Norway’s Melleby and Morland Retain BACARDI CUP® Lead
Miami Sailing Week - Day two results

Posted Tuesday, March 8, 2011

 

Franco Pace

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MIAMI (March 8, 2011) – Stronger breeze today allowed for the completion of another race at the BACARDI Cup, the headline event of the 2011 BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank, bringing the 89 Star teams another step closer to the title which will ultimately be determined on Saturday, March 12. The second day of racing saw the California team of skipper Peter Vessella (Burlingame) and Rodney Hagebols (San Francisco) take an early lead on the first leg of the race, only to be overtaken at the windward mark. Sweden’s Fredrik Lööf and Max Salmiren, who claimed the silver medal in January at the Rolex Miami OCR, were initially fighting for fifth place when they were able to break away from the group and pull into the lead at the leeward mark.

"We had quite a conservative start,” said Lööf. “We worked our way up the left side of the course on the first upwind, and were looking really good, but then, the right came in with quite a decent wind. At that point, we went to the right side when a lot of the other boats went left and we were able to get a big gain. Peter [Vessella] was leading initially, but we were able to get out in front and pull away from him and the others in the second downwind."

Lööf and Salmiren went on to win the race with Irish Olympian Peter O'Leary and crew David Burones finishing second. 2007 BACARDI Cup winner Hamish Pepper and crew Craig Monk (both New Zealand) placed third, followed by Vessella and Hagerbols in fourth.

"We have a new boat, so we're just trying to have a good time and see how things go,” said Lööf regarding his approach to the 2011 BACARDI Cup. “This will be my third BACARDI Cup. Everyone competing out there is strong and there are a lot of boats this year. It is good to see so many people sharing their passion [for sailing] and it's always nice to be in Miami."

Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (Norway) followed yesterday’s bullet with an eighth-place finish today to maintain their position at the top of the overall standings. The Norwegians, however, are tied on points – nine apiece – with O’Leary and Burones. Through eighth place the standings are extremely tight, with one point or less separating six teams: third overall, with 12 points, is Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (Poland) after finishes of 6-6; Guillaume Florent and Pascal Rambeau (France), stand fourth with finishes of 3-10 for 13 points; Maciej Grabowski and Lukasz Lesinski (Poland) are fifth with 14 points; and Vesella and Hagerbols have 15 points for sixth place. Tied at 17 points each are Pepper and Monk, in sixth place overall, with Mark Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.) and Rick Peters (Venice, Calif.) in seventh. Two teams recently named to the 2011 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics round out the top-10 overall: Andy Horton (South Burlington, Vermont) and crew James Lyne (Granville, Vermont) stand ninth with 25 points, followed by Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) and crew Ian Coleman (Annapolis, Md.) with 28 points.

Racing for the BACARDI Cup resumes Wednesday, March 9, and continues through Saturday, March 12. For photos, results and additional information on the 84th Bacardi Cup and 2nd annual BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank, visit www.BACARDICup.com and www.MiamiSailingWeek.com <http://www.miamisailingweek.com/>

About BACARDI Cup: The BACARDI Cup was conceived in 1927 as a three-day event with sailors competing for the Trofeo BACARDI as part of the Cup of Cuba’s Mid-Winter Championship. In 1962 political unrest forced the Bacardi Cup to move from Havana to Coconut Grove, Florida, where it has since been hosted by the Coral Reef Yacht Club, the organizing authority for the BACARDI Cup.

About BACARDI Miami Sailing Week: In its second year, BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank is building on the success of last year’s inaugural event, again offering six days of remarkable sailing competition. The 84th running of the BACARDI Cup for the Star class will be the marquee event of BACARDI Miami Sailing Week, with racing from Monday, March 7 through Saturday, March 12, 2011. Competition for the Melges 20, Melges 24, J/24 and Viper 640 classes takes place Thursday, March 10, through Saturday, March 12, with the Melges 20s also competing for their Winter Series and the Viper 640s also competing for their Pan American Championship. Racing will take place on three courses approximately two miles out on Biscayne Bay.

Co-hosts for BACARDI Miami Sailing Week are Coral Reef Yacht Club, Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, the U.S. Sailing Center Miami and Shake-A-Leg.

Nightly social events will feature award presentations, entertainment and art displays including exhibits by, among others, renowned Italian maritime photographer Franco Pace and Miami pop artist Stephen Gamson, designer of the official event poster. The art exhibits will be located in the North Hall of the Coconut Grove Convention Center, along with “100 years of the Star Boat,” a collection of information, photos and artifacts detailing the path of the Star boat from the original design in 1911 to the present day.