Nerone, Bliksem and Ran Remain on Top at Acura Miami Grand Prix
Ideal conditions for day two of the regatta

Posted Friday, March 6, 2009

 


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Skipper Massimo Mezzaroma and his crew on Nerone consolidated their lead
in the Farr 40 class while owner Pieter Taselaar and his team aboard Bliksem
did the same in Melges 32 during the second day of racing at the 2009 Acura
Miami Grand Prix.

Conditions were once again ideal as an international fleet of 42 boats
in four classes completed two races in 12-16 knot easterly winds off South
Beach. Niklas Zennstrom's TP52 Ran remained atop the IRC 1 class and Daniel
Woolery's King 40 Soozal vaulted from third to first in IRC 2 on Friday.

"It was classic south Florida conditions in March. a great day to go
sailboat racing," Deputy Race Officer Dick Neville said. "It was shifty
enough to make it tactical, but for the most part very steady."

Tactician Vasco Vascotto made all the right calls in Race 5 as Nerone got
the gun, its third victory in five races. Nerone now holds a seven-point
lead over fellow Italian entry Joe Fly (Giovanni Maspero), a strong start
Mezzaroma credits to the changing of the calendar.

"Why are we doing so well? Perhaps because it is 2009. I would say that
2008 was a very bad year for Nerone. Like fine wine, we get better with the
passing of time," he said.

Goombay Smash, a relative newcomer to the professional-laden class, holds
third with 23 points. Past world champions Barking Mad (Jim Richardson) and
Mascalzone Latino (Vincenzo Onorato) are lurking within striking distance
with 24 apiece.

"We love Miami. It has always been a lucky place for us," Mezzaroma said.
"We are very excited about being first after two days. This class is amazing
because there are so many good sailors and the competition level is so
high."

Nerone did not participate in Acura Key West 2009 and thus is not in
contention for the Acura Grand Prix Championship. That special trophy goes
to the team with the best combined scored between the two winter regattas
run by Premiere Racing. Acura Key West winner Mascalzone Latino along with
second and third place finishers Joe Fly and Barking Mad are battling for
that honor in Farr 40 class.

Taselaar, a native of the Netherlands who now lives in Larchmont, N.Y.,
got back into competitive racing following a long layoff and chose to
campaign the exciting, fast Melges 32 sport boat. He took delivery of
Bliksem in November, 2007 and finished second at the Melges 32 National
Championship and second at the San Francisco Big-Boat Series.

Jeremy Wilmot, a member of the intercollegiate dinghy team at St. Mary's
College of Maryland, is calling tactics on Bliksem. Wilmot, who served as
skipper for the Morning Light campaign/film project, spent considerable time
this winter helping Taselar improve his steering skills by match racing a
Laser SB3.

"We have really focused on developing Peter's driving and it has clearly
paid off. He has done a terrific job steering the boat so far this week,"
Wilmot said.

Wilmot is pleased to have the services of his brother as main trimmer in
Miami. Nathan Wilmot captured an Olympic gold medal as skipper for the
Australian 470 team in Qingdao, China. This is the eighth regatta for
Bliksem and Taselaar is thrilled with the team's performance.

"We have outstanding boat speed and that has gotten us out of some tight
spots. We have an excellent crew and our course management has been very
solid," he said.

Samba Pa Ti, skippered by John Kilroy of San Francisco, stands six
points behind Bliksem after posting solid results of third and fourth on
Friday. Morgan Reeser is calling tactics for Kilroy, who has placed no worse
than sixth.

New Wave, co-owned by Mike Carroll and Marty Kullman of Clearwater,
Fla., entered this regatta atop the Acura Grand Prix Championship standings
for Melges 32 class. After starting the regatta with a 15th and a 14th, New
Wave rebounded yesterday with a bullet in Race 4 followed by a fifth to
vault into eighth overall.

"Yesterday was our practice day," joked Kullman, who did not arrive from
a business trip to Las Vegas until 2 a.m. on Thursday. "We have two new crew
members that needed to get acclimated so it took some time to work out the
chinks. We sailed much better today and got ourselves back into the Top 10.
Our goal from here on out is to not have any more bad races."

Competition is extremely close in IRC 2 class, which consists of seven
diverse designs. Soozal, a Mark Mills-designed King 40 that captured IRC 2
at Acura Key West 2009, posted a pair of bullets on Friday to seize the
overall lead with nine total points. Ciao, an Archambault 40 skippered by
Philippe Paturel, stands just one point behind. Gold Digger, a J/44 owned by
James Bishop, is only three points off the lead.

"It has been great racing so far. The Archambault is performing much
better than it did in Key West while the J/44 is just a freight train going
upwind in heavy air," Woolery said. "We have been getting good starts and
finding clear lanes so far and we need to keep doing that."

IRC 1 consists entirely of boats built to the TP 52 rating rule and Ran
holds a narrow one-point advantage over Rio, the British entry skippered by
Charles Dunstone that won both races on Friday. Those two teams finished
first and third, respectively at Acura Key West 2009 and are now battling
for the Acura Grand Prix Championship in IRC 1.

Action in the four-day event continues on Friday with organizers planning to
conduct two races. The 10-race series, being held on a course set just off
the north end of Key Biscayne, concludes on Sunday.
<http://www.premiere-racing.com/> http://www.premiere-racing.com

TIM <http://www.timwilkes.com/> WILKES / TIM WILKES.COM

SEE MORE IN TIMWILKES.COM <http://www.timwilkes.com/>

AND IN THE EVENT GALLERY
<http://www.premiere-racing.com/09_AMGP/gallery.htm>

Acura Miami Grand Prix Results - provisional after 5 races

Farr 40 (12 entries)

1, Nerone, Massimo Mezzaroma, Punta Ala, Italy, 1-1-2-7-1=12

2, Joe Fly, Giovanni Maspero, Como, Italy, 2-5-4-4-4=19

3, Goombay Smash, Doug Douglas, Newport, R.I., 5-2-7-3-6=23

Melges 32 (19 entries)

1, Bliksem, Pieter Taselaar, St Inigoes, M.D., 1-1-1-2-7=12

2, Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy, San Francisco, C.A., 2-6-3-4-3=18

3, Red, Joe Woods, Torbay, UK, 7-8-2-3-2=22

IRC 1 (4 entries)

1, RAN, Niklas Zennstrom, Hamble, GBR, 1-1-1-2-3=8

2, Rio, Charles Dunstone, Cowes, GBR, 2-2-3-1-1=9

3, Synergy, Sergey Pichugin, Moscow, RUS, 3-3-2-3-2=13

IRC 2 (7 entries)

1, Soozal, King 40, Daniel Woolery, Pt Richmond, C.A., 2-1-4-1-1=9

2, Ciao, AC 40, Philippe Paturel, Halifax, CAN, 1-3-2-2-2=10

3, Gold Digger, J/44, James Bishop, Jamestown, R.I., 3-2-1-3-3=12

Acura has been the proud title sponsor and Official Vehicle of SORC and the
Miami Grand Prix for the previous 9 years. They are joined by supporting
sponsors Mount Gay Rum (Official Rum) and SLAM (Official Technical Gear and
Retailer).

The Miami Beach Marina is the Official Site for this 2009 grand prix event.
The Avalon and South Seas Hotels are the Official Host Hotels.

Shake-A-Leg Miami is the official charity of both the Acura Miami Grand Prix
and Acura Key West. For information about them please visit:
<http://www.shakealegmiami.org/> www.ShakeALegMiami.org

Thirty-six Industry Partners bring their support through a program that is
now in its 8th year.
<http://www.premiere-racing.com/ipp/Industry_Partners_09.htm> Learn more
about the Industry Partners and the Program on the event web site.

Acura Key West 2009 and the 2009 Acura Miami Grand Prix are
<http://www.ussailing.org/> US Sailing sanctioned events.