Miami Sailing Week – Bacardi Cup preview

by Icarus Sailing Media on 1 Mar 2015 Miami Sailing Week (BMSW), presented by EFG Bank, will kick off with 173 boats traveling to Coconut Grove to compete in the 88th Bacardi Cup. The event begins on Monday, March 2, with the racing of the Bacardi Cup for the Star Class, and then on Thursday, March 5, the J/70, Viper 640, VX One and M32 classes will join the Stars to race the sixth BMSW, which all continue until Saturday, March 7. This year’s on the water activities are coordinated by Coral Reef Yacht Club in collaboration with the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and with the help of the U.S. Sailing Center and Shake-A-Leg Miami.

This year’s 172 boats come from 15 foreign nations, including Italy, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, Australia, Sweden, Argentina, and Great Britain. These competitors travel to Miami for it’s renowned racing conditions and elite competition.

The Star Class, consisting of 60 entrants, will compete in the highly competitive Bacardi Cup, which takes places over 6 days. Returning to defend their title is duo Lars Grael and Samuel Gonçalves (Rio de Janeiro, BRA), who won last year’s Bacardi Cup with a 5 point lead over the team of Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl (San Diego, CA), and a 7 point lead over his brother’s team of Torben Grael and Guilheme Almeida (Niteroi, BRA). These 3 teams will have to look out for other notable sailors racing in their class including, the 2003 Yachtsman of the Year, Augie Diaz (Miami, FL); a two-time Star World Champion (1995, 2000) and three-time Olympic medalist (1992 Gold, 1988 Silver, 2000, Gold) Mark Reynolds (San Diego, CA); the 1992 Finn Olympic Silver medalist, Brian Ledbetter (Medina, WA) and the 1990 Star World Champion and current National Champion Torben Grael (Niteroi, BRA).

The J/70 Fleet continues to pick up steam with 46 entrants in this year’s BMSW. Our top 3 finishers from last year’s event, Will Welles (Portsmouth, RI), Brian Keane (Weston, MA), and Peter Duncan (Rye, NY), will all be present at this year’s event to fight for the top position. However, they will also have to add this year’s J/70 World’s runner up, Joel Ronning (Minneapolis, MN) to the mix.

Reaching a record number of entrants with 35 boats registered, the Viper 640’s are competing not only for the BMSW title, but also in their final event of the EFG Pan-American Championship. This year long event culminates in the Championship Regatta during BMSW. Tight racing is in the near future for this fleet as last year’s top 3 finishers, which includes the current North American Champion, Brad Boston (Point Edward, CAN), last year’s BMSW winner, Phil Lotz (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), and Justin Scott (Greenwich, CT) will all be present.

Returning for their second appearance at BMSW is the VX One, racing this year with 25 entrants. Last year’s BMSW winner, Donovan Brennan (Mobile, AL) will have to work hard to defend his title this year as some other great sailors have been added to the mix, including Chris Alexander (Ocean Springs, Ms), the current North American Champion and Midwinter Champion, and Brian Bennett (Yemassee, SC), winner of this year’s St. Pete Nood.

Making their first appearance in the BMSW is the M32 class. With only 6 entrants, the M32’s will have the smallest class, however, their participation in this event shows how much the class has grown in the past year. This high performance catamaran has had a winter series consisting of 4 events that all take place in Miami. The second event of the series takes places just before BMSW from Friday, February 27 to Sunday, March 1, and the third event of the series will be the BMSW itself. After the first event of the series Taylor Canfield of US One (Miami, FL) is sitting in second, followed by Michael Dominguez of Bronco (Barrington, RI) in third. All 6 entrants in the BMSW are also competing in the second event of the M32 Winter Series, which should give a solid indication about the outcome of the BMSW.

BACARDi Miami Sailing Week is not only for the competition, but also the charity aspect of sailing, which is demonstrated in the third Pro-Am Regatta and Gala, both benefiting Shake-A-Leg Miami, Team Paradise and Sailing Heals. The Pro-Am Gala, which will take place on Saturday, February 28, 2015, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., will be filed with auctions, food, music and plenty of BACARDI Rum. The following day (Sunday March 1, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) will be the Pro-Am Regatta, which gives people from the local community the opportunity to sail either the sonar 23’ with elite helmsmen, like Lars Grael, Torben Grael, Brian Leadbetter, Paul Cayard, and Wendy Lotz, or experience the thrill of sailing the new M32.

Similar to year’s past, the BACARDI Village hospitality for BACARDI Miami Sailing Week will be set up in Kennedy Park, where sailors will enjoy BACARDI Rum, food and music. A special art exhibit, Sailing Dreams by Vicki DaSilva, will be set up in Coco Walk, Unit 115, and open everyday. DaSilva will exhibit 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.