Bacardi Miami sailing week - Great conditions continue for racing

by Icarus Sailing Media on 5 Mar 2015 It’s hot, hot, hot in Miami for the third day of Star racing in the 88th Bacardi Cup and it is the last day the Stars will be alone on the bay, as tomorrow the remaining classes, J/70, M32, Viper 640 and VX One, will begin racing in the sixth BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank.

Great sailing conditions continue with wind out of the SE and blowing about 15 knots. After 2 postponements, caused by the pin boat’s anchor dragging and a major wind shift, a general recall, and another postponement, the Stars finally got a start off at 12:46 p.m., with the Black Flag flying.

After a 2.4 mile upwind leg, it is Paul Cayard and Brian Terhaar (San Fransisco, CA) in first, Alberto Zanetti and Brian Fatih (San Isidro, ARG) in second, and Torben S. Grael and Guilherme de Almeida (Niteroi, BRA) in third. The Brazilian brother’s lead at the bottom gate with Torben S. Grael and Guilherme de Almeida in the lead, and Lars Grael and Samuel Gonçlaves (Rio de Janeiro, BRA) in second; they are followed by Paul Cayard and Brian Terhaar in third. The only change at the second weather mark is Lars Grael swapping places with Paul Cayard, while Torben S. Grael still leads. Torben S. Grael and Guilherme de Almeida hold onto their lead to finish first, followed by brother Lars Grael and Samuel Gonçlaves in second and Augie Diaz and Arnis Baltins finishing third. When asked about his brother winning the race, Lars Grael said, 'It’s nice to see both brothers on top. Torben had a very good race from the beginning excellent first downwind. So he took the lead with a good gap.'

Torben S. Grael and Guilherme de Almeida finished first in today’s race, which puts them in fourth overall for the 88th Bacardi Cup. Torben said 'We had a good start and played the middle right; that worked okay. Once around the windward mark, a lot of people jibed, but we went straight and gained a good distance. On the second beat we played the shifts a little bit, it was a little unstable, then it went light at the end of the race, so the last run was a little shaky. I guess we had a little bit of a margin and were able to hold it.' Continuing to comment on sailing in Miami, Torben said its, 'Always difficult and fun to sail here. It’s a very good place for sailing, the temperature couldn’t be any better in the winter.'

Torben’s brother Lars Grael and his crew Samuel Gonçlaves, 'were fighting at the top of the fleet since the beginning, rounding the first mark in fourth, finishing downwind in third. Then, we went left believing that it could be better, but it didn’t pay that much. However, we were happy to round the mark still in third. The last downwind there was big competition between ourselves, Augie Diaz, Paul Cayard and at the end we caught some good waves to finish second. So it’s good for the overall standings. Now the gap is closer between the front boats and it is going to be a very good competition until the end.' Lars and Samuel’s fourth place finish today has them sitting in third for the 88th Bacardi Cup.

Augie Diaz and his crew Arnis Baltins finished third today, which puts them in fifth overall. Augie commented that they, 'had great luck. Really on the first weather leg we were pretty fortunate because we didn’t have such a great start and then we caught a couple of nice shifts and went left. Despite the fact that we over stood, again on the left side, it was so favored that on the approach we did really well on the Starboard boats. I had to duck a bunch of boats because there was a wall. That was actually a good thing because when those boats rounded the offset they stayed high and we were able to dive down with no one behind us and get left, which was key; We had a great first downwind leg. We had a pretty good second upwind and we were close to the second and third place boats. At one point we got into second, but we lost Lars coming into the finish.'

Registration for the remaining classes (J/70, M32, Viper640 and VX One) competing in the BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank takes place this afternoon from 3:00-6:00 in the BACARDI Hospitality Village, in Kennedy Park. Along with registration, there will also be a Cocktail Event co sponsored by EFG (6 p.m. – 8 p.m.) for the arriving classes, the BACARDI Mid-Week Party (5 p.m. – 8 p.m.) for all participants and the special art exhibit (10 a.m. – 7 p.m.), Sailing Dreams, in Coco Walk. The art exhibit, by Vicki DaSilva, along with a pop-up store will be set up inside Unit 115, until March 7th. DaSilva is exhibiting 10 light paintings (made by moving a hand-held light source while taking a long exposure photograph) that present to the community how she interprets the beautiful sport of sailing into art.

The sixth annual running of BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG Bank will run through March 7, 2015. Regatta headquarters are at Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove. The Star class, whose teams are competing in the 88th Bacardi Cup, headlines the six-day BMSW racing schedule. On the last four days of the regatta, competitors in the J/70, M32, Viper 640 and VX One classes will join the Stars on Biscayne Bay.

Full results are available here while more information on the BACARDI Miami Sailing Week and the 88th BACARDI Cup is available here and here