Star Westerns Kick Off in Miami

Miami, FL (April 11, 2018) – The 2018 International Star Class Western Hemisphere Championship, organized by Biscayne Bay Yacht Club in conjunction with the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association (ISCYRA), will be held April 12-15, 2018. Two races are scheduled each day during the Western Hemisphere championship regatta, which is one of the big five Silver Star events on the ISCYRA calendar.

It will be the second big event for the Stars held in Miami’s Biscayne Bay within a little more than a month’s time. During the first week of March on these waters Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi won the 91st edition of the Bacardi Cup.

Diego and Sergio won’t be here, but the winners of the 2017 Star Western Hemisphere will. Arthur Asonov with David Caesar (USA) won the event last year in Cleveland, Ohio, on Lake Erie, with a four points lead over John MacCausland and crew Roger Cheer (USA). Both teams will be sailing this week trying to repeat last year’s success, alongside some of the best Star sailors.

Paul Cayard (USA) will be on the start line with Arthur ‘Tutu’ Lopes (BRA), local Augie Diaz (USA) will also participate with crew Bruno Prada (BRA), so will former ISCYRA President Lars Grael with his loyal crew Samuel Goncalves (BRA) and Star Sailors League (SSL) Finals champion Frithjof Kleen (GER) will sail with the American skipper Jack Jennings.

Brazil has a long-standing tradition of Star Sailing, and is well represented at the 2018 Western’s. Among them is Finn sailor Jorge Zarif, who has just arrived from Trofeo Princesa Sofia in Palma de Mallorca where he finished fifth. Jorge is not new to Star class, he raced on a Star for the first time in Nassau, Bahamas, at the SSL Finals in 2014, with experienced crew Henry ‘Maguila’ Boening where they finished 4th. He will race with Guilherme De Almeida this year and great things are expected from the youngest sailor of the fleet.

The weather this week looks very ‘Biscayne Bay’, with westerly breeze between 10 and 18 knots, it might change towards the weekend, with a southerly breeze of over 20 knots.

Racing will be held April 12 – 15.

Event Website – Entry List – Facebook

Source: ISCYRA Communication