Bermuda’s Peter Bromby and Magnus Liljedahl win Star Bacardi Cup

by Janet Maizner on 14 Mar 2009 Bermuda’s Peter Bromby and veteran Star Class crew Magnus Liljedahl of Miami won the 2009 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta Friday on Biscayne Bay in Miami.

Bromby and Liljedahl sailed to victory on the final race in the six race regatta to finish with a commanding six-point lead over Floridian Mark Mendelblatt, the 2005 Bacardi Cup champion, and crew Bruno Prada (BRA) who finished second overall.

Bromby took an early lead on the left side of the fleet following a very strong start and held the lead at each of the first three marks. He rounded the fourth mark in second place behind seven-time Bacardi Cup Champion Mark Reynolds of San Diego, sailing this week with crew Hal Haenel, but regained the lead on the final leg to capture both the Day Six victory and his third Bacardi Cup championship.

'Every time we needed some extra horsepower, we seemed to find it today,' said Bromby. 'We were keeping an eye on Mendelblatt. If he would have taken control of us, things would have been very different. Our strategy was to cover him throughout the race.'

Added Liljedahl, 'We attacked [Mendelblatt] at the start, tripped him a few more times, and sucker-punched him a couple times at the end. We just needed to stay ahead of him today.'

Rounding out the overall top five were New Yorker Rick Merriman and crew Phil Trinter; Switzerland’s Olympic Star sailor Flavio Marazzi and crew Petter Pedersen (NOR); and veteran Star sailor Paul Cayard, who has finished second in the Bacardi Cup four times, with crew Austin Sperry, the 2008 Olympian representing the United States in the Star Class.

'Our start was a disaster,' said 2003 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Augie Diaz. ¨Half way up the first weather leg, we had an opportunity to come across, but we got greedy. Had we gone toward the fleet, we might have been in the top 20. For us, it was combination of sailing badly and a bad start. Bromby, however, was on fire this week; he is very deserving of this victory.'

'I came in not knowing what to expect,' added Clay Bischoff, a Star Class up-and-comer and winner of the 2009 ISAF Team Racing World Championship with Team USA in Australia. 'I came to learn as much as I could, regardless of the scores and standings. Growing up in Miami, seeing this bay, and being around a group of great guys willing to pass down their knowledge created just a perfect atmosphere for me as a young sailor. I can’t wait to come back to the Bacardi Cup.'

2009 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta - Final results

1 BER 8272 Bromby Peter Liljedahl Magnus 6.0 [AVG] 2 2 1 24 1 12 pts
2 USA 8267 Mendelblatt Mark PRADA BRUNO 3 23 1 10 3 2 19 pts
3 USA 8362 Merriman Rick Trinter Phil 6 44 7 6 12 8 39 pts
4 SUI 8364 Marazzi Flavio Pedersen Petter 65.0 [OCS] 12 13 3 5 7 40 pts
5 USA 8259 Cayard Paul Sperry Austin 11 10 8 5 11 24 45 pts
6 USA 8376 Vandermolen Jon Ewenson Geoff 2 16 6 2 20 30 46 pts
7 USA 8265 Wright Peter Quist Nathan 13 3 19 13 13 10 52 pts
8 USA 8250 Macdonald Andy Fatih Brian 65.0 [DNF] 13 3 11 8 18 53 pts
9 GER 8361 Pickel Marc Mitchell Steve 5 26 45 8 2 14 55 pts
10 IRL 8261 O'Leary Peter Goodbody Tim 4 29 17 4 4 65.0 [OCS] 58 pts
11 USA 8157 Anosov Arthur Dolan Mark 17 17 5 21 10 29 70 pts
12 USA 8195 Maccausland John Murphy Kevin 10 28 4 31 17 12 71 pts
13 USA 8320 Reynolds Mark Haenel Hal 12 15 12 30 34 3 72 pts
14 ITA 8177 Modena Luca Lambertenghi Sergio 19.8 [AVG] 43 37 7 7 5 75.8 pts
15 GBR 8025 Gimson John Greig Ed 16 22 24 14 14 11 77 pts
16 SWE 8338 Johansson Mats Moller Leif 8 53 14 22 31 4 79 pts
17 USA 8273 Szabo George Peters Rick 1 20 25 9 26 65.0 [OCS] 81 pts
18 USA 8285 Diaz Augie Strube Mark 15 5 10 26 27 26 82 pts
19 USA 8241 Campbell Andrew Nichol Mike 65.0 [RAF] 18 28 12 1 27 86 pts
20 FIN 8292 Dahlman Mathias Heinonen Erkki 7 36 20 15 25 20 87 pts
21 USA 8268 Hagebols Rodney Finlay William 22.0 [AVG] 7 33 40 21 9 92 pts
22 ITA 8341 Boggi Lucio LaPorta Manuele 20 1 9 65.0 [BFD] 37 31 98 pts
23 USA 8333 Bischoff Clay Bjorn Tyler 65.0 [OCS] 4 65.0 [OCS] 19 6 6 100 pts
24 NED 8263 Jorissen Sander Veldhuizen Erik 14 65.0 [BFD] 11 44 22 13 104 pts
25 CAN 8143 Cramer Brian Johnston Matt 21 27 21 17 43 23 109 pts
26 USA 8318 Coughlin Daniel Balmert Brad 34 6 18 33 23 32 112 pts
27 USA 8215 Allen Bill Hatfield Bruce 31 21 31 18 42 15 116 pts
28 USA 8077 Jennings Jack Rehe Mike 30 8 23 16 51 65.0 [OCS] 128 pts
29 USA 8253 Brethorst Rick Anderson Scott 23 11 41 34 41 19 128 pts
30 USA 8072 Smith Doug Moore Mike 28 42 29 23 16 39 135 pts
31 UKR 8247 GUREYEV Vasyl Korotkov Volodmyr 25 31 36 32 32 17 137 pts
32 CAN 8024 Fogh Hans Cheer Roger 35 65.0 [DNF] 15 38 30 25 143 pts
33 USA 8279 Bonanni Claude Burgess Rick 33 33 30 27 35 21 144 pts
34 USA 8170 Londrigan Tom Hall Stewart 24 65.0 [BFD] 34 65.0 [DSQ] 15 16 154 pts
35 ITA 8156 Irrera Renato Cristaldini Corrado 27 9 22 50 48 49 155 pts
36 GER 7601 Hicks Michael Hicks Patrick 22 25 49 25 45 47 164 pts
37 CAN 7626 Passmore Mark Bunner Ivan 65.0 [OCS] 24 65.0 [OCS] 29 18 35 171 pts
38 GER 7750 Burmester Jens Kleine Friedrich 36 30 16 42 65.0 [DNF] 50 174 pts
39 GER 8311 Hampe Alex Conrads Chris 26 38 58 41 40 36 181 pts
40 AUT 8369 Tomasini Grinover Roberto Bahr Gunnar 43 19 27 46 47 65.0 [DNC] 182 pts
41 GER 7865 Lehnert Stefan Struve Dirk 44 50 26 65.0 [DSQ] 33 33 186 pts
42 USA 45 Valasek Marek Fedyszn Todd 56 37 38 20 44 48 187 pts
43 USA 8245 Zambella Joe Scott Larry 40.4 [AVG] 55 39 28 38 42 187.4 pts
44 ITA 8344 Barovier Alberto NOBILI Gilberto 42.4 [AVG] 35 65.0 [DNS] 49 19 44 189.4 pts
45 SUI 8286 Dannesboe Henrick Morey Edward 29 58 47 24 39 65.0 [DNC] 197 pts
46 USA 7307 Sutter Larry Jenkins John 37 41 51 59 46 28 203 pts
47 USA 8095 Weissenberger Gunti Hardin Chris 38 45 55 47 36 37 203 pts
48 USA 8112 Bainton John Rogers Chris 51 47 48 39 52 22 207 pts
49 ITA 8183 Tamburini Antonio Ricci Renzo 46 39 40 53 29 65.0 [DNF] 207 pts
50 CAN 7930 Hofkirchner Terry Imai Jeffrey 48 14 44 54 62 53 213 pts
51 SUI 8329 Wyss Daniel Joss Urs 41 54 35 45 65.0 [OCS] 41 216 pts
52 USA 7986 Beigel-Vosbury Barbara Zuschnit Michael 49 52 42 35 49 43 218 pts
53 USA 8132 Kohlhas Jock Gesing Witold 47.2 [AVG] 46 32 65.0 [BFD] 28 65.0 [OCS] 218.2 pts
54 USA 8323 Doyle Eric Calder Steve 65.0 [DNS] 40 65.0 [OCS] 43 9 65.0 [OCS] 222 pts
55 USA 8063 Collins Bert Avellon Guy 42 48 46 52 56 34 222 pts
56 USA 7713 Fransen Ben Coleman Ian 65.0 [OCS] 34 50 51 50 38 223 pts
57 CAN 7501 Karahanas Amanda Karahanas Tony 54 49 43 37 55 40 223 pts
58 USA 7902 Gunther Stephen Armstrong Lance 52 32 52 48 60 52 236 pts
59 NED 8348 Bierman Guus Skinner Duncan 45 51 65.0 [OCS] 36 54 65.0 [DNC] 251 pts
60 USA 8217 Phinney Mike Poole Greg 39 59 57 58 57 51 262 pts
61 USA 8083 Chiarella John Carlson Bob 47 57 56 57 59 46 263 pts
62 USA 7970 Hopkins Sam Serenis Aaron 53 56 54 55 58 54 272 pts
63 USA 7497 Wilson Kris Quinn Sean 55 60 53 56 61 55 279 pts
64 USA 8128 Culberson Bill Jakubowska A J 65.0 [DNS] 65.0 [DNS] 59 65.0 [DNC] 53 45 287 pts


More than 60 teams representing 15 countries competed in the 82nd Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta, one of the most competitive Star Class events in the world. The legendary Bacardi Cup, ranked as one of the best international sailing regattas in the world, is sponsored in full by Bacardi U.S.A., Inc. and co-hosted by the Coral

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