Brazilians Lead at Star Westerns

Miami, FL (April 13, 2018) – The competitors in the 2018 International Star Class Western Hemisphere Championship had another great day of sailing on Biscayne Bay for races 3 and 4. Partially cloudy with winds ranging from 10 to 12 knots from east, a little lighter than yesterday and more challenging because of shiftier condition.

Race 3 started a few minutes after 11am with a couple of boats over the line with a wind direction of 105° for a 1.5 mile long upwind beat. The first to the weather mark were John Dane III / Tim Ray (USA) who were also leading at the gate, but then Luca Modena (ITA) / Marcello Sansone (BRA) overtook them on the second beat and were able to maintain the whole fleet but one boat behind them until the end.

That boat was the one skippered by Paul Cayard (USA) with crew Arthur Lopes (BRA) who got in the race nicely on the last two legs to get the win. The third team to cross the finish line was Lars Grael / Samuel F M Gonçalves (BRA), last night overall leaders remain in the top spot today after 3 races.

After a bit of adjustment of the racecourse with the wind shifting a little to the left to 90° and then back to the right at 110°, race number 4 started. Good pace was shown by the Danish sailors Jørgen Schönherr / Jan Eli Gravad on the upwind leg, arriving first at the mark rounding followed by Cayard / Lopes and Grael / Goncalves.

From then on it was all about Lars staying in the lead until the end and Cayard losing a couple of spots to the Danish and American Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter, only to regain them back on the last downwind leg to the finish just behind former ISCYRA President Grael and ahead of the Danes Schönherr / Gravad.

In the overall ranking, before the discard, Lars Grael and Samuel Goncalves are leading with a 8 points margin over the second Paul Cayard and Arthur ‘Tutu’ Lopes and 12 points over the third place Jorge Zarif and Guilherme De Almeida (BRA) who were a little less consistent than yesterday with a 5, 10 in today’s races.

Tomorrow’s first start is scheduled for 1100, with a forecasted southeast breeze around 11-15 knots. Sunday still looks tricky with winds ranging from 18 to 23 knots from south.

Results, Top 10, 4 Races
1. Renata, BRA8474, Lars Grael / Samuel Goncalves – 1 -2 -3 -1 ; 7
2. USA 8466, USA8466, Paul Cayard / Arthur Lopes – 9 -3 -1 -2 ; 15
3. Tati Quebra Barraco, BRA8210, Jorge Zarif / Guilherme De almeida – 3 -1 -5 -10 ; 19
4. USA 8459, USA8522, Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter – 7 -4 -6 -6 ; 23
5. Danilu, USA8509, Augie Diaz / Bruno Prada – 5 -13 -10 -4 ; 32
6. Rachel, USA8520, Andy Macdonald / Brad Nichol – 8 -9 -8 -19 ; 44
7. Back from the Dead, USA8230, John Dane III / Tim Ray – 12 -12 -11 -9 ; 44
8. USA 8502, USA8502, Mike Hecky / Guy Avellon – 14 -10 -19 -5 ; 48
9. USA 8000, USA8000, Aruthur Anosov / David Caesar – 18 -5 -14 -11 ; 48
10. Remarc, CAN8445, Brian Cramer / Cam Lymburner – 6 -16 -7 -22 ; 51

Two races are scheduled for each day, April 12 – 15.

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Source: ISCYRA Communication