Brian Ledbetter and Josh Revkin win Star Western Hemispheres

Miami, FL (April 19, 2015) – Thirty-eight teams from seven countries competed in the 2015 International Star Class Western Hemisphere Regatta on April 16-19. PRO Dave Brennan and his Biscayne Bay Yacht Club race committee ran a total of seven races on Biscayne Bay in winds mostly from 6 to 13 knots

The final race of the series today saw the best conditions of the regatta with a nice breeze of 11-13 knots. Although the outcome for first place was already decided on Saturday when Brian Ledbetter and Josh Revkin won race six, there were several boats within striking distance of the podium.

First to the top mark were Ledbetter and Revkin with Lars Schmidt Grael and Samuel Goncalves a couple of boat lengths behind. Just before the mark, Peter Vessella and Phil Trinter, coming in from the left side managed to tack in front of Grael to round second. Fourth and fifth to round were Alessandro Pascolato and Augie Diaz, respectively.

That order pretty much held for the downwind with Pascolato easing up into third at the gate. At the next weather mark rounding, Ledbetter was still leading with Vessella and Grael close behind. By the finish, Grael squeaked past Ledbetter to win the race. Augie Diaz sailed a great downwind to finish third.

“Brian sailed a great regatta,” acknowledged Grael. “He was very consistent, starting at the signal boat and then going right. We saw that as a gamble, but it clearly paid for him on the last three days.”

And, finally, Brian Ledbetter gave a shout out to Lars Grael, “Thanks Lars, for pushing us so hard all week.”

Final Standings (Top 10 of 38; 7 races, 1 discard)
1. Akimbo, Star, Brian Ledbetter / Joshua Revkin , USA, [14] -7 -1 -2 -2 -1 -2 ; 15
2. Renata, Star, Lars Schmidt Grael / Samuel Goncalves , BRA, 5 -3 -[10] -3 -10 -5 -1 ; 27
3. Marrakesh, Star, Paul Cayard / Brian Terhaar , USA, [23] -1 -21 -1 -1 -6 -12 ; 42
4. USA 8465, Star, Augie Diaz / Arnis Baltins , USA, 12 -11 -5 -10 -[14] -2 -3 ; 43
5. Stella, Star, John MacCausland / Bruno Prada , USA, 1 -5 -[39] -4 -7 -9 -18 ; 44
6. Quantum, Star, Mark Reynolds / Mark Strube , USA, 6 -9 -12 -[15] -8 -14 -6 ; 55
7. Baraka Blue, Star, Larry Whipple / Austin B. Sperry , USA, 2 -12 -8 -13 -11 -10 -[39] ; 56
8. USA 8440, Star, Jim Buckingham / Craig Moss , USA, 10 -[17] -6 -8 -13 -11 -8 ; 56
9. ARG 8502, Star, Torkel Borgstrom / Juan Pablo Engelhard , ARG, 9 -6 -11 -9 -19 -[21] -4 ; 58
10. Park Bench, Star, Tomas Hornos / Kipp Gardner , USA, 8 -4 -[27] -14 -4 -26 -10 ; 66

Event website – Complete results.

Report by John Payne.