Sole Irish duo Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne lead the Star Class into the final Bacardi Cup race in Miami today.
Another strong performance from the 2008 Irish Olympic duo sees them two points clear of Polish defenders Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada on 14 pts.
Another massive day of energy and perfect sailing on a sunny Biscayne Bay for teams racing at the 96th Bacardi Cup. The usual shifty breeze was around 10-12 knots from the southeast, with plenty of race track nuances.
A game-changer of a day for some and still a mountain to climb for others as Saturday, March 11, marks the final fight for the podium.
The all-important discard came into play in race 5 for the seventy-three boat Star fleet, and what a shake-up with O’Leary/Milne now topping the leaderboard. The tightness of racing indicates nothing is out of reach, and it is going to be a battle of titans in Saturday’s concluding race.
Another long day on the water for the Stars, with two races proving a match for everyone. It was all about consistent performances, and the Cork-Belfast partnership had plenty of that. They combined team wisdom and playing off the cuff to deliver a phenomenal all-round performance, scoring 1,4 to move into the overall lead. Whilst Royal Cork Yacht Club's O’Leary has competed at the Bacardi Cup in recent years, as a team the last time they raced in Miami together was thirteen years ago.
“We just tried to keep it simple and get out of the start, not be dictated to by other boats in the first few minutes,” commented O’Leary. “Steve hiking hard out of the start and head out of the boat downwind, especially in lanes of pressure. It was hard today, trying to keep some decent fellas behind you! We will try and do it all again tomorrow.”
Defending champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada secured a 2, followed by a 21 in the day’s second race, which is discarded to position them 2 points behind the Irish. A helter-skelter of results too for Eivind Melleby/Mark Strube, whose 16,1 scored card places them in third.
Yesterday’s race winners, Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise now have their BFD discarded and advance up to 5th overall.
With just 17 points separating them, theoretically the chase for top spot remains in the hands of any of the top eight teams who could still claim the 96th Bacardi Cup. That’s seven out of the nineteen nations represented in the Star fleet here in Miami in the running. The opportunity extends further to the top nine who could claim 2nd or 3rd.
Double Olympian O’Leary has come super close to the Bacardi Cup trophies before, finishing in second place three times. Looking ahead to their game plan for the final race, he continued, “Just stay out of trouble, be clean, you know there’s lots of good guys here. It would be nice to try and finally get it across the line.”
Star Provisional Results – Top 5 after Race 5
1. Peter O'Leary/Stephen Milne (IRL) - 12 pts
2. Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada (POL) - 14 pts
3. Eivind Melleby/Mark Strube (NOR) - 15 pts
4. Piet Eckert/Frederico Melo (SUI) - 20 pts
5. Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise (USA) - 22 pts
Results here and Afloat's coverage of the 2023 Bacardi Cup here
