Star Class Honoring the Past, Leading the Future
On the penultimate day of racing at the Bacardi Cup and Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta, Miami turned on another day of exhilarating sailing, with a consistent southerly breeze of 12-17 knots across the race courses.
The Biscayne Bay stage is now set for the Star, J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640, VX One and 69F finale tomorrow.
Teams will be looking at changes to race strategy, as an approaching weather front is forecast to up the wind pressure on Saturday, March 12. Racing gets underway at 1100 hours and the Race Committee is expecting to complete the full race programme completed before the weather system comes through.
The Star Class fleet enjoyed another spectacular day in picture perfect conditions, with the fleet spread along the length of the line for their nine nautical mile race in 12-15 knots of due south breeze
Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) and Bruno Prada (BRA) again pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, as they were spilled off the leading boats at the first windward mark but again dug deep to put on another masterclass and claw back to finish in 2nd. An invincible performance from Kusznierewicz/Prada rewards them with mathematical victory at the 95th Bacardi Cup with a race to spare. This punishingly accurate partnership makes it three in a row as they convincingly defend their 2021 and 2020 Bacardi Cup titles.
Behind the leaders, the USA’s Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise and Italy’s Diego Negri/Sergio Lambertenghi have secured enough of a points margin to make it a two-way battle for 2nd and 3rdoverall. Both teams are former Bacardi Cup champions, with the Americans winning in 2019 and the Italians in 2018. Negri is also the reigning Star Class World Champion.
Disappointment for Jack Jennings/Pedro Trouche who switched from their race winning show to a 14th place score, which takes them out of podium contention.
In this fifty-eight boat fleet, packed with twelve Star World Champions and eleven Bacardi Cup Champions it is tough. There are so many good sailors it is incredibly hard to break into the top 10 in the fleet, with numerous teams who can win on any one day.
Making the break to the front today, were Jørgen Schönherr (DEN) and Markus Koy (GER) who earned their lead at the first mark, holding on to the win. Schönherr was forced off the race track on Tuesday due to a foot injury, and despite limping ashore is hiking and fighting as hard as ever on the water.
“We started in the middle of the line and had a few good shifts on the first beat, and downwind we had more or less the same pace as the strong guys behind us,” explained Schönherr, a two-time World Champion in the Dragon and FD. “I think the training we have been doing here in Miami has helped our performance downwind. After coming from the cold north it is so nice to be here and so nice to spend some weeks here in the winter.”
Provisional Top 5 Results – after 5 races
1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Bruno Prada (POL 8548) - 6 pts
2. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA 8423) - 12 pts
3. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA 8567) - 14 pts
4. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary (IRL 8465) - 21 pts
5. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin (NOR 8543) - 21 pts
