Star Class Honoring the Past, Leading the Future
The Star Midwinters concluded this weekend in Miami with Paul Cayard (USA) and Frithjof Kleen (GER) topping the fleet with no finishes out of the top four, besting 41 teams and sailors representing thirteen countries. Coral Reef Yacht and its Race Committee, headed by Carl Shellbach, ran seven races over the course of four days in a variety of conditions and wind directions, testing the skills of even perennial visitors to Miami. The battle was hard fought for second place between the teams of Jørgen Schönherr (DEN) and Markus Koy (GER) and Jack Jennings (USA) sailing with Pedro Trouche (BRA). Jennings and Trouche's victory in the final and extremely windy race on Sunday, allowed them to clinch second place.
The Midwinters and the Star Winter Series was the brainchild of Miami fleet member, Stu Hebb. Since it's inception in 2012, the event has attracted top sailors from around the world, many of whom use it as a warm-up for the Bacardi Cup in March.
The Race Committee had a surprise for the teams on day one of the championship. Traditionally, the Biscayne Bay Star course is a significant sail southward down the bay in order to keep clear of Miami powerboat traffic and also to enable long track courses for which the Star is famous for.
However, as teams were sailing out the channel from the club, they were instructed by the Race Committee to head northeast towards the Rickenbacker Causeway.
Race one of the Midwinters was started in a perfect eleven knots and built gradually throughout the race. The course was slighter shorter and the water was far flatter than the outside course. This leveled the playing feild for many and made for extremely tight racing. Schönherr and Koy won the first race wire to wire. The wind built considerably for race two and topped in the high teens. This time, Cayard and Kleen dominated the race, their first event together since the 2022 World Championship in Marblehead this past September.
On day two, teams returned to the traditional Star course and were treated to two races in near perfect conditions, sun, clear skies, and easterly winds ranging from ten to thirteen knots.
Manu Hens of Belgium and Joost Houweling of the Netherlands won the first race of the day, making a tactical call on the first downwind that took them from fifth to first by the first leeward gate. Relatively new to the Class, Hens hadn't sailed the Star since the 2020 Bacardi Cup where the team placed tenth. Race two of the Midwinters brought another win for Cayard and Kleen in similar conditions.
The wind shifted even further right on day three, with teams making gains on the upwinds more evenly on both sides. Race five, the first race of the day, was held in ten to eleven knots. Cayard and Kleen and Schönherr and Koy battled at the front of the fleet with the American-German duo coming out on top to add another bullet to the scoreline.
Race six was won by Augie Diaz (USA) and Bruno Prada (BRA) who, by jibing early at the first windward mark, were able to take advantage of more pressure on the left side downwind and climb from twelfth position into first and then hold the lead as the breeze built considerably later in the race.
Sunday, the final day of the series ushered in westerly winds, atypical of the bay and known to be quite shifty, an unknown race track for many of the sailors.
Race seven started in about twelve knots with Jack Jennings (USA) and Pedro Trouche (BRA) leading at the first mark. Cayard and Kleen rounded further back than usual, but put on the jets to challenge the leaders downwind. By the second and final downwind, the breeze was gusting over twenty knots and the close, steep waves that built made the final downwind epic with most experienced crews demonstrating their prowess in the front of the boat, helping skippers drive in the difficult conditions. Jennings and Trouche won the race, Cayard and Kleen finished second, and Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise (USA) crossed the line in third.
There Race Committee sent the teams in after the race seven.
The majority of the Midwinters competitors will be retuning to Miami in the beginning of March for the Bacardi Cup, one of the most important and prestigious regattas on the Star Class calendar.
