Miami Bacardi Cup heats up—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond
by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 4 Mar 2016
Star racing during the 86th Bacardi Cup in Miami, Florida. Icarus Sailing Media
http://www.icarussailingmedia.com/
While winter’s icy grip on North America doesn’t recede into the first days of spring for another two and a half weeks, green shoots abound. Daylight savings starts next weekend (Sunday, March 13), and, at least here in Seattle, the first flowers are starting to bloom and some flowering trees are also starting to exhibit riots of color on an otherwise grey and dreary March canvas. While these harbingers of spring are great, what we really want is a return to sailing, competitive racing and fun times afloat with friends and family.
Fortunately, for those One Design sailors registered to compete in next week’s Miami Bacardi Sailing Week (March 7-12), the long wait for early season sailing is almost over.
Some event backstory. The Miami Bacardi Cup first unfurled on the waters off of Havana, Cuba, in 1927 as the Trofeo Bacardi, which was part of Cuba’s greater Mid-Winter Championship. Political unrest erupted in January of 1959 when Fulgencio Batista was forced out of power and a new government, led by a fiery Fidel Castro took control.
Not surprisingly, the Trofeo Bacardi was in need of a new home. In 1962 the event immigrated from Cuba to the States, where it found its new home at the prestigious Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coconut Grove, Florida, which has hosted this annual event ever since.
While countries and flags might have changed, the constant thread that has run through all 89 years of the Trofeo Bacardi-cum- Miami Bacardi Cup has been the venerable Star class, which first competed for top honors in this now-classic event in 1927.
Stars (sadly) fell out of Olympic favor following the successful London 2012 Olympics, and the class lost its Olympic berth for future Games, including this summer’s Brazil 2016 Olympics. While this decision has impacted the class, competition remains hot at Star regattas, perhaps most notably at Star Sailors League events as well as the Miami Bacardi Cup, where the class has roots that lead it all the way back to the event’s days in Havana.
Yet to think of the Miami Bacardi Cup “just” a Star regatta would to utterly miss the fact that while this event is deeply rooted in tradition and history, it’s also dynamic and evolving, as evidenced by strong registration showings (almost 60% of the fleet) in modern high-performance sportboat classes that are delivering fresh blood to this historic event. This year’s regatta will attract hundreds of sailors from some 23 nations, who have gathered for high-level racing in A-Cats (18 boats), J/70s (39 boats), Stars (72 boats), Viper 640s (29 boats) and VX Ones (21 boats), clearly demonstrating both the health and vitality of the Star class, as well as the popularity of One Design racing.
While there’s no question that these newer designs represent the future of international One Design racing, the Miami Bacardi Cup offers younger sportboat sailors the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the legends of the Star class and to learn more about our sport’s rich history. Also, at a time when plenty of “race weeks” are devolving into two- or three-day regattas, it’s refreshing to see an event that stretches on for almost a full week (longer, if you include some of the pre-racing events).
According to NOAA’s long-range forecasting model (at the time of this writing), next week should see sunny and breezy conditions as well as temperatures in the mid-to-upper 70s, which will be a welcome relief for sailors hailing from points north.
For everyone else, be sure to follow the Miami Bacardi Cup on Sail-World.com next week, as the racecourse action unfurls, and be sure to also check out the latest news from the World Match Racing Tour, the RC44 Bermuda Cup, the Clipper Round the World Race, as well as the names and stories behind the winners of the 2015 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the year awards.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
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