Royal Cork's Peter and Robert O'Leary, Ireland's sole entry in the lead the sixty-five boat Star Class fleet have slipped back to sixth overall after scoring 18th in race three at the halfway stage of the 93rd Bacardi Cup in Miami, USA.

The change in wind pressure gave no change in performance from the series leaders Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) and Bruno Prada (BRA) who racked up another win.

The weather conditions served up an altogether different race track on day 3, with the light and unsettled breeze postponing the start until 1330 hours. An initial wait ashore in the environs of the beautiful Coral Reef Yacht Club was followed by an on-water postponement, before the light and very warm southerly breeze filled in.

The reigning Star Class World Champions, Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) and Bruno Prada (BRA), repeated and improved on yesterday’s race track domination, this time breaking away to lead the fleet from the first mark to the finish by a solid margin. The partnership dismissed the assault put up by Americans George Szabo and Guy Avellon, who delivered their best race of the series so far but had to be satisfied with a 2nd place finish and a leader board climb of five places to fifth overall.

Robert O'Leary (second from left) enjoys a Bacardi with competitors at Coral Reef Yacht Club Photo: Martina Orsini
Steadily chipping away through the fleet were Eivind Melleby (NOR) and Josh Revkin (USA), who excel in breezier racecourses but today found their mojo in the tricky breeze and improved their game from 8th at the first mark to 3rd by the finish to hold steady in second overall.

“It’s going alright but we still have a little catch up to do if we want to lead this,” reflected Eivind Melleby after racing. “When the wind comes from the south in Miami it’s quite steady and it’s hard to get it wrong, we are doing our best and are happy to be up there.”

“We are half way through the regatta,” added Josh Revkin, “and we still have three more races to move on up, which we are planning to do by winning as many of these as possible.”

Whilst the pair has the series leaders well in sight, with the series discard kicking in after Thursday’s race 4, there will be numerous other teams who will work their way up the leader board and edge closer to the podium slots.

Claiming a 3rd place finish and moving up one place to third in the overall standings were the 2019 Star World silver medallists Augie Diaz (USA) and Henry Boening (BRA). The partnership executed yet another immaculate race, always holding their position in the leading pack to be one of only three teams carrying a scorecard of top 10 finishes. Diaz knows Biscayne Bay and its winds and currents better than anyone else in the fleet, and is mission focused to lift not only the Grand Master title but the iconic Bacardi Cup Trophy come Saturday 7 March.

The 2018 Bacardi Cup winner Diego Negri (ITA) racing with 2014 Star World Champion crew Frithjof Kleen (GER), secured another solid finish, staking a 6th place to sit in fourth overall. Six points behind are the winners of the first race, the Irish brothers Peter and Robert O’Leary, with the legendary Paul Cayard (USA) and his 2018 Star Sailors League Finals winner Pedro Trouche (BRA) in seventh.

From Thursday 5 March to Saturday 7 March the Star Class will be joined by the full line-up of classes at the Bacardi Invitational Regatta with the J70, Melges 24, Viper 640, VXOne sports boat and the foiling AV8 and Windfoil sailors joining the event. Tonight their regatta kicks off with the welcome party at Shake a Leg Miami, host of the Bacardi Invitational Regatta village.

Provisional Top 10 – After 3 Races

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

2. Eivind Melleby/Joshua Revkin (NOR 8234) - 10 pts

3. Augie Diaz/Henry Boening (USA 8509) - 14 pts

4. Diego Negri/Frithjof Kleen (ITA 8533) - 17 pts

5. George Szabo/Guy Avellon (USA 8129) - 20 pts

6. Peter O'Leary/Robert O'Leary (IRL 8458) - 26 pts

7. Paul Cayard/Pedro Trouch (USA 8466) - 29 pts

8. Jørgen Schönherr/Markus Koy (DEN 8532) - 31 pts

9. Brian Ledbetter/Magnus Liljedahl (USA 8203) - 32 pts

10. Manu Hens/Joost Houweling (BEL 8379) - 38 pts

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Peter and Robert O'Leary are third overall after two races sailed at the 93rd Star Bacardi Cup in Miami, USA yesterday. 

On the second day, the sixty-five teams were greeted by warmer temperatures and a cloudy sky at Coral Reef Yacht Club, the now home of the event which was first held in Havana, Cuba, in 1927.

With a tricky 8-10 knots of breeze from the southeast, the 165 sailors left the dock ready for the starting sequence at 1155 hours to battle it out in one endurance race per day, as per the traditional format of the Star Class. The Race Committee hoisted the ‘U’ flag but that didn’t cool down the spirits of the fiery teams kicking off the line, as the first start ended up in a general recall. Principal Race Officer Carl Schellbach opted for the penalty threat of the black flag for the second attempt and got race two off to a clean start.

The starting line-up boasts one hundred and thirty sailors from over fifteen nations and a fleet packed with former and reigning World Champions, who are easily spotted by the gold star on their mainsail, and Olympic medalists. With such massive depth in elite performance, numerous teams can mount a credible bid for victory and most of the big names opted for the Committee end of the line. Only local super hero Augie Diaz (USA) sniffed out a preference for the left side of the track, but by the windward mark all the best players were in the leading pack anyway. The light air guru George Szabo (USA) with crew Guy Avellon (USA)rounded the mark first, hunted down by the Danish/German team of Jorgen Shoenherr and Markus Koy, then the reigning Star World Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada, and in 4th Diaz and Henry Boening (BRA). By the downwind gate the order of play was the same, with the addition of Star Class newcomer Manu Hens (BEL), who is usually found racing a Snipe, showing his talent at the helm and gearing up to sixth. Ever present in attackKusznierewicz and Prada took control of the fleet ahead of mark three and extended to the finish line to conquer race two. Adding a win to their second place from yesterday places them at the top of the leaderboard.

Nigel Young of North Sails Ireland sent this vid (below) of the sole Irish duo leaving the dock yesterday. Young himself is competing at the Bacardi Cup tomorrow in the Melges class.

“It feels great,” said five-time Star World Champion and Olympic medalist Bruno Prada. “In today’s conditions our boat is super fast and that makes our job much easier, but also today we executed what we had planned and this always feels very rewarding.”

Five-time Olympian Kusznierewicz, who also counts Olympic and World Championship medals in the Finn Class to his tally of successes, added, “I can only say that we have great communication onboard. From the minute the flags are hoisted we know exactly what to do both upwind and downwind, and the tactics come easy as we move on the racecourse. It’s a really good feeling and winning the race only shows it’s all working well.”

The 2017 Star Class World Champions Eiind Melleby (NOR) and Joshua Revkin (USA) added a 3rd to their scorecard and leap to second overall, with overnight leaders Peter and Robert O’Leary (IRL) dropping to third after their 7th place. The ‘king of the bay’ Augie Diaz, racing with Henry ‘Maguila’ Boening, finished in 2nd to advance to fourth overall. Keeping in fighting distance of the leaders are the 2019 Bacardi Cup winners, Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise (USA),who count two top 10 finishes to sit in 9th overall.

Provisional Top 10 – After 2 Races

1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada (POL 8548) - 3 pts
2. Eivind Melleby/Joshua Revkin (NOR 8234) - 7 pts
3. Peter O'Leary/Robert O'Leary (IRL 8458) - 8 pts
4. Augie Diaz/Henry Boening (USA 8509) - 9 pts
5. Diego Negri/Frithjof Kleen (ITA 8533) - 11 pts
6. Paul Cayard/Pedro Trouch (USA 8466) - 12 pts
7. Jørgen Schönherr/Markus Koy (DEN 8532) - 12 pts
8. Manu Hens/Joost Houweling (BEL 8379) - 17 pts
9. Eric Doyle/Paison Infelise (USA 8423) - 17 pts
10. George Szabo/Guy Avelon (USA 8129) - 18 pts

The Star Class is scheduled to contest a six-race series and tomorrow the fleet will head back out on the bay for race three, with the conditions forecast to be just a little windier.

Alongside overall victory in the Bacardi Cup, teams in the Star Class are also jostling for wins across the Masters (aged 50-59 years), Grand Masters (aged 60 and above) and Exalted Grand Masters (aged 70 and above) divisions.

From Thursday 5 March, the Star Class will be joined by the J70, Melges 24, Viper 640, VXOne sports boat and the foiling AV8 and Windfoil classes. The welcome party for these classes will take place on Wednesday afternoon at Shake a Leg Miami, where the Bacardi Invitational Regatta village will officially open.

Cork Harbour brothers Peter and Robert O’Leary from Royal Cork Yacht Club have won the first race of the Star class Bacardi Cup Cup one on a typical Biscayne Bay day in Miami, USA.

The annual Cup kicked off today with a beautiful and very typical Biscayne Bay day which saw the 65 boat race get underway in a south-easterly breeze of about 16 knots.

Today it was all about the iconic Star Class, with the J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640 and the newly welcomed VXOne sports boat and AV8 and Windfoil classes beginning their competition on Thursday 5 March.

As Afloat previously reported, Ireland will be represented in the Viper and Melges classes by Anthony O'Leary and Nigel Young respectively.

After the skippers briefing at Coral Reef Yacht Club, the 130 sailors headed to the water for a scheduled 1200 hours start. Principal Race Officer Carl Schellbach hoisted the U-Flag after the first general recall, which saw over half the fleet cross early, and got the fleet off on the second attempt in stunning race track conditions.

"The Irish brothers delivered a superb downwind strike to claim the lead"

Paul Cayard (USA) and his Brazilian crew Pedro Trouche had a dominant start on the pin end but couldn’t break away and were soon overhauled by the Italian-German partnership of Diego Negri and Frithjof Kleen who led round the first mark. They were closely pursued by Danish skipper Jorgen Shoenherr and his German crew Markus Koy, winners of the Star Midwinter regatta in January on the same race track, and the ‘king of the bay’ Augie Diaz (USA) with Henry Boening (BRA). The Irish brothers Peter and Robert O’Leary were not far behind and delivered a superb downwind strike to claim the lead going into the gate and maintain ownership of the race through to the finish.

“It’s good to be back in Miami, and it is a very good way to start the regatta, even though it is a long series with five more races. We just have to keep working hard and see how it goes,” commented Peter O’Leary. “I think it was good to get out of the pack early and just be clean. Downwind we were pretty quick, we went to the left gate at the bottom which took us to the right hand side of the course for the second upwind and we defended the lead from there.”

While the Irish team secured a significant win, it was neck and neck for second and third and hard to separate Paul Cayard with Pedro Trouche and the 2019 Star World Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) and Bruno Prada (BRA). They were super close, but the Race Committee had no doubt in awarding second place to the Polish-Brazilian partnership.

Pushing hard in the final downwind were early race leaders Negri and Kleen, but they fell foul of the jury who flagged them for rocking and a penalty turn just before the finish handed fourth place to Eivind Melleby (NOR) and Josh Revkin (USA).

The sixty-five Star Class teams will kick off race 2 of the 93rd Bacardi Cup with a scheduled start time of 1200 hours for another intense day of race track duels on Tuesday 3 March. Before that, tonight all sailors and officials will be hosted by Eddie Cutillas at the magnificent Bacardi Building for the traditional welcome cocktail, where the BACARDÍ rum team will serve up cocktails and fun. The nightly parties ensure the enjoyment continues long after the finish line. The next social event will be the Mid-Week Party at Shake-a-Leg Miami on 4 March to mark the half-way stage of the event and the Prize Giving Dinner on Saturday 7 March

Irish Sailing professional Maurice Prof O'Connell is working in the Bahamas this week on the broadcast team that is covering all five days of sailing of the Star Sailors League Finals live from Nassau. The regatta starts on Tuesday the 3rd of December and will end on the 7th.

No stranger to the small screen, Prof O'Connell, who works as a professional sailor and coach, and one-design expert with North Sails Ireland, provided the in-studio commentary and analysis with Digby Fox for live action on StarSailors.com last May.

There will be four days of qualification with up to 14 races in the Bahamas. Next Saturday there will be a quarter-final, a semi-final and the grand finale.

The third annual Vintage Star Gold Cup will officially open tonight on Gull Lake, Michigan, USA. With 26 entries, seven nations and five gold stars on the main sails, the regatta is hosted by the Gull Lake Yacht Club and is reserved for restored Star boats. The event has been growing since the first edition in 2017, when 11 boats were on the starting line.

The Vintage Gold Cup is open to any wooden Star boat that has been restored to approximate original specifications with modern equipment that may include hiking straps and aluminum mast and boom. Also featured is a Classic Vintage Cup category for the boats that will include a wooden mast and boom.

Racing starts tomorrow, Thursday October 3rd, and will go on until Saturday October 5th. Three races are scheduled on the first two days and two for the last one. The 2019 Vintage Gold Cup champions, skipper and crew, will be awarded the perpetual “Robert M. Boudeman Family Trophy” and the class honor of the gold wreath.

The trophy has been won at previous editions by the same skipper: Paul Cayard (USA) who is the one to watch out for on the Gull Lake racecourse. Cayard took first in 2017 with crew Brian Fatih and last year with his son Danny Cayard, with whom he will defend the title this week.

On the podium with Cayard last year there were Greg Smith with crew TC Belco, and Joe Londrigran with crew John Wysockey. All of them are on the starting line again this year among other great sailors. Five Star World Champions are here including, Paul Cayard, who won it in 1988. Lars Grael, from Brazil to sail with American crew Arnis Baltins; Eivind Melleby has come from Norway with US crew Josh Revkin. The two-time Olympic champion Mark Reynolds, arrived from San Diego, with his lifelong crew Hal Haenel, and from San Diego is also the 92 year-old Malin Burnham, who won the Worlds in 1945 with crew Lowell North, sailing on Gull Lake with his son John. Another American gold star is John MacCausland, here with Rick Burgess. Finally, the reigning “Under Thirty” World Champion Luke Lawrence.

There is a packed social schedule, with dinner parties every night, starting tonight with the Opening Ceremony presented by Harken Derm, hosted by Don and Ann Parfet. Thursday dinner will be hosted at Bells Eccentric Cafe, famous Michigan brewery. Regatta partner, MAP Strategic, is presenting the Legacy Night on Friday, where the public will be able to see the boats from the newly built dock. On Saturday, the final awards ceremony hosted at the impressive Gilmore Car Museum.

The sail numbers are low in this fleet, with the youngest being a 5808, and the oldest an amazing 1010, helmed by Don Parfet, co-chair of the event with Jon VanderMolen, but the level of the competition will be very high.

It looks like Baltimore Sailing Club's Peter O'Leary made the most of his two boat tuning in Star keelboats in Cork Harbour back in July as the double Olympian took second in the Star Eastern Championships in Austria today with new crew Joost Houweling of Holland.

The Eastern Hemisphere Championship has just dropped the curtains on Attersee, Austria, after staging a wonderful show with different conditions every day, so that the sailors had to adjust again and again to the wind, weather and waves and could not lower their attention. Wednesday was the "last summer day"; Thursday is the day between the seasons and Friday is called the "first autumn day" here in Attersee: winds from the north, up to 17 knots, 30 km / h, with big waves and the water almost ink black, proved the saying right.

The final ranking was decided only on the last day. The fleet was extremely nervous for the first start and as a result there were two general recalls before the committee hoisted the Black Flag that put the fleet in order. Third time was the charm and the last day was on.

Alexey Zhivotovskiy from Russia was the best at mastering the conditions on this last day. He was in the lead at the first windward mark, and kept the lead until the very end to win the race. Second place went to Peter O'Leary from Ireland, who kept improving over the week. The third place went to Christian Paucksch from Germany with his crew Vera Geck from Austria. She was the first woman on the podium in this series. The overall leader Augie Diaz closed the race with a 4th place and that was enough to ensure him the Eastern Hemisphere Championship title and he decided to not compete in the seventh race. Star Class President, Hubert Merkelbach from Germany, lost his last small chance to win the title with a 17th place finish.

“The Attersee is a beautiful lake and the sailing there is very good – said EHC Winner Augie Diaz – but, what makes the Attersee so special, is the people! The Club and organizers did a great job and they made us feel very welcome. I really enjoyed sailing with Christian Nehammer and the Attersee is his home so he knows the lake well- big advantage for us. The key for us was that we were fast and were able to be consistent”.

The start of the seventh and final race followed immediately afterwards. The big surprise at the first mark was Albert Sturm, a 77-year-old Austrian Star sailor, rounding first and heading downwind on his own. The winner of the 4th race, Piet Eckert, was able to take the win also in the last one, with Hubert Merkelbach getting back on track and securing a 2nd place finish, followed by Haico de Boer (NED), in third with crew Pedro Trouche.

The 2016 Star World Champion, Augie Diaz (USA), with his crew Christian Nehammer (UYC Attersee), earned another title for his rich collection. He didn’t manage to get a single bullet in the series, but with an absolutely consistent performance, he is the 2019 Eastern Hemisphere Champion. He won the series with an 8 point margin and a great score sheet: 2, 2, 3, 6, 2, 4, DNC!! The 2nd place went to Peter O'Leary (IRL) with Joost Houweling, who registered solid improvements throughout the week, (7, 11, 2, 18, 1, 2, 4).

One of the surprises of Attersee, was undoubtedly Haico de Boer from The Netherlands with his Brazilian crew Pedro Trouche. He has never shown at a major international event, but we shall expect it from now on. Hubert Merkelbach was one of the favourites with crew Markus Koy, both German, but three not so strong finishes ruined their overall results. They managed to finish 4th overall with 13, 1, 1, 2, 14, 14, 2.

The second Silver Star at stake for September is the North American Championship, beginning tomorrow, the 10th, at Toms River Yacht Club, New Jersey USA, with the official Opening Ceremony.

Results are here (just overlook the Italian flag for O'Leary's sole Irish entry!) 

It looked like we were seeing double when we spotted two Star keelboats in Cork Harbour yesterday writes Bob Bateman

Both boats bore the same sail number 8527 of the O'Leary's 'Dafne', the high-end Irish Star that has featured so well internationally this season. They also both featured the decals of leading chandler, CH Marine.

The two boat session in the harbour was some mid-season 'sail testing', according to one of the helms, double Olympian Peter O'Leary.

The tune-up boat was steered by O'Leary's brother, and regular Star crew, Robert.

As Afloat reported already this season, Robert teamed up with Australian Torvar Mirsky to produce a top-class eighth overall at the World Championships in Italy last month and in May, also in Italy, the O'Leary brothers finished 14th at the European Championships.

Australian Torvar Mirsky and Cork Harbour's Robert O'Leary finished eighth overall at last weekend's Italian-based Star World Championships in Porto Cervo.

The sole Irish Star crew teamed up with Mirsky, a renowned World Match Racing helmsman for the championship tilt, instead of his usual partnership with older brother Peter. The new pairing produced a string of consistent results and was as high as sixth place overall at one point in the event.

The best ever Irish result at a Star World Championships came in May 2000 when Cork-Dublin pairing Mark Mansfield and David O'Brien won bronze medals in the then Olympic Class on the Chesapeake in Annapolis, USA. Since then, Peter O'Leary and David Burrows came close to the podium when they finished fourth at the 2012 Worlds in Hyeres, France.

Australian Torvar Mirsky and Cork Harbour's Robert O'Leary (left) in bow number 61 competing in Porto Cervo. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi

The ninety-seventh edition of the classes World Championship ended with a victory for Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada followed by Augie Diaz with Henry Boening in second place and Eivind Melleby and Joshua Revkin in third. The event was held from June 17th to yesterday and saw 63 teams from 20 nations race in six races for the Championship

Just before 12.00 noon, the scheduled time for the day's start, the Race Committee hoisted the AP Flag. The start, after two General Recalls, was at about 3 PM when the wind from the northwest filled in. The breeze was at 16 to 20 knots, peaking at 22 knots towards the end of the race.

The new Star Class World Champions are Mateusz Kusznierewicz with his crew Bruno Prada: in a week where their best placement had been a second in the second race, today they were the stars of the Stars. They started in the lead and after rounding the mark lengthened their distance from the rest of the fleet finishing well ahead of the other teams. Kusznierewicz was already Star Class World Champion in 2008 so this is his second title while Bruno Prada has made Star Class history by winning this title five times. Second place goes to Augie Diaz, Star Class World Champion in 2016, with Henry Boening, currently the Star Class European Champion. Diaz also received first prize as a Star Class Gran Master, a recognition that is reserved for Star sailors who are over 60. The Norwegian Eivind Melleby and Joshua Revkin finished third in today's race and third overall.

Final top ten:
1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Bruno Prada, POL, 16 points
2. Augie Diaz / Henry Boening, USA, 18
3. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin, NOR, 24.3
4. Marin Misura / Tonko Barac, CRO, 34
5. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi, ITA, 39
6. Paul Cayard / Artur Lopes, USA, 43
7. Roberto Bermudez De Castro/ Miguel Fernandez Vasco, ESP, 49
8. Torvar Mirsky / Robert O'Leary, IRL, 58
9. Enrico Chieffi / Manlio Corsi, ITA, 68
10. Hans Spitzauer / Christian Nehammer, AUT, 70

Australian Torvar Mirsky and Cork Harbour's Robert O'Leary are up to sixth overall at this week's Italian-based Star World Championships after three races sailed in Porto Cervo. The pair sailing the Irish Star Dafne now count a 16, 8, and 10 and are two points off fourth overall. Results are downloadable below.

Yesterday was the third day of racing at the Championship organized by the YCCS in collaboration with the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association (ISCYRA) and the support of Main Partner Audi and Technical Partners Quantum Sails and Garmin Marine. The games are still open with the world class sailor Augie Diaz now in the lead followed by Eivind Melleby and Mateusz Kusznierewicz.

Again the breeze took its time to kick in and the Race Committee kept the AP flag hoisted until 1 PM. An hour later, after a general recall, the Star sailors got the event's third race underway. Breeze from the southeast was at 6 to 7 knots at first and in the end built gradually to 10 knots.

Skipper Eivind Melleby, winner of the 2017 Star Class World Championship, and his crew Joshua Revkin worked their way up through the fleet and finished in first place. This win brings them from fifth place in the provisional overall results to second. Second place today was won by Christian Paucksch with Melanie Bentele - one of just two women racing in the Championship- who have been a team to watch all through the event. The Italian Roberto Benamati, Star Class World Champion in 1991, who is sailing with Alberto Ambrosini, placed third today.

Augie Diaz and Henry Boening staged an excellent recovery and finished fourth today and thanks to this result they are currently in the lead overall, trailed by the Norwegian Eivind Melleby. Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada are currently in third place overall after placing eleventh today. Paul Cayard is inching up on the podium: after having finished the day in ninth place overall yesterday, he's in fourth place overall today. So the games are still open with three races left on the calendar.

The Norwegian Eivind Melleby had these words: "It was a good race with pretty stable breeze and small shifts that were hard to play but it was for everyone. Downwind we had really good speed and I think that's how we won the race. We expect to have pretty much the same conditions in the next couple of days then a bit windier on Saturday, so we're half way through the Championship and we will give it our all."

The German Christian Paucksch commented on his performance: "We had a good start on the far left near the pin and then we got every shift right up until the mark. We also had a good tactic for the first downwind run. We tried to control the fleet on the second beat and we managed to do it quite well, then on the last run the fleet split a little and we stayed with the ones going towards the shore. Eivind Melleby passed us just at the end which is too bad, but if I think that when my girlfriend and I started sailing the Star Championship together we said that we should always try to leave a boat behind. We should be very proud of ourselves today as we left quite a few behind."

Today, June 20th, the forecast calls for light and shifty breeze. The first Warning Signal is scheduled for 12 noon.

Australian World Match Racing Tour skipper Torvar Mirsky who has teamed up with Cork Harbour's Robert O'Leary to race the sole Irish Star keelboat at this week's Italian-based World Championships is lying tenth overall after two races in Porto Cervo.

Uncertain conditions at the beginning of the second day at the Star Class World Championship gave way to typical Sardinian breezes later on and the day's racing got underway about an hour late. There are still four races to go, but after today's race the provisional scoreboard has changed: the Polish team skippered by Mateusz Kusznierewicz is in the lead followed by the teams with Augie Diaz and Tom Lofstedt in second and third places. The Championship is organized by the YCCS in collaboration with the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association (ISCRYA) and the support of Main Partner Audi and Technical Partners Quantum Sails and Garmin Marine.

This morning the Race Committee hoisted the AP flag at noon and there was a wait of an hour before the breeze filled in. After a first start ended in a general recall, the fleet of 63 Stars from 20 nations set out on the second race of this event in breeze from the north/ northwest at 7-9 knots.

Augie Diaz, Star Class World Champion in 2016 and Henry Boening, the current European Champion after his win in Riva del Garda, lead the race and were concentrated and determined. After rounding the second upwind mark still in the lead they headed straight for the finish in first place. With this win the American Diaz is currently in second place behind the Pole Mateusz Kusznierewicz who was in the top ten all throughout the day. With his second place in today's race along with his crew, the several time Olympic medalist Bruno Prada, is currently in the lead. Third place in today's race for Haico de Boer and Pedro Trouche who rolled the YCCS member Ante Razmilovic and his crew Brian Hammersley, who were in the lead today for a good part of the race. Currently in third place overall are the Swedes Tom Lofstedt with Anders Ekstrom, who finished seventh yesterday and sixth today.

Mateusz Kusznierewicz, the skipper who is in the lead of the provisional results, had these words: "It's too soon to talk about winning, there are still four races to go and the conditions could be shifty, but we're happy to be at the top for now. Our lead is narrow so anything could happen, Star World Championships are always special events. I like sailing with Bruno and even though this is our first event sailing together we're doing well. It doesn't hurt that we're in such a beautiful spot with such great conditions and with such a hospitable Club as hosts."

Today's winner Augie Diaz, commented on his day's win: "I'm happy to have won this race for two reasons: the first is 'Maguila' (crew Henry Boening) this is his first win in a Star World Championship, and the second is for Bruno Prada finishing second after a great race, who is usually my crew and whom I consider like a son. Here he's sailing with Mateusz Kusznierewicz and for now they're leading the Championship."

Tomorrow, June 19th will see the third race with the first Warning Signal scheduled for 12 noon. The forecast calls for light westerly breeze at 5-7 knots.

Overall results are downloadable below