MIAMI, FLA. (March 8, 2014) –
The mantra “a bad day on the water is better than a good day at the office”
will resonate with many of the sailors who have been racing at the fifth
BACARDI® Miami Sailing Week Presented by EFG. While yesterday the breeze
was higher than allowed for competition by some class rules, for today’s finale
there was so little wind it appeared as though a raft-up was taking place on
Biscayne Bay instead of a regatta. Wrapping up a six-day schedule today,
the 180 teams racing in six one-design classes – Audi Melges 20, J/70, Melges
24, Star, Viper 640 and VX One – completed enough races for the victors to
collect the spoils, and, with the mid-day cancellation of additional races the
sailors had ample time to enjoy the legendary hospitality of Bacardi.
Since 2000, there has been a
jinx for the day one winning Star team as none in that position has gone on to
claim the prized BACARDI Cup. That was the case again this year for Mark
Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.) and Miami sailor Magnus Liljedahl, who won the
first race of the series to jump to the top of the 55-boat Star fleet.
The duo, who shared both Olympic Gold and a Star World Championship win in
2000, had not sailed together for 10 years.
“I’m from Miami, live here,
have a lot of friends and this result [second overall] feels like a win,” said
Liljedahl who has more wins of the Bacardi Cup (five) than any other crew in
the event’s history, while Reynolds holds the record (seven) for
skippers. “It was a good event for Mark and me. I have a lot of
respect for him, he is an outstanding skipper, he is very balanced and I like
racing with him.”
Lars Grael of Brazil, the
two-time (’88, ’96) Tornado Olympic Medalist, with crew Samuel Gonzalves, moved
to the top of the Star standings on the second day of racing and held that position
to the end. They took the win with five points, holding a five-point lead
over Reynolds and Liljedahl.
“This is great, it's my first
BACARDI Cup and it's the first for a Brazilian boat,” said Lars Grael. “I'm
very proud. Last year we got close and this year we sealed the deal. We
started off with two seconds and a first; we dropped our bad race from the
other day. Yesterday we had too much wind, today too little, and with our
conservative approach we took it home.”
Lars Grael’s older brother,
Torben Grael, the 1990 Star World Champion, and crew Guilheme Almeida, finished
third overall with 12 points; followed by the 2012 Bacardi Cup Champion Xavier
Rohart of France and Serge Pulfer with 16 points. Brad Funk (Plantation,
Fla.) and crew Mark Strube round out the top-five with 18 points.
In the 41-boat Audi Melges 20
fleet, reigning world champion John Taylor (Jupiter, Fla.) goes home the winner
after posting finishes of 3-5 yesterday to move to the top of the standings
with 35 points. Drew Freides (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) is second
overall with 37 points; Russell Lucas (Little Silver, N.J.) placed third
overall with 41 points; followed by Brazilian sailor Cesar Gomes Neto with 44
points. Defending champion Michael Kiss (Holland, Mich.), also a
three-time national champion in the class, completes the top-five with 45
points.
“The fleet was very
competitive; there was a very high level of sailing,” said Bill Hardesty who
was John Taylor’s tactician. “It was great sailing against the best of
them. [We] won worlds in December and the hardest thing to do is to come
back and win again.”
In the six-boat Melges 24
class Kevin Welch (Anacortes, Wash.) won the series with six points.
Italian sailor Nicola Ardito was second overall with eight points; Steven Boho
(Lake Geneva, Wisconsin) took third overall with 16 points; followed by
Canada’s Richard Reid with 19 points.
“Coming from the northwest to
sail in Miami was a great change of pace,” said Welch. “We have not been
able to sail since last fall. First day we hit a snag; our anchor line
wrapped around our keel. So Friday our strategy was to just avoid disaster and
sail smooth. Friday was the best sailing day we have had in a very long time.
This was a great event to be part of. We hope to be back next year. The race
committee did a great job of setting the course up.”
With scores of 10-1-1, Will
Welles (Portsmouth, R.I.) took the win in the 40-boat J/70 fleet with 12
points, winning the tie-breaker over BMSW defending champion Brian Keane
(Weston, Mass.) who had finishes of 7-2-3. Peter Duncan (Rye, N.Y) took
third with 14 points; followed by Heather Gregg-Earl (Boston, Mass.) with 22
points; and Tim Molony (New Orleans, La.) with 23.
“Out of all the regattas this
was a really great one to win,” said Welles. “We had a great start, good
team work, nice speed and a little luck. The first day we had about 10 knots,
second day we had about 20. So I would say today they made a good choice to not
race [today]. Coming from Newport we really love coming to BACARDI and we are
so glad they invited the J/70 class to be part of it.”
In the 25-boat Viper 640
fleet, Phil Lotz (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) took the win by just one point over
defending BMSW champion Brad Boston (Canada) who had six points. British sailor
Justin Scott was third overall with 14 points; Australian sailor Rod Beurteaux
finished fourth overall with 16 points; and another British sailor, Jon Powell,
was fifth with 22 points.
“I am very happy to break my
streak of placing second,” said Lotz who had his wife, Wendy, and Luke Lawrence
as crew. “I was neck and neck with Brad Boston, who sailed very
well! I would also like to add how great it was to sail with all the
international teams who crossed the pond to be part of this race. I think
the key factor to our win is that we really sailed as a team. We worked hard
with the breeze on Thursday and Friday. This was mine and my wife's second time
sailing in this race; we have been sailing
together for a little over a year now.”
In the VX One class, Donovan
Brennan (Mobile, Ala.) took the win in that 21-strong fleet with seven points
after finishes of 5-1-1. David Bolyard (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Kevin Northrop
(Daphne, Alabama), were second and third, respectively, tied on eight points
each. David Reich (Trussville, Ala.) took fourth overall with 13 points;
Charles Brown (Newport, R.I.) finished fifth with 14 points.
“Wow, winning this race was
extraordinary for a couple reasons,” said Brennan who sailed with his son and
daughter. “I won it with my family. I came into it with no expectations.
I believe we won on energy and as for technicalities go we had a flatter give
then the others did. We were at 23 knots yesterday. Winning was just as
great as it was running into old friends and Olympians. This was my first
BACARDI and probably will not be my last.”
The fifth annual running of
BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG was held March 2-8, 2014, with regatta
headquarters at Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove. The six-day racing schedule was
headlined by the Star class which contested the 87th Bacardi Cup. For the
final three days of the regatta, the Stars shared Biscayne Bay with competitors
in the Audi Melges 20, J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640 and VX One classes.
During BACARDI Miami Sailing
Week sailors enjoyed the hospitality lounge, BACARDI Rum tastings, as well as a
special showing of the film 07.07.07 Amorita’s Unlucky Day. A special exhibit,
Wynwood Sails Color the Grove, featured the work of 10 artists of the graffiti
and street art genre taking inspiration from the sea and sailing to create a
work on canvas shaped like the jib of a sailboat. The art was displayed
at Coco Walk, the iconic open-air shopping, dining, and entertainment
destination in Coconut Grove, from March 2-8, daily between 10:00 a.m. and
10:00 p.m. In addition, select images from the 2010 to 2013 regattas,
from the lenses of respected marine photographers Franco Pace of Italy, and
Onne van der Wal and Cory Silken of the USA , were displayed alongside the
canvasses created specifically for Wynwood Sails Color the Grove to juxtapose
“the City meets the Sea” for this unique art event.
More information on the
BACARDI Miami Sailing Week and the 87th BACARDI Cup is available at www.MiamiSailingWeek.com and www.BacardiCup.com.
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