Please select your home edition
Edition
William Pitt SIR

Star World Champions win 2007 Bacardi Cup

by Janet Maizner on 10 Mar 2007
Hamish Pepper and David Giles (Gold Star) on their way to winning the 2007 Bacardi Cup Fried Elliott http://www.friedbits.com

New Zealand’s Hamish Pepper, the current Star Class World and North American champion, sailing this week with his crew and coach David Giles of Australia, won the 2007 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta Friday on the waters of Biscayne Bay, near Miami.


Despite the duo’s seventh place in today’s final race of the six-day series, Pepper and Giles held on to their first place overall to win the coveted Trofeo Bacardi in one of the most prestigious Star Class events in the world.

Sweden’s Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom, reigning Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta champions, finished third today and climbed to second in the overall standings.


German sailors Matthias Miller and crew Manuel Voigt won Friday’s Day Six race, just ahead of their countrymen Marc Pickel and crew Ingo Borkowski who took second place honors. With their Day Six victory, Miller and Voigt edge out Bermuda’s Peter Bromby, a two-time Bacardi Cup champion, and crew Bill McNiven for sixth place in the final standings, while Pickel and Borkowski finish the regatta in fifth overall.

Poland’s Mateusz Kusznierewicz, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in the Finn Class, and crew Dominik Zycki finished 11th Friday and drop to third in the final standings, while Australia’s Iain Murray and crew Andrew Palfrey finished fourth Friday and remain in fourth overall.

Kusznierewicz and Zycki failed to pick up an early shift and fell outside the top 10 at the first windward mark; they would not recover. With the Polish duo out of contention, Pepper and Giles followed Loof and Ekstrom closely on the right side of the course, tacking and jibing almost simultaneously on every subsequent leg.

'We were stuck in the middle,' said Kusznierewicz. 'Pepper and Loof got a shift from the right and the other guys got it from the left. It was tough out for us out there today.'

Loof and Ekstrom led at the third mark, followed closely by Pepper and Giles, although both boats would be overtaken by a late charge from the fleet. At the fourth and final mark, five boats separated the overall leaders, but Loof and Ekstrom simply could not put any additional boats between them.

'We couldn’t shake him,' said Loof. '[Pepper] was just counting boats and staying close to us.'

'When [Loof] and I were in the lead, I thought it would be easier, but all of a sudden, the pressure came off and we were swallowed up by a bunch of other guys,' said Pepper. 'That’s when it started getting tricky. It was a tough, long race. To win a Bacardi Cup is special. [Giles] has seen so many other people drink from that cup; now it’s our turn,' he added.


The prestigious Trofeo Bacardi was presented to the winners dockside where skipper, crew and Jose 'Tito' Argamasilla Bacardi, the retired former vice president of public relations at Bacardi U.S.A., Inc., drank Bacardi Rum from the Cup in an annual tradition that dates back to the first Bacardi Cup Regatta sailed in Cuba in the 1927.

David Giles was presented with the 'Tito Bacardi' Cup, a special cup that was created last year to honor the crew of the winning team.

Final overall results

1 NZL 8187    PEPPER Hamish    Giles David    2 3 1 16 2 7 15
2 SWE 8256    Loof Fredrik    Ekstrom Anders    8 2 2 18 3 3 18
3 POL 8170    Kusznierewicz Mateusz    Zycki Dominik    4 9 7 2 1 11 23
4 AUS 7836    Murray Ian    Palfrey Andrew    6 5 6 8 76.0 [OCS]  4 29
5 GER 8213    Pickel Marc    BORKOWSKI Ingo    10 48 8 10 6 2 36
6 GER 7991    Miller Matthias    Voight Manuel    7 7 17 11 11 1 37
7 BER 8044    Bromby Peter    McNiven Bill    5 11 10 5 76.0 [OCS]  10 41
8 NOR 8186    Melleby Eivind    Pedersen Petter Morland    12 14 20 4 10 76.0 [OCS]  60
9 ITA 8281    Modena Luca    Marchesini Michele    11 18 31 6 19 6 60
10 SUI 8232    Dannesboe Henrik    HEINONEN Eki    20 46 5 14 5 18 62
11 USA 8268    DANE John    Sperry Austin    9 41 30 1 9 15 64
12 USA 8195    Maccausland John    Schofield Bob    76.0 [BFD]  6 21 7 16 17 67
13 USA 8273    Szabo George    Liljedahl Magnus    15 15 4 19 15 21 68
14 AUT 8226    Spitzauer Hans    Nehammer Christian    13.8 [13.8, RDG]  17 11 15 12 30 68.8
15 SUI 8138    Marazzi Flavio    Hofer Donat    14 4 27 76.0 [DNS]  7 20 72
16 POR 8145    Domingos Afonso    Santos Bernardo    76.0 [BFD]  28 3 9 17 16 73
17 USA 8250    Macdonald Andy    Fatih Brian    17 69 15 12 24 8 76
18 USA 8129    Reynolds Mark    Haenel Hal    24 21 24 3 76.0 [DNF]  5 77
19 GER 7971    Stanjek Robert    Kleen Frithjof    3 76.0 [DNF]  34 30 4 12 83
20 CRO 7955    Lovrovic Marin    Mikulicic Sinisa    19 12 13 28 20 23 87
21 USA 8132    Brun Vince    Brophy Doug    31 13 28 22 14 13 90
22 NED 8263    Jorissen Sander    Veldhuizen Erik    33 27 46 13 13 14 100
23 USA 8286    Anderson Karl    Morey Edward    35 16 26 20 18 26 106
24 ARG 7907    MAC GOWAN FABIAN    ENGELHARD Federico    28 34 9 24 22 28 111
25 NZL 8061    Lord Rohan    Addy Miles    22 35 14 25 26 24 111
26 SWE 8238    Lofstedt Tom    Larsson Martin    27 10 47 17 38 22 114
27 USA 8043    Kohlhas Jock    Scott Larry    23 1 44 32 51 19 119
28 CAN 8143    Cramer Brian    Bjorn Tyler    29 40 22 21 25 27 124
29 HUN 8166    Tenke Tibor    Bendicsek Jozsef    25 31 25 53 8 39 128
30 USA 8095    Weissenberger Gunti    Wagner Will    32 33 18 26 76.0 [DNF]  31 140
31 UKR 8157    Anosov Arthur    Dolan Mark    34 19 76.0 [DNS]  27 31 32 143
32 SUI 8009    Gautschi Christoph    Konig Jurg    13 57 55 23 23 35 149
33 UKR 8247    GUREYEV Vasyl    KOROTKOV Volodymyr    16 61 38 43 32 29 158
34 CHI 8181    Zuazola Rodrigo    Fuentes Marcos    18 63 39 34 76.0 [DNF]  9 163
35 USA 8072    Smith Doug    Moore Mike    76.0 [BFD]  22 37 50 29 36 174
36 GBR 7601    Hicks Michael    Hicks Patrick    41 51 16 45 33 46 181
37 USA 8222    Merriman Rick    Munroe Eric    76.0 [BFD]  44 12 31 21 76.0 [DNS]  184
38 HUN 7900    Forintos Robert    Komm Andras    40 30 52 35 35 44 184
39 SUI 8085    Zimmermann Lorenz    Furer Andreas    26 25 42 60 47 47 187
40 GER 7545    Hampe Alex    Conrads Chris    38 67 29 36 43 45 191
41 ITA 8277    Irrera Renato    Cristaldini Corrado    21 32 45 61 46 49 193
42 GER 7816    Girr Fritz    HASCHE Marko    76.0 [BFD]  20 48 57 44 25 194
43 USA 8111    Brethorst Rick    Nielson Chris    39 29 41 55 37 48 194
44 USA 8231    Museler Chris    Lidecis Erik    43 8 64 46 76.0 [OCS]  34 195
45 ESP 8212    Bermudez Roberto    Arrarte Pablo    76.0 [BFD]  23 35 49 45.8 [DNF,AVG]  45.8 [AVG]  198.6
46 USA 8059    Hovey Bear    Dayton Lee    30 39 23 33 76.0 [OCS]  76.0 [DNF]  201
47 CAN 6756    Hendershot Will    Vranderick Alain    37 38 33 58 53 42 203
48 USA 7866    Manderson John    Semler Matt    36 47 76.0 [OCS]  41 40 41 205
49 USA 8215    Allen Bill    Hatfield Bruce    42 62 32 59 27 55 215
50 USA 8245    Zambella Joe    Davidson Jeremy    76.0 [BFD]  55 40 42 28 57 222
51 GER 7863    Meyer Klaus    Struve Dirk    76.0 [BFD]  43 62 40 41 38 224
52 GER 7865    Lehnert Stefan    Menning Peter    45 49 53 44 36 52 226
53 IRL 8028    O'Connell Maurice    Cooke Ben    1 56 19 76.0 [DNS]  76.0 [DNS]  76.0 [DNS]  228
54 ITA 7227    Lillia Stefano    Canali Cicio    46 54 36 71 39 58 233
55 ITA 8291    Veggetti Andrea    Coppa Franco    76.0 [BFD]  24 76.0 [OCS]  29 30 76.0 [DSQ]  235
56 USA 8128    Culberson Bill    Cruthirds Troy    76.0 [BFD]  26 50 48 76.0 [OCS]  37 237
57 SUI 7645    Wyss Daniel    Stegmeier Beat    76.0 [BFD]  65 54 38 34 51 242
58 USA 7814    Donald Keith    Carlson Michael    49 50 68 54 61 33 247
59 USA 8083    Chiarella John    Carlson Bob    47 42 59 52 55 56 252
60 CHN 7784    Li Hongquan    Wang He    51 68 60 68 42 40 261
61 USA 7370    Emmet Rob    Avellon Guy    76.0 [BFD]  70 49 37 54 54 264
62 USA 81    Bingham Julian    Clark Buddy    76.0 [BFD]  64 56 47 49 53 269
63 ITA 8183    Tamburini Antonio    Ricci Renzo    76.0 [BFD]  36 43 39 76.0 [DNF]  76.0 [OCS]  270
64 USA 7579    Seeling Timothy    Rogers Chris    52 58 65 67 57 43 275
65 USA 8069    Mueller Fritz    Weinstein Bob    76.0 [DNF]  37 76.0 [DSQ]  51 48 65 277
66 USA 8084    Teitge Bob    Koresjka Adam    76.0 [BFD]  59 51 65 52 50 277
67 USA 8000    Walker Harry    Jensen Darin    48 76.0 [DNS]  58 56 56 62 280
68 USA 7934    Von Schwarz Karl    Wharton Rich    44 52 66 70 60 63 285
69 ARG 8239    Pendola Martin    SIMONET ARIEL    76.0 [BFD]  45 76.0 [OCS]  62 45 61 289
70 USA 8067    Oti Jose    May Henry    76.0 [BFD]  53 61 63 58 59 294
71 GER 823    Thomsen Dierk    Thomsen Lars    50 66 67 69 76.0 [DNF]  60 312
72 USA 7970    Hopkins Sam    Pytlak John    53 72 69 72 62 66 322
73 USA 7434    Parks Bill    Anderson Clark    76.0 [DNF]  76.0 [DNS]  63 64 59 64 326
74 GER 8016    Rauch Hubert    Schappeler Ingo    76.0 [DSQ]  71 57 76.0 [OCS,ZFP]  50 76.0 [DNS]  330
75 USA 7567    Buckley Davis    Hardin Chris    76.0 [DNF]  60 76.0 [DNF]  66 76.0 [DNS]  76.0 [DNS]  354
Henri-Lloyd Dynamic RangePredictWind - Wave Routing 728x90 BOTTOMVaikobi Custom Teamwear

Related Articles

18ft Skiff SIXT Spring Championship Race 2
Also the first race of the Club Championship on Sydney Harbour for the Alf Beashel Memorial Trophy After last Sunday's opening race of the season had to be abandoned when 30-knot Westerly winds swept across the course, racing finally got underway when the Australian 18 Footers League sailed for the Alf Beashel Memorial Trophy, on Sydney Harbour today.
Posted today at 7:55 am
Globe40 2025/26 Stage 2 Update
Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium and Credit Mutuel 1 mile apart in the forties The incredible duel between the Belgian and French contenders continues in the forties after 4,890 miles of racing! Late Friday, as they passed Gough Island, Benoit Hantzperg and Renaud Dehareng seemed to have gained a small cushion of miles (28.8)
Posted today at 6:19 am
VX One North American Championship overall
Christopher Alexander dominates final day to win The 2025 VX One North American Championship wrapped up in spectacular fashion at Gulfport Yacht Club, where Chris Alexander, sailing his brand-new boat Counterproductive alongside Ricky Welch and Chandler Self, delivered a final day for the history books.
Posted today at 12:31 am
Rolex Middle Sea Race: Up and running
The fleet departed from Grand Harbour at 11am on Saturday This morning at 11.00, the 46th Rolex Middle Sea Race got under way from Grand Harbour. The gathered fleet was gently propelled out of the magnificent amphitheatre, assisted by an easterly breeze that built as yachts closed on the exit to the open sea.
Posted on 18 Oct
iQFOiL Youth & Junior Europeans 2025 preview
306 of Europe's most talented young sailors gather in North Sardinia The stunning waters of North Sardinia are about to welcome the 2025 European Youth & Junior Championships, hosted by Club Nautico Arzachena.
Posted on 18 Oct
46th Rolex Middle Sea Race underway
Competitors tackle the challenging and scenic 606-nautical mile course The 46th edition of one of sailing's great offshore races commenced earlier today from the Maltese capital Valletta. A revered and historic event, the Rolex Middle Sea Race always welcomes an impressive and diverse international fleet.
Posted on 18 Oct
2025 Freestyle Pro Tour Naxos day 2
Foilstyle delivers and tow-in turns up the drama After a lively opening day and a calm morning at the lagoon, the second day of the Freestyle Pro Tour Naxos once again brought light winds to the Aegean.
Posted on 18 Oct
2025 Aloha Classic Grand Final day 4
Masters shine, juniors crowned, and finals await The 41st Aloha Classic has come to a thrilling close under perfect Ho'okipa conditions. Finals Day delivered powerful surf, strong trades, and a genuine crowd stretched all along the beach park cheering the champions of the Unified World Wave Tour.
Posted on 18 Oct
New Bedford youth sailors take on the Bermuda Race
The team hopes to break barriers while taking on the challenge of the 636-nautical-mile race Big things are happening in Massachusetts' Whaling City! The New Bedford Community Boating Center (CBC) recently registered its youth offshore sailing team for the 2026 Newport Bermuda Race.
Posted on 18 Oct
Preserve Performance with Expert Sail Care
Don't wait until small issues become big ones Your sails work hard every time you head out on the water. Regular service is the key to maintaining their shape, extending their life, and protecting your investment.
Posted on 18 Oct