Star Class Honoring the Past, Leading the Future
After a very stormy morning with gusts of wind coming from all directions and e little postponement ashore for some of the sailing classes, the race committees headed out to the water for the day before the last of the Bacardi Invitational Regatta in Miami, Florida. The wind ended up being settled enough on all of the racecourses, and the PROs were ready to promptly adjust the marks to the shifts of what was most likely a northwesterly breeze that started off at around 6/7 knots and ended up to about 10/12, anticipating the strong north wind front, forecasted for tomorrow, March 7th, final day of the Bacardi Invitational.
On the Star racecourse magic happened. The leaders of the series, Polish Finn Olympic Champion Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) and Brazilian five time Star World Champion Bruno Prada (BRA) rounded the first windward mark behind the 10th position, a place they had yet to find theirselves in this week, but steadily , tack after tack, they climbed their way back to the top and crossed the finish line in second, winning one of the oldest trophy in sailing history with a race to spare.
“I’ve attended the Bacardi Cup for so many years in my Olympic career but have never managed to win it – says an enthusiastic Kusznierewicz – it is an unbelievable feeling to finally win this after finishing runner-up last year. Bruno and I had an amazing week, three bullets and two seconds, I can’t remember having had a regatta so perfect in my life, I think I am ready for the Tokyo Olympics” concluded laughing.
Now that the iconic trophy is securely in the hands of the Polish-Brazilian team, everybody’s attention is going to the fiery battle for the second and third step of the podium. The Irish brothers, Peter and Robert O’Leary scored their second bullets of the series, after quite a fight with the Americans Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise, who started the day with some boat damages and made it ashore and back out just in time for the start of race 5. They ended up in third and are seventh overall, while the O’Learys, discarding an 18 in theirs scoresheet, climbed to third spot, behind Eivind Melleby (NOR) and Joshua Revkin (USA), who have had their worst day so far today with a ninth.
Tomorrow’s last race will clear the doubts on who is the second best of the 93rd Bacardi Cup, with all of the top seven teams close within 12 points.
“Sailing with Bruno Prada is fantastic, I enjoy it so much – continued Kusznierewicz – we had an amazing year together, we won the Star Worlds last June, then the qualification round for the SSL Finals and now this epic race. Of course it’s easier to enjoy it when you are winning, but I loved this event so much, and I love sailing, I don’t ever want to stop!”
