The fleet continues to grow for the inaugural Star Winter Series Presented By EFG International, with 20 teams from 5 nations competing in the tricky 5-race Levin Memorial Regatta this past weekend on Biscayne Bay. As the halfway point of the series approached, a funny thing happened to a series designed to provide low-key, economical racing for one of sailing's most prestigious and historic classes: All of a sudden, teams started to get serious.

Perhaps the biggest culprit was series founder and chairman Stu Hebb, who turned up the intensity meter to finish the final three races with a fleet-best 1,3,3 scoreline; enough to propel him from 7th after two races all the way to a podium position in 3rd.

Hebb seemed inspired after getting a hearty helping of success with a runaway 2:20 victory over the next finisher in Race 3; the largest margin of victory of any race in the series thus far. "They're lucky I didn't get warmed uptil the third race; otherwise it would have been a cakewalk," Hebb joked. Quips aside, competitors are definitely upping their game as the end of the series moves in sight, as Hebb's crew Mike Wolfs explains: "Stu really turned up the aggression on the starting line, and he's working substantially harder on downwind boatspeed," said Wolfs. "Along with more active trimming for rake and rig tension, it was a great combination, and our results show it." Series newcomers also showed strong results last weekend; Buenos Aires skipper Alberto Zanetti started his Star Winter Series with a hard-fought sixth place, while Hong Kong's William Zwigart finished just behind Zanetti in 7th.

Meanwhile, two of the Star Class's "Big Dogs" continue to battle for every inch of real estate on the race course, with Augie Diaz taking a strong win over past Star World Champ George Szabo in second. Diaz put on a clinic, never finishing worse than 5th in the regatta; a full 10 points ahead of Szabo in the final standings. It was his second time winning the historic Levin Perpetual Trophy. "It's hard not to be proud of being on a trophy with these names on it; it's truly an honor." Diaz said he owed his gratitude to crew Arnis Baltins; "Arnis is just a pleasure to sail with, and he's always up to any task."

Diaz barely squeaked ahead of London Olympian Mark Mendelblatt for the Race 1 victory in a warm 8-10 knots of wind, and his local knowledge and great boathandling helped him stay away from some of the pitfalls that swallowed other strong teams up over the course of an event that saw unusual Southeasterly winds on Sunday. One of those teams was Szabo and Olympic Gold Medalist Magnus Liljedahl, whose 10th place finish in a shifty Race 3 made it impossible to catch Diaz.

Both Diaz and Szabo have won one event of the Star Winter Series Presented By EFG International, with the other finishing second each time, and they stand deadlocked in 4th place for the overall Series title. Still, Diaz downplays a rivalry that's just starting to get good. "There's no doubt that the lighter air this week played into our hands a bit, but I predict any real rivalry to be short-lived," Diaz said. "George is just too good."