District 20  Regatta Report

Sun Mar 3rd, 2002 through Sat Mar 9th, 2002

Regatta Base

Bacardi Cup

 

THE 75th ANNIVERSARY RUNNING
2002 BACARDI CUP
Coral Reef Yacht Club

THE BACARDI CUP is what the Star Class is all about!
By Paul Cayard

The Bacardi Cup is all about what makes the Star Class great. The proof is in the 95+ competitors that show up every year. You have 20 of the top 30 star sailors in the world and at the same time you have more than 25 sailors over 50, and everything in between. A few years ago, one of the other times I got second, I was upset that the race committee did not go out for the last race. I needed the last race for a chance to beat Vince Brun and with the wind blowing 25 knots I would have had a good chance. But the committee kept us all at the dock and we got ready for the party. I now understand that that is part of the Bacardi Cup and that is why there are 95+ boats participating. It is a regatta that everyone can and will enjoy. It is as close to guaranteed as you get in sailing. Also, with the flat water and usually moderate winds, it is not uncommon that someone like Hank Rowan, Dirk Thomson, Ben Staartjes or Steve Haarstick is ahead of Mark Reynolds at the windward mark. Well, maybe not Mark, but some of the rest of us mortals. And that is good for the class. It makes the day and the week for weekend sailors to race around the track with Brun, Bromby, Piercy and Diaz even if it is just once during the week. And that happens in Miami where it won’t in San Francisco.

Then there is the Bacardi hospitality. The mid week party and the final party at the Bacardi building are second to none in the sport. Dancing with Tito Bacardi and his wife was a lot of fun. Drinking his rum was fun too. The camaraderie you find in the Star Class is what sport is all about.

I just wanted to share those thoughts with you. I am a person who regularly sees many different facets of our sport and I can tell you that the most enjoyment I have in sailing is the sailing I do in the Star Class. The televised events in our sport are just the tip of the iceberg. The Bacardi Cup is part of the heart and soul of our sport and it is not because Mark Reynolds and Vince Brun are there...it is because At Atkinson, Trapper Lippincott, Dave Craddock and Antonio Tambuini are there with Mark Reynolds and Vince Brun.

It is the perfect recipe.

TOUGH CONDITIONS MARK THE 75th BACARDI CUP
Mark Reynolds wins his 7th Bacardi Cup Regatta

A fairly nice day of racing for the opening race on Sunday greeted the 99 competitors for the 75th annual Bacardi Cup. On the final run Foss Miller from Puget Sound, with Greg Newhall up front, manage to get into good wind and showed the way to go to the fleet. Rod Hagebols / Paul Erickson of San Francisco came in second.

The weather turned nasty for Monday and several masts were lost, plus many more boats did not finish. Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl recovered from their 23rd the previous day and came in first with Iain Percy / Steve Mitchell coming in second.

Tuesday brought even higher winds and after a couple of hours of trying to get a race off the Race Committee decided to call it a day. Wednesday was no picnic either, but two races were run. More than 20 boats decided that the wind was more than they would like to see and so stayed in. Iain Percy / Steve Mitchell won the first race with Mark / Magnus in second. In the second race the positions were reversed with Mark / Magnus coming in first.

Thursday brought better weather and most of the boats went out. Again Mark / Magnus won with Paul Cayard / Phil Trinter coming in second. For Friday, the final day of racing, Mark / Magnus had to do 19th or better to win the series if either Jose van der Ploeg / Diego Fructuoso or Cayard / Trinter won the race. However, all three boats faltered with Cayard / Trinter coming in 14th, Mark / Magnus 15th, and van der Ploeg / Fructuoso 29th. The winners this day were Peter Bromby / Martin Siese with Vince Brun / Mike Dorgan coming in second. The 15th was more than enough to give Mark / Magnus the series by 16 points. This is the seventh time Mark has won this event, the first time being in 1984.

As usual, the Bacardi family and company put on a wonderful event.


ISCYRA Central Office
2812 Canon Street
San Diego, California 92106 USA
Phone: +1 619 222 0252
Fax: +1 619 222 0528
SKYPE: star.class.office
office@starchampionships.org

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