Sweden’s Lööf and Salmiren Move Into Lead At BACARDI CUP®
The winds whip up the competition on day 3 of Miami Sailing Week

Posted Wednesday, March 9, 2011

 

Franco Pace

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In comparison to the relative calm of Biscayne Bay on day one of the BACARDI Cup, today’s sharp increase in wind speed was a welcome change for the 89 teams racing in the headline event of the 2011 BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank. High clouds, chop, and an east-southeasterly breeze in the mid-teens propelled the Stars around the 9.5 nautical mile course after an aggressive start saw seven teams pay a penalty with their scores for starting early.

The day's race was won by Guillame Florent and Pascal Rambeau (France), making for three different winners in as many races thus far in the series. Sweden’s Fredrik Lööf and Max Salmiren continued their consistent form,
adding a second-place finish to yesterday’s win. Third place went to three-time BACARDI Cup champion Peter Bromby sailing with Lee White (Bermuda).

"We actually didn't have such a good start,” said Florent about race three. “But we found a good lane to the right hand side of the course. We expected a small shift there, but nothing that could give us the lead. But the wind
was quite stable, and the speed we had there was the key. We rounded first at the top mark, and after that we managed to stay in the lead. It was a very good win."

“There are so many sailors to look out for here,” remarked Florent on the competition. “There are only a few top sailors from the world that aren't here. It's a very high level [of sailing] so you have to keep your eyes on many competitors. This is my first BACARDI Cup, and my first year in the Star with Pascal, who did a very good job today." Rambeau is a two-time Star World Champion (2003, 2005) and won a bronze medal in the Star at the
2004 Olympics in Athens, while Florent also has an Olympic bronze medal – won at the 2008 Olympics in the Finn. "The Olympics is definitely the goal,” Florent concluded. “Both Pascal and I have been to the Olympics
already, so we'd like to do better than we did before. We're working hard to achieve that and hope we'll be good enough."

With the midpoint of the regatta reached, the overall standings continue to reflect a close contest at the top of the fleet. Sweden’s Fredrik Lööf and Max Salmiren have moved into the overall lead with three points, Guillaume Florent and Pascal Rambeau (France) are now second with four points. Early series leaders Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (Norway) dropped two places and stand third overall with five points and Peter O’Leary and
David Burones (Ireland) are fourth with seven points. Only one point separates the teams standing fifth through 11th: Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (Poland) have 12 points; New Zealand’s Hamish Pepper and Craig
Monk remain sixth with 13 points; Maciej Grabowski and Lukasz Lesinski (Poland) dropped two places to seventh but retain 14 points; and despite an OCS penalty, Peter Vessella (Burlingame, Calif.) and Rodney Hagebols (San
Francisco, Calif.) have 15 points for eighth place. Andy Horton (South Burlington, Vermont) and crew James Lyne (Granville, Vermont) are ninth with 16 points, followed by Mark Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.) and Rick Peters (Venice, Calif.) with 17 points and Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.) with Bruno Prada (Brazil) is 11th on 18 points. Peter Bromby and Lee White (Bermuda) are just four points behind this tight pack, standing 12th overall with 22 points.

Racing for the BACARDI Cup resumes Thursday, March 10, 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.