it has taken thirteen years of competing at the Bacardi Cup, since 2016, for Negri to climb the mountain to victory.
“The fleet was amazing and we won. It is a good feeling, and will be a good memory for all our life that is for sure. Maybe there will be a next one in the future but this 91st edition is to us”, Negri laughed.
“Winning the Bacardi, for me at least, I came here the first time in 1995 so more than twenty years ago, I have always been dreaming to win it,” said a delighted Lambertenghi.“Being able to do it, thanks to my helmsman Diego, is super, super, super satisfying. The last leg until the end was just shaking, looking at the wind, looking at the other boats”.
Great Britain’s Iain Percy and his Swedish crew Anders Ekstrom made their mark known by winning the final race, to finish in 7th overall. A formidable partnership, with three Star Class Olympic medals between them, the pair didn’t compete in race 1, then a non-fault collision and virtual sinking forced them out of races 3 and 4, before claiming the race victory their pedigrees would predict.
Prizes were also presented to winners in the Master’s (skippers age 50 through 59), Grand Masters (skippers age 60 and above), and Exalted Grand Masters (skippers age 70 and above) divisions, which went to Arthur Anosov / David Caesar (USA), Augie Diaz (USA) / Bruno Prada (BRA) and Alessandro Pascolato / Henry Boening (BRA) respectively. The Tammy Rubin Rice Trophy was presented to Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA).
Star Class - Final Overall Results after 6 Races:
1. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) - 16 pts
2. Robert Scheidt (BRA) / Brian Fatih (USA) - 22 pts
3. Eivind Melleby (NOR) / Joshua Revkin (USA) - 24 pts
4. Lars Grael / Samuel Gonclaves (BRA) - 24 pts
5. Paul Cayard / Mark Strube (USA) - 28 pts
6. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA) - 23 pts
7. Iain Percy / Andres Ekstrom (GBR) - 32 pts
8. Xavier Rohart / Sebastien Guidoux (FRA) - 26 pts
9. Luke Lawrence (USA) / Pedro Trouche (BRA) - 47 pts
10. Jack Jennings (USA) / Frithjof Kleen (GER) - 51 pts
The fleets will congregate again next year for the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta and 92nd Bacardi Cup from March 3rd - 9th 2019.
Author: ICARUS Sports - March 06, 2018The Star sailors opened their assault on the 91st Bacardi Cup in a breeze of 12 knots and flat sea, under the beautiful Coconut Grove skies and stunning Miami city backdrop.
Before heading to the race track, the sailors paid tribute to one of the Star greats, Sir Durward Knowles (BAH) who passed away aged 100 years on 24 February 2018. Paul Cayard led the dedication and paying of respects by the Star Class family at 09:00 hours in Miami, ahead of Sir Durward’s funeral a few hours later in Nassau, Bahamas. Star Class President Hubert Merkelbach hoisted the Star Class flag joined by past Presidents Lars Grael and Jack Rickard, followed by Mark Reynolds hoisting the Bahamian flag, before lowering it to half-mast. Sailors then signed a photo of Sir Durward’s Star which will be presented to his family. Impressively, before his passing, Sir Durward was the oldest living Olympic Gold Medallist, securing gold at the 1964 Olympics.
Out on the race track, one minute before the starting procedure for the day’s race, the fleet paraded along the starting line and turned their bows to 100 degrees on the compass towards Nassau in honour to Sir Durward.
“Today the Star Class honoured Sir Durward Knowles who raced the Star for over 70 years, was Commodore of the Class for 31 years, Gold Medallist, World Champion and all around great human being,” said Paul Cayard. “It is fortunate that we are all here for the first race of the Bacardi Cup to mark this moment.”
“This is our way of honouring Sir Durward and everything he meant for this class”,continued John Vandermolen, Star Class Executive Director.
Then, it was all about the race track battle. After a postponement due to the shifty breeze, the first start got underway, albeit abandoned as a big right hand shift hit the track. Soon conditions stabilized and the fleet got off in 10-12 knots.
Racing one long race a day, the Star Class fleet is packed with the sport’s big names, and with so much depth in performance, there is simply no room to make a mistake, as there is no opportunity for a comeback.
The 2016 Star Class World Champions Augie Diaz and Bruno Prada took the opening day victory in a closely fought duel with the Norwegian team. The pair battled through on the final leg to overtake reigning Star Class World Champions, Eivind Melleby /Joshua Revkin (NOR) who had controlled the fleet for most of the race. Diaz / Prada have partnered for the past nine years, and are hugely experienced with the trickery of the Miami race track, so whilst a win doesn’t come easy in such a world class fleet, there was no surprise to see them out front.
“Today was really a hard day on the water”, grinned Diaz back ashore. “I think it was a hard day for everybody including the Race Committee. The Race Committee did a really nice job of waiting for the wind to settle. It was a really difficult race as the wind was still changing back and forth quite a bit.”
Reflecting on their performance, Diaz explained, “We were very fortunate to have a pretty good first weather leg and we arrived at the mark in like seventh or eighth and we thought that was a good situation given how hard the race course was today. We then had a really good downwind leg and we were able to round the right hand gate mark and that gave us a really nice position to go up the second leg.”
Hunting down Melleby / Revkin, Diaz / Prada rounded the weather mark in second and then made their move, clawing past the Norwegians to take the lead in the final downwind leg.
Third to Italy’s three-time Olympian Diego Negri racing with Sergio Lambertenghi. Compared to much of the fleet, the pair is considered a relatively new partnership, but have enjoyed plenty of success, winning the 2014 Star European Championship not long after they partnered up, and following up with a silver medal at the Star Worlds the same year.
Post-race, the venerable Bacardi Rum brand, the locally-headquartered ‘king of hospitality’ which has sponsored the event since its inception, greets and hosts sailors each evening. The Bacardi Cup Star Class Party headlines today’s post-race social at the Bacardi Building, featuring the renowned Bacardi cocktails and drinks, along with great food and tropical music.
Anticipating the week ahead, John Vandermolen, Star Class Executive Director commented, “The Bacardi Cup is one of the premier events in our Class. It is so much fun and we are so excited to be a part of this with Bacardi and all of the people here at Coral Reef Yacht Club. Eleven World Champions are here and gold medallists are sailing, so the competition is fierce but friendly. And that’s the way the Star Class is, so we are very excited for the first day of this wonderful event.”
Race 2 for the Star Class is scheduled to start at 11:55 hours on Tuesday, March 6th. Racing for the J/70 Class starts on Thursday, March 8th with 9 races scheduled across 3 days.
Bacardi Cup – Results after Race 1
1. Augie Diaz / Bruno Prada (USA) - 1 pt
2. Eivind Melleby /Joshua Revkin (NOR) - 2 pt
3. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) - 3 pt
4. Paul Cayard / Mark Strube (USA) - 4 pt
5. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA) - 5 pt
6. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary (IRL) - 6 pt
7. Robert Scheidt / Brian Fatih (BRA) - 7 pt
8. Thomas Allart / Arthur Lopez (NED) - 8 pt
9. Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter (USA) - 9 pt
10. Luke Lawrence / Pedro Trouche (NED) - 10 pt
Seventy-six teams from 17 nations are competing: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine and United States.
A special thank you to this year’s event sponsors and supporters: North Sails, Coral Reef Sailing Apparel, Hatuey, S.Pellegrino, Gubinelli, Tuuci, Nautical Channel, Sun Orchard, Regatta Gingerbeer, Ocean Navigator, Jaguar therapeutics, Coco Walk and the City of Coconut Grove.
March 10, 2018Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi ITA are the winners of Bacardi Cup 2018!
Robert Scheidt BRA / Brian Fatih USA are second and Eivind Melleby NOR / Joshua Revkin USA.
Author: Rachele Vitello - March 06, 2018Day 2 of Bacardi Cup 2018 in Coconut Groove, Miami. It all started with a one hour postponement and, after two general recalls, race 2 started with 10-12 knots of westerly breeze.
A very tight finish, saw the Star World Champions Eivind Melleby NOR / Joshua Revkin USA took the bullet, followed by Diego Negri / Segio Lambertenghi ITA and the Brazilian super hero Robert Scheidt BRA / Brian Fatih USA.
Top 10 for Race 2:
1. Eivind Melleby NOR / Joshua Revkin USA
2. Diego Negri ITA / Sergio Lambertenghi ITA
3. Robert Scheidt BRA / Brian Fatih USA
4. Lars Grael BRA / Samuel F M Gonçalves BRA
5. Arthur Anosov USA / David Caesar
6. Paul Cayard USA / Mark R Strube USA
7. Xavier Rohart FRA / Sébastien Guidoux SUI
8. Iain Percy GBR / Anders Ekström SWE
9. Jack Jennings USA / Frithjof Kleen GER
10. Augie Diaz USA / Bruno Prada BRA
And top 10 after 2 races:
1. Eivind Melleby NOR / Joshua Revkin USA 3 pts
2. Diego Negri ITA / Sergio Lambertenghi ITA 5 pts
3. Robert Scheidt BRA / Brian Fatih USA 10 pts
4. Paul Cayard USA / Mark R Strube USA 10 pts
5. Augie Diaz USA / Bruno Prada BRA 11 pts
6. Eric Doyle USA / Payson Infelise USA 16 pts
7. Arthur Anosov USA / David Caesar 21 pts
8. Peter O'Leary IRL / Robert O'Leary IRS 21 pts
9. Xavier Rohart FRA / Sébastien Guidoux SUI 26 pts
10. Peter Vessella USA / Phil Trinter USA 29 pts
Full Results:
https://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=4517
Author: ICARUS Sports - March 07, 2018A keen Star Class fleet pushed the starting line, forcing the Race Committee to signal two general recalls before race day 2 at the 91st Bacardi Cup got underway on Biscayne Bay today.
Superb weather conditions in a breeze up to 15 knots kept the frontrunners close together, with intense head to head fights concluding in a virtual photo finish between the leading three boats.
On the first upwind leg, the majority opted to take the left side of the track which paid off particularly well for Italy’s Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi who claimed the mark rounding first, chased by a rowdy fleet crowding around the mark behind.
The Italians held their position in the leading pack for the next legs, almost keeping their advantage to the finish line, as a battle of wills unfolded. Three boats crossed within moments of each other with the advantage going to the Norwegian pair of Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin. A reversal of fortune compared to yesterday when they lost their lead in the final leg, but today they accelerated ahead of the Italians to take the win by half a boat length. A scorecard of 2,1 now puts Melleby/Revkin in the overall lead, sitting 2 points ahead of Negri/ Lambertenghi in second overall.
"It’s good to be here at the Bacardi Cup,” grinned Melleby, the reigning Star Class World Champion. “The Bacardi Cup 2018 is a great show here this year with all the best guys. We also have Iain Percy here and it will be great to race him again as I haven’t seen him in a Star for a while".
"It’s tough to race out there with all these good guys, so you have to be really careful about your risk taking. With the long line and big fleet, you are running a lot of risk if you are out on the side and it is very hard to catch up if you make a mistake at the beginning. So that is what we are trying to focus on, cut down the risk a little bit and hopefully, we can be consistently up in the top ten. Hopefully, that will get us up to the podium and hopefully win in the end I guess!” concluded Melleby sharing his mission for the week.
“This early in the regatta it is impossible to say you are trying to cover or look after any one person,” added Revkin on their focus for the first half of the Bacardi Cup. “We are just trying to sail our fastest race and get single digit finishes.”
Diego Negri sealed the 2014 Star Class Worlds silver medal on the same waters, so is massively familiar with the weather characteristics of Biscayne Bay. Negri reflected on his day, “Today has been a great race. We were leading at the top mark, at the downwind mark we were leading again but just in front of Melleby, and it was a kind of photo finish at the end. He was crossing on starboard, we were on port so I had to pass behind him and on the finishing line, I think we were less than half a boat length behind".
"But anyway, it was a good way to start and yesterday we were third in a light breeze and today medium breeze and we were second and it was very shifty. I feel confident when it is shifty like this and I am happy with the conditions and the results so far. We keep going like this and let’s see at the end who is the best! This is the Star fleet we have a lot of Champions -World, European, Olympic- and this is the Bacardi Cup with almost 80 boats on the starting line and long courses. This is the game and that’s what we like. We like to compete in a high level fleet and we like to sail our nice boats.”
Just behind, Robert Scheidt / Brian Fatih (BRA) wrapped up a third place finish, and moved up to third on the leaderboard.
Great Britain’s Iain Percy made his first appearance on the race track today with Anders Ekstrom, scoring an 8th place. Although set against not racing on day 1, the pair sits down the pegging in 44th. Percy knows extremely well what it takes to win, counting in his trophy cabinet Gold and Silver Olympic medals in the Star, Olympic Gold in the Finn Class as well as two Star Class World Championship titles and multiple silver and bronze medals - to name just a few titles. Maintain today’s form and when the race discard comes into play after race 5, we can expect to see this pair popping up to the front of the scoreboard.
Overnight leaders, Augie Diaz / Bruno Prada (USA) lost some pace today, finishing 10th and dropping down to fifth overall.
Race day 2’s after-party will be the renowned Bacardi Happy Hour hosted at Coral Reef Yacht Club, with a guaranteed fun-filled evening boosted by the renowned Bacardi cocktails, food and music.
Race 3 for the Star Class is scheduled to start at 10:55 hours on Wednesday, March 7thwith a stronger breeze forecast.
The J/70 Class starts registration on Wednesday, March 7th ahead of racing getting underway on Thursday, March 8th with 9 races scheduled across 3 days.
Bacardi Cup – Results after Race 1
1. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin (NOR) - 3 pts
2. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) - 5 pts
3. Robert Scheidt / Brian Fatih (BRA) - 10 pts
4. Paul Cayard / Mark Strube (USA) - 10 pts
5. Augie Diaz / Bruno Prada (USA) - 11 pts
6. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA) - 16 pts
7. Arthur Anosov / David Caesar (USA) - 21 pts
8. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary (IRL) - 26 pts
9. Xavier Rohart / Sebastien Guidoux (FRA) - 29 pts
10. Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter (USA) - 29 pts
Seventy-six teams from 17 nations are competing: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine and United States.
A special thank you to this year’s event sponsors and supporters: North Sails, Coral Reef Sailing Apparel, Hatuey, S.Pellegrino, Gubinelli, Tuuci, Nautical Channel, Sun Orchard, Regatta Gingerbeer, Ocean Navigator, Jaguar therapeutics, Coco Walk and the City of Coconut Grove.
Author: ICARUS Sports - March 08, 2018Tough call for the Race Committee on day 3 at the Bacardi Cup as an incoming thunderstorm was looming on the periphery of the race track; weather conditions that can turn tranquillity to ferocity in moments here in Miami.
Carl Schellbach, the Principal Race Officer, explained the situation he faced in making the call to cancel racing, “The incoming weather was borderline dangerous especially coming from the direction it was coming in. Forecast is for thunderstorms arriving sometime between 1300-1400 hours with very gusty and very shifty winds thereafter. This time of the regatta we have two good races in and the fear is we will witness bad weather out there and we will have destruction of property and potential for injured sailors which obviously we don’t want”.
With three days remaining on the race schedule, the Race Committee know they can catch up on today’s race in much better conditions and give more fair racing to the sailors, which what the Bacardi Cup is all about.
“We want to give the best sailors in the world the best racing possible. Biscayne Bay can do that, just not today. I would rather be safe up here on the beach than sorry on the water”, surmised Schellbach.
Racing was cancelled early in the day, to give the sailors the opportunity to enjoy the camaraderie of the event and kick into the day’s Bacardi party early. So, with no racing, more time to relax ahead of what is guaranteed to be a classic Bacardi Regatta Welcome Cocktail and Mid-Week Party and Dinner, with the J/70 fleet also joining the mix.
Reflecting the every growing youth contingent in the Star Class, one of the relative newcomers to the Bacardi Cup is the USA’s Luke Lawrence racing with Pedro Trouche. The pair sits in 11th overall from a scorecard of 10,19, and tied on points with tenth placed Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter. Lawrence is a former Finn Junior World Champion, J/24 World Champion, who was taken out in a Star for the first time by Augie Diaz back in 2014, and is now a committed fan of the Bacardi Cup experience.
“Everything that goes on her at the Bacardi Cup has been a lot of fun over the years, and I have been doing it now for most probably the 3rd or 4th year. The event has been around forever and historically it has always been a great party and Bacardi does a really nice job of living up to that expectation".
“The food is always good, the parties are good at the headquarters. They always have drinks ready to roll when we get off the water and it is always a fun atmosphere to have everyone hanging around and not just taking off at the end of the day. There is something cool about the Star Class in general as well and the Bacardi Cup in particular. It’s Miami, it’s beautiful out here, who wouldn’t want to be here!”.
A long time ago, the Star Class cast aside any image of being an older man’s boat, and an ever growing number of younger teams continue to be drawn to the fleet. No surprise, as the Star holds the unique position of being the only two-person keelboat with such a high level of worldwide competition and inevitably many young sailors see the Star in their future campaigns. The Star Class also uniquely offers the opportunity to compete against the sport’s legends, such as Paul Cayard, Robert Scheidt, Diego Negri, Lars Grael, Iain Percy, as well as fellow Olympians from other classes who know each other, but have never competed against each other, as Lawrence enthused.
“Having all these people here, like for me and a lot of kids, these are the people we grew up watching on TV and on the internet and in magazines and throughout our entire lives. To be able to be walking around here and shaking hands with these people, there’s not really any other place in the world or fleet like it. You can’t normally just go and be around the best people in the world who have such talent as in the America’s Cup or a Volvo Ocean Race or any of that. The combined collection of all of their trophies; the list is massive here”.
The J/70 Class started their registration at 15:00 hours today, ahead of racing getting underway on Thursday March 8th with 8 races scheduled across 3 days.
The preliminary entry list of almost fifty teams from eight nations presents a tough prediction as to who will deliver the consistency to claim J/70 victory. Assured is the battle set to unfold between two sailors who last year claimed the J/70 World Championship title, Peter Duncan (USA) and Jud Smith (USA), as they now test each other across the starting line on different boats.
Bacardi Cup – Results after Race 2:
1. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin (NOR) - 3 pts
2. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) - 5 pts
3. Robert Scheidt / Brian Fatih (BRA) - 10 pts
4. Paul Cayard / Mark Strube (USA) - 10 pts
5. Augie Diaz / Bruno Prada (USA) - 11 pts
6. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA) - 16 pts
7. Arthur Anosov / David Caesar (USA) - 21 pts
8. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary (IRL) - 26 pts
9. Xavier Rohart / Sebastien Guidoux (FRA) - 29 pts
10. Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter (USA) - 29 pts
Over one hundred and twenty teams from 20 nations are competing in the Star and J/70 fleets: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine and United States.
October 30, 2017The Bacardi Cup will take place March 4–10, 2018. As always the Bacardi Cup will be sailed on the emerald-green waters of Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida, with days full of friendly, intense competition and nights full of parties, tropical music, camaraderie and open bars filled with Bacardi Rum. So mark your calendars!
We’ve announced the event a little later this year because we were putting the final touches on a new and improved event format that refocuses the Bacardi Cup on it’s original mission as an invitational regatta bringing together the world’s top small-boat sailors to compete in tight, thrilling racing. We’re sure you’ll love it. Please read our press release for more info on the event.
Please go to the website to register. http://bacardiinvitational.com/
See you all in March!
The Bacardi Cup team
For more information contact:
Sara Zanobini
sara@bacardiinvitational.com
Mark Pincus
mark@bacardiinvitational.com
Author: Rachele Vitello - March 08, 2018Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta 2018
Two races with wind were held today in Biscayne Bay on the fourth day of the 91st edition of the prestigious trophy.
Robert Scheidt BRA and Brian Fatih USA won race 3; Jack Jennings USA and Firthjof Kleen GER won race 4; but the overall leaders are still Eivind Melleby NOR and Joshua Revkin USA .
On second spot we find again Diego Negri ITA and Sergio Lambertenghi ITA and on third Robert Scheidt BRA and Brian Fatih USA .
Full results here:
https://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=4517
The Bacardi Cup will take place March 4–10, 2018. As always the Bacardi Cup will be sailed on the emerald-green waters of Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida, with days full of friendly, intense competition and nights full of parties, tropical music, camaraderie and open bars filled with Bacardi Rum. So mark your calendars!
We’ve announced the event a little later this year because we were putting the final touches on a new and improved event format that refocuses the Bacardi Cup on it’s original mission as an invitational regatta bringing together the world’s top small-boat sailors to compete in tight, thrilling racing. We’re sure you’ll love it. Please read our press release for more info on the event.
Please go to www.bacardiinvitational.com to register. And be sure that your Star Class dues are PAID for 2018, see Addendum #1.
Addendum #1
See you all in March!
The Bacardi Cup team
For more information contact:
Sara Zanobini
sara@bacardiinvitational.com
