O’Leary Sixth As Cayard Ends 45-Year Star Bacardi Quest

9th March 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Cup Glory — Paul Cayard and Frithjof Kleen celebrate after winning the 99th Bacardi Cup in Miami, sealing victory after a dramatic final-race duel with Robert Scheidt on Biscayne Bay

Ireland’s Peter O’Leary finished sixth overall at the 99th Star Bacardi Cup on Biscayne Bay in Miami.

Sailing Dafne (IRL 8465) with Joost Houweling, the Cork Olympian delivered a strong final race to secure a top-six finish in the 77-boat Star class fleet.

Their final scoreline included a second place in the concluding race, lifting the Irish crew to sixth overall in the prestigious regatta.

At the front of the fleet, Paul Cayard and Frithjof Kleen secured victory after a dramatic final-race showdown with Robert Scheidt and Austin Sperry.

The American-German pairing finished the series on 11 points to claim the historic Bacardi Cup title, just one point ahead of the Brazilian-American crew.

Cayard had opened the regatta with three consecutive race wins before defending his narrow lead in the final race through aggressive match-race tactics against Scheidt.

“I’ve been chasing the Bacardi Cup for 45 years,” Cayard said. “I’ve gotten second many times. It was the one thing I hadn’t won in the Star class.”

The two rivals engaged well before the start of the final race, match racing for several minutes during the pre-start sequence.

Both boats crossed the line late and deep in the fleet, effectively taking themselves out of the race as Cayard concentrated on containing his rival.

At the first windward mark Cayard rounded 26th with Scheidt in 30th, positions that were enough to maintain control of the overall standings.

Scheidt eventually escaped the engagement and charged through the fleet, climbing to tenth place in a remarkable comeback.

But it was not enough to overturn Cayard’s advantage.

“This means a lot to me,” Cayard said. “I’ve been frustrated for so many years. A two hundred-pound gorilla fell off my back.”

The podium was completed by Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada (POL/BRA), who secured third place overall ahead of Italy’s Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi.

Irish Fleet Round-Up

Also representing Ireland, Robert O’Leary and Fionn Lyden sailing Swifty (IRL 8118) finished 24th overall.

Another Irish connection in the fleet saw four time Olympian David Burrows of Howth and Malahide, crewing for American veteran Augie Diaz. The pair finished 19th overall.

Anthony O’Leary and Steyn Van Driesessel aboard Antix (IRL 8379) placed 57th overall.

Racing in the Melges 24 fleet, Cork's Sam Hunt, Alex Barry and Bernard Fitzpatrick were 16th with Stuart Simpson.

Centennial Edition Next

The 2026 regatta also hosted the Bacardi Invitational Regatta fleets, bringing 177 boats from 23 nations to Biscayne Bay across the Star, J/70, Melges 24, Snipe and VX One classes.

Next year’s event will mark a major milestone with the 100th Bacardi Cup scheduled for Miami in 2027.

Race Results

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The Star keelboat is a 6.9 metres (23 ft) one-design racing keelboat for two people designed by Francis Sweisguth in 1910.

The Star was an Olympic keelboat class from 1932 through to 2012, the last year keelboats appeared at the Summer Olympics at which Ireland's representatives were Peter O'Leary and David Burrows.

Ireland has performed well in the class internationally thanks to some Olympic campaigns including a bronze medal at the Star World Championships in 2000, won by Mark Mansfield and David O'Brien.

The boat is sloop-rigged, with a mainsail larger in proportional size than any other boat of its length. Unlike most modern racing boats, it does not use a spinnaker when sailing downwind. Instead, when running downwind a whisker pole is used to hold the jib out to windward for correct wind flow.

Early Stars were built from wood, but modern boats are of fibreglass and carbon construction.

The boat must weigh at least 671 kg (1,479 lb) with a maximum total sail area of 26.5 m2 (285 sq ft).

The Star class pioneered an unusual circular boom vang track, which allows the vang to effectively hold the boom down even when the boom is turned far outboard on a downwind run.

Another notable aspect of Star sailing is the extreme hiking position adopted by the crew and at times the helmsman, who normally use a harness to help hang low off the windward side of the boat with only their lower legs inside.