5th Day of Racing Sets Stage for Exciting Finale
Star, Melges, Viper and J/24 fleets tore up the bay

Posted Saturday, March 12, 2011

 

2011 BACARDI Cup: Reilly (Chicago, Ill.), with tactician Andy Burdick (Zenda, Wisc.) and Mike Kuschner, placed 4-2-3 today and 10 points leads the 27-strong fleet heading into the final day of racing (Saturday, March 12).

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Miami, Florida (March 11, 2011) – The air temperature cooled slightly, but not the action, for the penultimate day of BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank. A north-northwesterly breeze and calmer weather on Biscayne Bay allowed the Star class, competing for the 84th BACARDI Cup, to add two races to their scoreline, while three additional races were completed by the Melges 24 and Melges 20 fleets, and four additional races by the Viper 640 and J/24 classes.

With gusts, at times, to 20 knots, Sweden’s Fredrik Lööf and Max Salmiren took the win in the first race for the Stars. “We positioned ourselves off the starting line more or less in the middle of the fleet and it was a bit of a drag race because the mark was quite a long way to the right,” said Lööf. “At that point, most boats were right port tack and the sailors that positioned themselves too far to the left suffered a lot. We sailed quite aggressively toward the end and we positioned ourselves on the favored side with the wind coming in from the right. Still it was close, we lost a little bit, and then we came up and were across the finish line by no more than half a boat length. It was a good battle and an interesting, really close race."

Unfortunately, Lööf and Salmiren did not fare as well in the second race, placing 20th, which they attributed to a rough start. “If you're not in the front right away, you're struggling all the way through,” said Lööf. “A lot of those guys were pushing hard at the start." That second race was won by Alexander Schlonski and Matthias Bohn (Germany) who finished ahead of their fellow countrymen Johannes Babendererde and Timo Jacobs. Only one Star team has recorded single-digit finishes over the course of the five races thus far. 2008 Olympian Peter O’Leary and David Burrows (Ireland) finished 8-4 today to move from fourth overall into the lead of the 89-boat fleet with 18 points. Guillaume Florent and Pascal Rambeau (France) are one point behind in second overall. Lööf and Salmiren and early series leaders Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (Norway) are third and fourth, respectively, with 24 points each. Andy Horton (South Burlington, Vermont) and crew James Lyne (Granville, Vermont) finished 3-6 today to move from ninth up to fifth overall with 25 points. In the 35-boat Melges 24 class, Lorenzo Bressani (Milan, Italy) had a near-perfect day, winning two races and placing second in the final race of the day. He remains first overall with five points, followed by Riccardo Simoneschi (Milan, Italy) with 14 points, and Brian Porter (Winnetka, Ill.) with 20 points.

In the Melges 20 class Paul Reilly (Chicago, Ill.), with tactician Andy Burdick (Zenda, Wisc.) and Mike Kuschner, continues to lead the 27-strong fleet, placing 4-2-3 today for 10 points. Mary Anne Ward (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), with tactician Sam Rogers and bowman Peter Keck, are second with 15 points. After winning the first race of the day, Dario Levi (Milan, Italy), sailing with tactician Andrea Casale and Stefano Lagi, placed 7-6 for 16 points total and third overall. The stage, however, is set for a major shuffle in the standings once a sixth race is completed: 2010 Audi Melges 20 National Champions Michael Kiss (Holland, Mich.), Mitchell Kiss (Holland, Mich.) and Chris Rast (San Diego, Calif.), won the last two races of the day after finishing seventh in the first race. Currently fifth overall with 27 points, [behind Chuck Holzman (Farmington Hills, Mich.) sailing with Michael Hoey and 470 Olympic Silver Medalist Morgan Reeser], Kiss has an 18 to drop, putting him in contention for a podium finish tomorrow.

In the Viper 640 fleet, two British teams remain at the top of the leaderboard. Glyn Locke (Isle of Wight), with crew David Chapman and Ian Nicholson, won all four races today and stand first overall with four points. Justin Scott, Peter Beardsley and Ched Proctor are second in the 17-boat fleet with 10 points, followed five points back by Cliff Clark (Winter Park, Fla.) sailing with Kelly Allen, Richard Shellow and David Woolsey.

Two teams did all the winning in the J/24 fleet: Kris Werner (Rochester, N.Y.), sailing with John Enwright, Michael Mansfield, Fred Meyer and Kiki Werner won the first two races on the day, and Robert Pincus (Miami) with Patricia Amaducci, Eammon Delisser and JB Slater won the last two races.

Pincus moved into first overall with seven points. Werner is second, tied on points, with Brian Kamilar (Miami), sailing with Fran Bellocchio, Fabio Galarce, Mauricio Galarce and Enrique Quintero.

BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank concludes Saturday, March 12. For photos, results and additional information please 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.

About BACARDI Rums: In 1862, in Santiago de Cuba, BACARDI revolutionized the spirits industry when founder Don Facundo Bacardi began producing his remarkable light-bodied, smooth rum – BACARDI, the world’s favorite premium rum brand. Today, BACARDI Rum is produced in Puerto Rico, following the production legacy set forth by Don Facundo – crafted in a five step distillation process, aged in American white oak barrels, and filtered five
times for unparalleled quality and smoothness.