World Cup Miami and Melges 24s—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 29 Jan 2014 This week’s sailing news is being driven by two international-level One Design regattas, one in the Northern Hemisphere, the other DownUnder. The first, the ISAF World Cup Miami, is an important milestone for prospective Olympic sailors as they work their way through this Olympic 'quad'. The second event, the Melges 24 Worlds, is being held in Geelong, Australia and has attracted many of the fastest sailors in this ultra competitive class.

According to reports from Miami, the first day of racing brought light winds and millpond-like conditions, which were not exactly ideal for the 580 sailors who have descended on Miami from 50 different countries. The RC called for a general postponement, which lasted until noon. Sailors then launched their boats and all classes were able to race in the four-to-eight knots of breeze.

'The competition here is quite high,' said Men’s 470 skipper Sime Fantela (CRO). 'Only a few from the top 20 are not racing this week. We are used to the light winds from the recent North American Championships and knew what the wind was going to do. We had to play with the shifts all the time and focus on boat speed because if you lose only a half meter, somebody will catch you on the starboard tack.'

Competition in the Men’s 470 class is especially high, given the dominance that Australia sailors Matthew Belcher and William Ryanhave shown in this boat, and in Olympic class racing. Belcher and Ryan are currently sitting in fourth-place after two races; Americans Stu Mcnay and David Hughes currently command second place behind Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion (FRA).

American sailors are also doing well in the 49er class, Laser Radials and the Sonar. Brad Funk and Trevor Burd currently command third place in the 49er class, while Paige Railey is sitting in the pole position in the Laser Radials. The teams of Alphonsus Doerr, Hugh Freund and Timothy Angle are in first place in the Sonar class, followed by the John Twomey, Ian Costelloe and Brad Johnson.

Racing continues in Miami through February 1, which will hopefully give the wind gods some time to add well-defined cat’s paws to the water while also testing sailors in a wide range of conditions. Get the full ISAF World Cup Miami report, inside this issue, and stay tuned to the website this week for the latest news from this high-caliber event.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Melges 24 crews experienced polar opposite conditions as high winds kept teams ashore for the first scheduled day of racing. Twenty-eight to thirty-five knots of northerly airs pounded the town of Geelong, making racing at the event’s practice day impossible as the breeze exceeded the class’ wind limits. According to reports, all 26 teams opted to stay ashore.

'The fleet is a good size for this challenge, the top 15 boats in the world are here and the competition will be very high level,' said Riccardo Simoneschi, skipper of the Melges 24 Audi. 'It will be exciting and a great show. I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow; it will be a big battle from beginning to end.'

Racing is expected to start on Wednesday with a 1330 warning signal, and the event is slated to continue through February 2, so please stay tuned to the website for the latest downloads from this high-octane regatta.

Also inside this issue, learn about Armel Le Cléac'h’s blistering new (unratified) 24-hour singlehanded distance record (677 nautical miles) aboard the maxi trimaran 'Banque Populaire VII Solo', get the scoop on Lionel Lemonchois, who has suffered a capsize aboard the Maxi 80 trimaran 'Prince de Bretagne' off the Brazilian coast, and get the latest news from the Newport-Bermuda Race, which starts off of Castle Hill on June 20.

May the four winds blow you safely home,