A last-race win gave Ireland's Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne sixth overall at the Star World Championships in Italy on Sunday.

The Cork-Belfast pair, who suffered a black flag setback on the penultimate day, bounced back after discard yesterday in the six races series to be sixth overall by a point.

A pair of 30-year-old German sailors, Max Kohlhoff and Ole Burzinski, who joined the Star Class three years ago thanks to the U30 programme in Kiel, were crowned World Champions in Marina di Scarlino.

Max Kohlhoff and Ole Burzinski have been crowned 2023 Star World Champions in Marina di Scarlino, Tuscany. The German duo started the Championship with a bullet and ended it with a golden star affixed to their mainsail, fulfilling a lifelong dream shared by over 200 Star sailors in Scarlino. 

Star World Champions 2023 - 30-year-old German sailors, Max Kohlhoff and Ole Burzinski Photo: Martina Orsini

"Since we started three years ago, our goal was always to win the gold star to put on the mainsail. We believed it was possible, but it was definitely hard work... and doing it here, on our second attempt, is unbelievable!" commented Max Kohlhoff. 

The final day of the 2023 Star World Championship started with a different breeze from the north. The day's first race started around 11:15 AM with 7/8 knots of wind speed, but it varied throughout the four legs, with a gentle but constant shift to the right. For the last race, the wind came even more from the right, 050 degrees, and the wind speed varied from as little as 5 knots to as much as 13. 

O’Leary and Milne were the best at reading the wind throughout the last race, even though the first at both the top mark and the gate were the Americans Doug Smith and Brian O’Mahony. Negri/Sodano and Eckert/Melo finished eighth and 12th respectively, which was enough to keep them both on the podium: the Swiss/Portuguese team won silver, and the Italians took bronze.

The 2023 Star World Championship comes to a close with the prize-giving at the Yacht Club Isole di Toscana. The event will be remembered for the excitement of having two new young Star World Champions, emerging from a successful U30 programme run by Arnd Glunde in the North of Germany. This is a sign of hope for a Class that's more than 100 years old, which has seen great legends of the sport raise the 100-year-old trophy and can continue to produce champions.

A black flag disqualification in race three has dented the overall prospects of Ireland's Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne at the Star World Championships in Italy.

In a fleet of 96, the Cork-Belfast pairing are lying 28th after four races sailed and delays to the schedule with either no wind or too much of it at Marina di Scarlino, Tuscany.

As Afloat reported earlier, the Irish pair got off to a great start with a fifth in the first race.

Piet Eckert with Frederico Melo finished Race Four in fourth position, and their solid scorecard allows them to be the overall leader before the final two races on Sunday and the discard. Max Kohlhoff with Ole Burzinski are second, and Diego Negri with Alessandro Sodano fell to third with 15th place in the last race.
 
Organisers say the plan for Sunday's final day is to have two more races, with the first start scheduled at 10:30 AM. The forecast calls for a north breeze of up to 15 knots.

The Cork Harbour and Belfast Lough pairing of Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne lie 11th from 94 starters at the 2023 Star keelboat World Championship in Tuscany, Italy.

The Championship finally began at Marina di Scarlino after two windless days of waiting. The 100 teams, representing 25 countries in Italy, were relieved when a southerly wind of 10 knots blew on the racecourse. The first race commenced as scheduled, following a general recall that ended in a U flag hoisting by the Race Committee led by PRO Giancarlo Crevatin.

German former Finn Sailor Max Kohlhoff and Ole Burzinski led the first race, followed by current Star World title holder Diego Negri and new young crew member Alessandro Soldano, then Doug Smith/Brian O’Mahony, Enrico Chieffi/Nando Colaninno, and the Swiss duo Piet Eckert and Frederico Melo. The Germans claimed first place in the championship, followed by Negri/Soldano, Eckert/Melo, Enrico Chieffi with Nando Colaninno, and the Irish duo of Peter O’Leary/Steve Milne in fifth place.

Race two followed three general recalls with a black flag that had everyone paying more attention to the line. Matthew Rajacich with Eric Wagner led the race, followed by Eugenio Cingolani/Juan Francisco Carrasquet, Jurg Wittich/Christian Trachsel, and Paolo Nazzaro/Alessandro Vongher. However, the latter team was subsequently disqualified with a black flag (BFD), taking them out of the race. Italian America’s Cup skipper Flavio Favini, participating in his first Star World Championship, won the second race with local crew Nicolas Seravalle.

Piet Eckert and Frederico Melo showed consistency throughout the championship, making them the current leaders in the overall ranking. However, the winner of the last two Star World titles is only one point behind them, and American Scott Barnard, with World Champion crew Phil Trinter, is not too far behind in third place. The Mid-Week Award Ceremony and presentation of the Harry Gale Nye Trophy, which recognizes an individual's outstanding contribution to the ISCYRA, will take place tonight at the Marina di Scarlino.

It all came down to the final race in the battle for the 96th Bacardi Cup in Miami on Saturday, with eight teams theoretically in the running for the trophies. After two general recalls, the elite of Star sailing embarked on a 5-leg race.

Unfortunately for overnight leaders Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne, who were on an upward trajectory all week on Biscayne Bay, the Cork-Belfast pairing scored a 20th dropping them from the lead and the podium into fourth overall.

Hans Spitzauer/Christian Nehammer led to the first mark, but with series, frontrunners close behind they were off podium contention. Kusznierewicz/Prada thought they had a disadvantage by choosing the left side, but it played out well as they rounded in third.

From early, it was evident huge disappointment was on the cards for O'Leary/Milne. After finishing the Bacardi Cup in 2nd place three times, they dreamed 2023 would be their year. They started on the right side of the course but couldn’t execute their plan and slowly slipped through the pack.

Kusznierewicz/Prada reeled in Spitzauer/Nehammer to go for the win. Rounding the final upwind mark, they had a 30 second advantage, extending even further to the leeward mark. The other teams could only battle it out for second and third.

Their passion for a perfect mission was precisely executed, and by the finish Kusznierewicz/Prada secured over a one-minute lead to win the 96th Bacardi Cup. The duo made history last year as the first ever same-crew team to win three consecutive times and are now back in the history books with their fourth successive win. No skipper or crew has ever achieved that.

“Sometimes I am thinking how much longer we can go,” grinned Kusznierewicz. “But I must say at the beginning it is a great fun, pleasure but also an honour to sail with Bruno. Unbelievable how I enjoy the week spent together. Thanks Bruno.”

“The week was a tough one. Mateusz started the week a little bit sick, we had the ‘old man’s funeral,” said Prada, in reference to the passing of Gonzalo Diaz, a renowned sailing personality and father of Augie Diaz. “It was tough to have our minds focused on the regatta, but we were able to manage all these outside odds and still we are super happy.”

“It was the toughest win out of the four,” continued Kusznierewicz. “The level of the competition was very high, and the five top teams were sailing just brilliantly. They played strategy and tactics very well. This time we had to fight to the end, but I like it.”

Whilst appreciating their momentous achievement, Prada had another motivation to win, rivalry with an old friend, saying, “For me the only important thing is to be ahead of the best crew in the world, that’s Frithjof. Once I am ahead of him, I am happy! I am not worried about records, if I am ahead of the best.”

“I know that he really likes the winning,” chipped in Kusznierewicz. “The race when we finished 21, Bruno was so angry. He is addicted to winning. I say, ‘let’s have some fun’, and he says, ‘you know how I spell fun, W-I-N’! This is good, this is what I like, because we are athletes. We really enjoy sailing and competition.”

They have already confirmed they will return in 2024, with Kusznierewicz affirming, “Once you have Bacardi, you want to have it more.”

A meticulous performance from Kusznierewicz/Prada who celebrated their remarkable achievement by sipping Bacardi rum from the iconic Bacardi Cup and Tito Bacardi Cup trophies at the prize giving to huge applause.

In paying tribute, Eddie Cutillas said, “Last year, you made history as the first same team crew to ever achieve three back-to-back wins. Whilst there had been skippers who had won three times in a row and crew who had won three times in a row, never had the same skipper and crew won three times in a row.”

“This year, you go one better and become the first skipper or crew to ever win four times in a row in the ninety-six-year history of the Bacardi Cup. Simply phenomenal. I don’t want to predict the future of the Bacardi Cup, but it is going to be a long time before anyone will ever have a chance at breaking your record,” Cutillas concluded.

As custodians of the Bacardi Cup for four years, the legacy secured by Kusznierewicz/Prada will be hard to beat. However, the quest for dominance and ambition to be part of the rich heritage of the Bacardi Cup will continue.

A sixth-place finish for Eivind Melleby/Mark Strube upgraded them to second overall, and Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise crossed the line in 3rd to leapfrog from leader board fifth to third.

Star Final Results – Top 4

1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada (POL) - 15 pts
2. Eivind Melleby/Mark Strube (NOR) - 21 pts
3. Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise (USA) - 26 pts
4. Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne (IRL) 29 pts

Prizes were presented to the top five and to winners in the age divisions:

• U30 (skipper under 30) - Matthew Rajacich/Eric Wagner
• Master (skippers aged 50 through 59) - Eivind Melleby/Mark Strube
• Grand Master (skippers aged 60+) - Paul Cayard/Frithjof Kleen
• Exalted Grand Master (skippers aged 70+) - Larry Whipple/Killian Weise

The 2024 Bacardi Cup will be held from March 3-9

Results here

Ireland’s Peter O'Leary/Stephen Milne finished second in race three of the Star class Bacardi Cup in Miami on Thursday and moved to sixth overall.

The Cork-Belfast pairing have moved up the rankings from their opening score of 17th on Monday. A fifth place in race two moved them into the top ten on Wednesday, and now they are six points off the podium with three races left to sail.

Two general recalls for the Star as the fleet re-contested yesterday’s abandoned race 2. A five-leg race in 12 knots of breeze tested teams’ endurance and displayed their vast sailing prowess. Never underestimating the fleet quality, five of the boats inside the race top ten carried the gold Star mainsail logo awarded to World Champions.

Yet again Piet Eckert/Frederico Melo led the fleet to the first mark, before 2019 Bacardi Cup champions Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise dismantled the opposition to take the lead and the win after a battle in the second upwind. They were at their best and making up for yesterday’s BFD error. However, their scorecard won’t be realised on the leader board until the discard kicks in after race 5. They currently sit in 25th from scores of 3,1, 74 (BFD).

“It was a little tough to take yesterday, it got us a little fired up,” reflected Doyle on their penalty score. “It was good motivation to get us back in the regatta.”

Speaking on today’s win, he continued, “We are happy when it is windy and shifty is pretty nice too. It is anybody’s game then. But if you are feeling confident and feeling good you can tack on the shifts, try and surf a little downwind and be a little bold at times, which we like.”

Team work is key said Infelise, “We work well, our communication in the boat is really good, so we know what moves are coming at what time. We are very happy with it.”

In reference to the BFD penalty, Doyle added, “We can’t make any mistakes now. There are so many good guys, we have got to go for it. It has put us in a little bit of a corner. We have got to have some bold races if we want to win the regatta. That is what we are here for, and it is going to be fun.”

Defending Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada finished in third and gear up to top the leader board, with overnight leaders Eivind Melleby/Mark Strube finishing two places behind and now second overall.

Star Provisional Results – Top 5 after Race 3

1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada (POL) - 12 pts
2. Eivind Melleby/Mark Strube (NOR) - 14 pts
3. Hans Spitzauer/Christian Nehammer (AUT) - 18 pts
4. Piet Eckert/Frederico Melo (SUI) - 22 pts
5. Leandro Altolaguirre/Lucas Altolaguirre (ARG) - 22 pts

Results here

The Bacardi Cup for the Star Class will kick off on March 5, and double Olympic keelboat helmsman Peter O'Leary from Royal Cork and Baltimore will add Irish interest to the 75-boat regatta.

O'Leary will race Star IRL 8465 Verticoli with Ante Razmilovic, the 2022 Etchells World Champion in the 96th edition of the Cup.

Since 1927, forty-five different teams have claimed Bacardi Cup glory. Defending champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada are the first same-crew partnership to complete a three-peat, with wins in 2019, 2020 and 2022. While they return to attempt another title defence, it will take a lot more work before they edge close to Ding Schoonmaker, who remains the most prolific Bacardi Cup champion with eight victories.

Double Olympic keelboat helmsman Peter O'Leary

Racing gets underway at 1200 hours on March 6, featuring plenty of big names amongst the runners and riders, including Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise who won in 2019, and finished second in 2022 and 2021. Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic/Tudor Bilic, who picked up the silver medal at the 2022 and 2021 Star Worlds, will be looking to upgrade on their 14th place from last year. Ever present are Paul Cayard/Frithjof Kleen, who most recently raced together at the 2022 Star Worlds claiming bronze and finished 7th in Miami last year. Jack Jennings/Pedro Trouche have proven a force, racking up two race wins last year but countered with scores that placed them in 6th overall. From Norway, Eivind Melleby/Joshua Revkin lay claim to many Star successes, but as yet the Bacardi Cup has remained elusive.

Launched in 2023, the Bacardi Cup U30 Programme supports participation by skippers and crew under thirty, with six teams set to benefit from the program this year.

The venerated Bacardi Cup and Tito Cup will be the highlight of the awards ceremony, with other sought-after prizes awarded to the top finishing U30 team, Masters (skippers aged 50 through 59), Grand Masters (skippers aged 60 and above) and Exalted Grand Masters (skippers aged 70 and above). As always, the Tammy Rubin-Rice Trophy is presented to the highest-placing team who did not otherwise win an award.

See the current entry list here

Baltimore Sailing Club’s Star keelboat pair Peter and Robert O’Leary look to be the most likely Irish duo to fly the tricolour at the centenary Star Worlds in Marblehead, Massachusetts this September.

The 2022 Star World Championship from 8-17 September will mark 100 years of history since the first World Championship was held in 1922. 

This year’s event at the Eastern Yacht Club will also celebrate one of sailing’s most popular, successful and appreciated boat and its legends.

The world’s best Star sailors will be etched into history on the event’s coveted trophies | Credit: YCCS/Studio Borlenghi
 
Remaining true to the heritage of the Star Class since 1922, the Worlds will be contested over six days with one long daily race, bringing together the world’s best in class alongside emerging talent in a battle of endurance, fitness, strategy and competition.

The single-race format is also reflected at the iconic Bacardi Cup, partner of the Star Class since 1927, at which the O’Leary brothers finished just shy of a podium place this past March in Miami.

Staking a place on the Star World Championship leaderboard remains as competitive as ever and the challenge for victory is as tough as the first edition back in 1922.

Miami, USA turned on another beautiful sailing day – brilliant breeze, sparkling turquoise waters and warm weather – as the Star Class was joined by the full line-up of one-design classes at the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta on Thursday, March 10.

Biscayne Bay was a spectacular vista, packed with boats that have converged on Miami from around the world. The Star contested the traditional one race, with three races wrapped up for each of the J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640 and VX One. The 69F, which made its BCIR debut, completed six races.

Cork's Peter and Robert O'Leary were tenth in the Star race, a result that puts them fifth overall. Their father, Anthony, racing in the Viper 640 with Clive O'Shea and Neil Fulcher is also lying fifth.

Across the race courses, the breeze tracked from 10-18 knots, with the overcast morning giving way to sunshine. The forecast has so far delivered perfect race conditions and looks set to remain game on for Friday, March 11.

Post-race another keenly anticipated Bacardi happy hour got underway at Shake-A-Leg Miami, giving the perfect atmosphere to unwind and enjoy a glass of rum.

Star Class

Racing got underway in a 10 knot breeze and very similar conditions to Wednesday. A couple of rain showers either side of the course for the second windward leg yanked the breeze, forcing a change of course.

Jack Jennings (USA) and Pedro Trouche (BRA) got to work straight away on ‘Pied Piper’, conjuring up more of yesterday’s magic to call the race track tune, lead from start to finish and claim another win. They shift up to leader board 4th and sit just one point adrift of Diego Negri/Sergio Lambertenghi, who finished the race immediately behind and retain 3rd overall.

“I feel really glad with the way we are sailing,” said Trouche. “We are feeling good with our routine. Every day in the morning we have breakfast together, briefing for the day and then we go out as early as we can, doing some practice. So it is working out, yeh.”

Defending Bacardi Cup Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada hold firm as series leaders, but again struggled further back in the pack. Unlike yesterday, they couldn’t chip through and had to settle for a 6th place finish. Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise crossed the line in 4th place and hold firm in 2nd overall.

The race discard kicked in which, though not impacting the order of the top three, has shuffled places behind and compressed the points a little closer, making tomorrow’s race a challenge for control of the podium places ahead of Saturday’s concluding race.

Provisional Top 5 Results – after 4 races

1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Bruno Prada (POL 8548) - 4 pts

2. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA 8423) - 8 pts

3. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA 8567) - 10 pts

4. Jack Jennings / Pedro Trouche (USA 8464) - 11 pts

5. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary (IRL 8465) - 14 pts

J/70 Class

Three races of around fifty-five minutes were completed in 13-18 knots of breeze and superb planning conditions. With so much depth in performance, racing was close around the track, but the clear frontrunners scoring 1,3,2 to lead the J/70 fleet are Paul Ward (GBR) and his team of Charlie Cumbley/Elliot Willis/Matt Howard on ‘Eat Sleep J Repeat’

Explaining their consistency, Ward said, “We’ve had a couple of really good days training. It is really, really nice conditions out here and we have felt really, really quick. We were going quick upwind, Elliott was doing a great job with the trim and then downwind Matt was getting a really good workout on the kite. We were just fast pretty much every direction, so it was a good day today.”

“Our plan was clean starts, get to the right-hand side and it seemed to pay off quite nicely,” continued Cumbley. “It always looked better the further you nudged that way for the most part.”

Race wins also went to Mexico’s Ignacio Perez and team on ‘Zaguero’, and the USA’s Bobby Julien with his crew on ‘Dingbat’. Mixed fortunes for Ed Lebens (USA) on ‘Reggae Shark’, who scored a masterful 2,2, before being knocked back to a 27th place finish in race 3.

Winning in Miami is always tricky as teams face the challenging and notoriously unpredictable race track, and in a thirty-nine boat fleet packed with talent, there is everything to play for.

Provisional Top 5 Results – after 3 races

1. Paul Ward / Charlie Cumbley / Elliot Willis / Matt Howard (GBR 1127) - 6 pts

2. Ignacio Perez / Santiago Perez / Juan Ignacio Perez / Moritz Spitzauer (MEX 1323) – 14 pts

3. Bobby Julien / Alec Anderson / Will Felder / Chris Waters / Sam Loughborough (USA 639) - 19 pts

4. Charles Thompson / Craig Burlton / Ben Saxton / Chris Grube (GBR 1123) - 20 pts

5. Peter Cunningham / Tony Rey / Bernardo Freitas / Marc Gothier (CAY 1310) - 21 pts

Melges 24 Class

Getting into groove straight away for the 9-race series was 2021 and 2020 BCIR champion Bora Gulari (USA) with his team on ‘Powered by Moms’. He followed up with a 4th in race 2, but then Gulari and two other boats were over the line for the start of race 3, so will need the discard to kick in after race 6 to get back in the frame.

Back-to-back 2nd places finishes pitches Brian Porter’s ‘Full Throttle’ in front.

“It’s always great to come down to Miami and it is super exciting to be back at the Bacardi regatta this year”, said RJ Porter, son of Brian.

“We just came from Wisconsin where it was snowing yesterday, so great to be in the warmer weather. Competition was very tough out there, so being that consistent was very good for us. We’ve definitely got to take it race by race, get off the starting line that’s the most important thing, and just try not to get ourselves caught up in a corner.”

Drew Freides on ‘Pacific Yankee’ took the race 2 win, with race 3 in the hands of Travis Weisleder on ‘Lucky Dog’.

Racing on ‘Pacific Yankee’, Morgan Reeser, the 1992 Olympic silver medallist in the 470, was brimming after the day, saying, “I am probably the luckiest person in the world today! An amazing day, nice and warm, no foul weather gear needed and the rest of my team is so good.”

Explaining their race strategy, Reeser said, “When it is from the south, there is no land in the way, the shifts aren’t that big, so it is mostly boat speed. So the key is just clear lanes. Early in the day some storm clouds probably right better than left, then later in the day it turned into a sea breeze and it was left better than right. Just go fast, which was awesome.”

Provisional Top 5 Results – after 3 races

1. Brian Porter / RJ Porter / Bri Porter / Matt Woodworth (USA 849) - 6 pts

2. Drew Freides / Charlie Smythe / Morgan Reeser / Federico Michetti / Lara Poljsak (USA 865) - 12 pts

3. Harry Melges IV / Finn Rowe / Ripley Shelley / Carlos Robles / Nick Muller (USA 866) - 13 pts

4. Travis Weisleder / John Bowden / Hayden Goodrick / Mark Mendleblatt (USA 858) - 18 pts

5. Bruce Ayres / Kate O’Donnell / Ted Hackney / Thomas Dietrich / Jeremy Wilmot (USA 851) - 20 pts

Viper 640 Class

Front of fleet results were spread around, with a fairly even performance amongst the top boats on day one.

Three races down and their 1,3,4 scorecard gives ‘Vellamo’ helmed by Colin Santangelo the advantage, with Caterpillar’ helmed by Peter Ill 3 points back. ‘Evil Hiss’ who finished 2nd in 2020, under the expert helm of Mary Ewenson raced a solid series, picking up a win in race 2 to end the day in 3rd.

Escaping from the snow in Ottawa is Canada’s ‘Jackpot’ skippered by Brad Boston, who have only recently started sailing together and compete for the first time in Miami. Crew member Quentin Gallon grinned, “We are loving the sunshine and loving the people!”

“We had a phenomenal breeze all day,” continued Gallon on their fifth overall. “Awesome races. As we sailed throughout the day we just got better. We found our starts were our key thing, just bow down and power on. We are a little heavy crew, so we figured we could hike out the boat and really keep it powered up upwind. That worked great for us.”

The team finished 2nd in the last race 3 of the day, as Gallon explained, “On our last race we were doing great upwind and downwind it was all about the communication in the boat and finding the breeze. It was really key for us building as a team and we are excited for the next couple of days.”

Provisional Top 5 Results – after 3 races

1. 277 USA 277 Caterpillar Viper 640 Peter Ill / Stephen Sparkman / Maxwell Plarr 1 4 5 10.0
2. 297 USA 297 Evil Hiss Viper 640 Mary Ewenson / Mark Zagol / Jane Moore / Max Vinocur 3 1 8 12.0
3. 246 USA 246 Strategery XI Viper 640 Cam Farrah / Cliff Farrah / Eric Heilshorn 2 8 3 13.0
4. 294 Doyle Sailmakers CAN 294 Wadjet Viper 640 Van Sheppard / Quinton Gallon / Brad Sheppard 5 7 2 14.0
5. 296 USA 296 Antix Viper 640 Anthony O Leary / Clive O Shea / Neal Fulcher 6 2 7 15.0

VX One Class

2022 year marks the largest VX One fleet yet in Miami, with twenty-five new and returning teams.

Establishing themselves in the game early on and getting on the scoresheet with a 6th place and two race wins are Austin Powers/Monica Morgan on ‘Tudo Bem’, who lead by a one-point advantage. Kaitlyn Liebel/Mark Liebel racing ‘Another Bad Idea’ won the opener, following up with a 6,2 to place 2nd overall.

“This is the biggest fleet of VXs,” commented Hayden Bennett, who finished 2nd at the recently held VX One Mid-Winters and sits in 7th overall. “Flat water, big breeze, warm weather, you can’t really complain about too much.

“Miami always puts on a good show, so we always have nice competitive racing. It’s obviously great to mingle in with the other fleets, the social events are always perfect, the few days we are here is always a blast.”

Provisional Top 5 Results – after 3 races

1. Austin Powers / Monica Morgan (USA 296) - 8 pts

2. Kaitlyn Liebel / Mark Liebel / Jordan Wiggins (USA 313) - 9 pts

3. Kevin Northrop / Max Albert / Andrew Brennan (USA 306) - 11 pts

4. Tim Pitts / Tim Desmond (ISV 286) - 13 pts

5. Jim Ward / Jeff Eiber / Monica Wilson (USA 275) - 14 pts

69F Class

The fully-foiling 69F three-person monohull made a spectacular debut at BCIR, flying at speeds of up 28 knots in the 14 knots of breeze.

Six races down and four wins to the ‘Miami Yacht Club’ Team puts them in pole, with Brian Higgins driving, crewed by Pietro de Luca and Nicolas Aragones. A race win to ‘Sail America’, helmed by nineteen-year-old Gavin Ball with siblings Pearl and JP Lattanzi places them in second. Third to ‘Clean Sailors Youth Racing’ skippered by Lukas Hesse who claimed the race 5 win.

“Every time we sail the 69F we are learning by the second,” said Hesse. “Reaching starts, single laps of a square course, and anything up to nine races in a day. It’s full-on, very intense and very good fun.”

The 69F contests an open format, so there is no limit on the number of races and all to count, putting the pressure on a consistent performance race after race

Racing continues Friday, March 11, with one race for the Star, three races for each of the J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640 and VX One, and an open race schedule for the 69F.

Full results here

Baltimore Sailing Club Star keelboat duo Peter and Robert O'Leary are lying fourth after three races sailed at the 95th Bacardi Cup.

Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada hold onto the series lead but did not take the race win on day 3.

Spectacular conditions guaranteed a day of hiking and downwind fun for the fifty-eight boat Star Class fleet. After two days of domination by defending Bacardi Cup Champions Kusznierewicz/Prada, today saw new faces accelerate to front of fleet racing.

Biscayne Bay is always a race track that rewards confidence and switching on their afterburners to manage the fleet skilfully and break away to race glory were Jack Jennings (USA) and Pedro Trouche (BRA). They made their assault from the outset, sailing a perfect race to catch the leaders in a decisive move at the end of the first downwind, set the pace back upwind and surge ahead to victory.

Registration is completed for the J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640, VX One and 69F Classes who join the melting point of kindred spirits for the next three days of racing and renowned Bacardi hospitality. 

New Faces out Front

The fleet were evenly spread along the race 3 starting line and up the first windward leg with no favoured side.

Sailing together for the first time, Great Britain’s Ed Wright and Italy’s Alberto Ambrosini gave the fleet the early run for their money. The team had a good start, although a bit behind the boats around which worked to their advantage, as they were in a position to tack off to port. They sailed the lift until they got knocked and headed into the windward mark covering the fleet from the right.

Wright/Ambrosini continued their form downwind, opting left to drive fast through the fantastic waves and surfing conditions. But when they switched to the right, their lead unravelled.

After an exciting gate rounding, Jack Jennings/Pedro Trouche sailed strong upwind, dictating the leader board shuffle as they approached the windward mark for the second time. The pair managed to pick their spots to tack into a clear lane and manoeuvred to the right of Wright/Ambrosini to take the lead, with 2019 Bacardi Cup champions Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise chasing.

Ed Wright (GBR) and Alberto Ambrosini (ITA) take an initial lead in race 3, 95th Bacardi Cup 

Rounding the windward mark, Wright/Ambrosini were in a tussle with 2018 Bacardi Cup winners Diego Negri/Sergio Lambertenghi who came in on port tack, with Kusznierewicz/Prada in 5th. Paul Cayard/Frithjof Kleen followed, with the O’Leary brothers and Jørgen Schönherr/Markus Koy neck and neck, and Eivind Melleby/Joshua Revkin close behind.

A strong bounce back from Schönherr/Koy, who were off the track yesterday due to Jørgen’s broken foot, as they target an upgrade on their partnership’s 8th place finish from 2020. Koy finished 3rd at the 2021 Bacardi Cup with Augie Diaz (USA).

Heading back downwind, the pressure remained consistent across the course, with plenty of wave action to accelerate the gains to Jennings/Trouche. An impressive passage of play from Kusznierewicz/Prada, who clawed back from around 5th at the final leeward gate to finish in 2nd, with Doyle/Infelise finishing 3rd. A 4th place finish to reigning Star World Champion Negri with crew Lambertenghi advances them to leader board 3rd, knocking the O’Learys down to 4th.

Jennings/Trouche are racing only their fifth event together, and their win advances them two places up the leader board to 7th overall.

“For sure we had a lot of fun surfing, sailing by the lee sometimes, playing with different modes,” explained Trouche, who won the 2018 Star Sailors League Finals. “Our talking was way better today on the downwind, so we had some gains on the first downwind. I am super happy. A champagne day in Biscayne Bay!”

“I think the key was to just keep doing the little things the right way,” smiled Jennings, “like getting a good start, which we have had the last two days, and then working on our downwind mode a little bit and also working on our communication. So more important than the result is, I think, we made an improvement in all those areas and we sailed the boat well from the beginning to the end.

“There are so many great champions here that it is always nice to have a good result. A lot of it is due to Pedro’s good hiking, our teamwork off the line and to have the boat in the right mode and keep our lane.”

 Jack Jennings (USA)/Pedro Trouche (BRA) win race 3 of the 95th Bacardi Cup

From pole position, Wright/Ambrosini lost their pace to finish the race in 7th. The pair only partnered up after their respective skippers were unable to compete. Progress has been steady, with an improving scorecard of 18, 11 and 7. For Wright, their front of fleet territory matches his pedigree, having previously stepped onto the Finn Gold Cup podium six times, including gold in 2018.

On pressing the accelerator, Wright said, “From the first day to now, we are sailing the boat much differently. We are driving the boat a lot faster and really trying to power it up instead of pinching, and that made a huge difference with our boat speed.”

Eivind Melleby/Joshua Revkin finished 5th to hold their leader board 5th, with Cayard/Kleen finishing 6th in the race and on the leader board. Cayard first competed at the Bacardi Cup forty-two years ago crewing for Tom Blackaller. He has raced many times since, but is yet to taste victory.

"I've never won the Bacardi Cup", declared Cayard. "I've been second many times, so it would be nice to win! We have a lot of great competition here, I think there must be 10 world championships racing, so when you're in the top 10 in the races it's tough".

On their new partnership, Cayard said, "We are working on the speed and the set-up of the boat, so just trying to keep improving and if we do I think the result will be good. Frithjof is the current World Champion crew and I have a lot of experience, he is young and I'm a little older so I think we have a good mix of experience and youth and physical capability".

Reflecting on the event history, Cayard added, "The Bacardi Cup is like the Star Class. The two brands have been together for 95 years, in Cuba first and then here in Miami. They are both brands that represent excellence in a sector and respect tradition and so the fusion of these two brands is what makes the Bacardi Cup special. So, it is quite an honor just to be participating."

As always, the challenge for Bacardi Cup victory is as tough today as the first event hosted in Cuba back in 1927.

Blaise Gallahue/Tom Hurwitch (USA7469) head downwind, 95th Bacardi Cup

Provisional Top 10 Results – after Race 3

1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Bruno Prada (POL 8548) - 4 pts
2. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA 8423) - 8 pts
3. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA 8567) - 12 pts
4. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary (IRL 8465) - 14 pts
5. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin (NOR 8543) - 18 pts
6. Paul Cayard / Frithjof Kleen (USA 1988) - 22 pts
7. Jack Jennings / Pedro Trouche (USA 8464) - 23 pts
8. Augie Diaz / Christian Nehammer (USA 8509) - 27 pts
9. Erik Lidecis / Greg Smith (USA 8459) - 35 pts
10. Ed Wright / Alberto Ambrosini (AUS 8320) - 36 pts

This evening, the mid-week cocktail party and social is hosted at Shake-a-Leg Miami

Baltimore Sailing Club's Peter and Robert O'Leary are tied on points for second place but lie in third overall on the scoresheet at the Star Class Bacardi Cup in Miami.

The Star Class leader board ended the same as Monday’s opener, with defending Bacardi Cup Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada again dominating the fifty-eight boat fleet for their second win in two races.

Race 2 of the 95th Bacardi Cup got underway on attempt number two, after a bunch of ambitious teams in the middle of the line forced the Race Committee to a general recall. A perfect day delivered as good as Star Class racing gets, with a consistent south-easterly breeze of around 12-15 knots, waves serving up full hiking upwind legs and super surfing conditions downwind for the 110 minutes, 9 nautical mile race.

Behind Kusznierewicz/Prada, it is a tiebreak between Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise (USA), who won here in 2019, and brothers Peter O'Leary/Robert O'Leary (IRL) who sit on 5 points apiece, having matched each other’s scores across the two races. 2018 Bacardi Cup victors Diego Negri/Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) are in fourth.

Star Class racing on day 2 of 95th Bacardi Cup day 2, Biscayne Bay, Miami

The Race Track Story

Kusznierewicz/Prada know the nuances of Biscayne Bay well, opting for the left side upwind, before making a faultless tactical decision to move to the right side and find the increasing pressure for the final part of the first upwind. The leaders were chased hard by Augie Diaz/Christian Nehammer (USA), Peter O'Leary/Robert O'Leary (IRL), Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise (USA) and Jack Jennings/Pedro Trouche (USA), who had all made a break ahead of the fleet.

Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL)/Bruno Prada (BRA) win race 2, 95th Bacardi Cup

The teams who played the left side of the track got crushed and a significant number overstood the port tack layline, leading to a crazy and close mark rounding.

Downwind the easing breeze consolidated the fleet, picking up as teams rounded the gate to again favour the strong and experienced who flew back upwind. As before, a significant gap unfolded between the top seven boats and the rest of the fleet. Heading upwind, Kusznierewicz/Prada extended their lead, with Diaz/Nehammer, the O'Leary brothers and Diego Negri/Sergio Lambertenghi battling (ITA) it out for second place.

On the final downwind the O’Learys made a key move, pressing Kusznierewicz/Prada every step of the way, as Peter explained, “Robert decided we would go round the other gate, at the bottom left looking down, and he was spot on. We gained a nice bit of space and were able to get close to the leader.”

Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise (USA) move into 2nd place on day 2, 95th Bacardi Cup

Onto the final upwind, the brothers got forced a bit past the layline, giving Doyle/Infelise the advantage to move into second by a couple of meters, the Irish in third and Italians fourth.

“It was proper racing,” continued Peter. “It is as close to an Olympic standard as you are going to get. There was very little between the boats.”

Doyle/Infelise were pleased with their score, having chipped their way through the fleet to get back on form and pop the result after an uninspiring start.

“It was beautiful tough sailing, it’s a super competitive fleet,” said Infelise. “The key was to sail by yourself, get going fast, hit the shifts when you can and just keep the boat moving as quickly as you could.”

“Everywhere you look you are turning around and looking at a World Champion or a silver Star, so super competitive. I think it is the most competitive we have had in a few years here. It is really nice to have all the Europeans and everyone back here.”

Another 4th place finish from Italy’s Negri/Lambertenghi positions them 3 points behind the Americans and Irish.

“More or less the performance was even worse than yesterday,” commented Lambertenghi as we caught up with him relaxing post-race in the pool.

“We were a little bit slower I think, because it was lighter than yesterday, and we were not so brilliant as we felt yesterday. But anyway, we had a good race, a couple of mistakes on manoeuvre on my side and a couple of small mistakes on the tactics. We had fun and we had the same result as yesterday and we are quite satisfied – not 100%, but good!”

Provisional Top 10 Results – after Race 2

1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Bruno Prada (POL 8548) - 2 pts
2. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA 8423) - 5 pts
3. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary (IRL 8465) - 5 pts
4. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA 8567) - 8 pts
5. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin (NOR 8543) - 13 pts
6. Paul Cayard / Frithjof Kleen (USA 1988) - 16 pts
7. Augie Diaz / Christian Nehammer (USA 8509) - 17 pts
8. Erik Lidecis / Greg Smith (USA 8459) - 22 pts
9. Jack Jennings / Pedro Trouche (USA 8464) - 22 pts
10. Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter (USA 8573) - 26 pts

The camaraderie continued into the evening, as teams headed to Coral Reef Yacht Club for the Bacardi Happy Hour.

With four races ahead to complete the six-race series, and one discard coming into play after race 5, there is plenty of race track brilliance to come and plenty of luminaries ready to make their move to lift the hefty silver Bacardi Cup and Tito Cup trophies come Saturday, March 12.

Race 3 is scheduled to start at 1200 hours on Wednesday, March 9, and registration gets underway tomorrow for the other classes – J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640, VX One and 69F – who join the racing from March 10-12 and includes Royal Cork's Anthony O'Leary in the Viper Class.