Bacardi party now in full swing

Miami, FL (March 5, 2015) – The 6th BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG Bank began today with the addition of the J/70, M32, Viper 640 and VX One classes, while the Stars are racing their 4th day in the 88th BACARDI Cup.

Today was another great day of sailing with a few passing clouds with winds out of the SE around 15 knots. Mark Pincus, Regatta Chairman, described today as “a chamber of commerce day; absolutely beautiful. It was every racing sailor’s dream day. The weather was perfect, the wind was great, and the race committees did a great job.”

Lars Grael and Samuel Gonçlaves win race 4 in the 56-boat Star fleet, followed in 2nd by Alessandro Pascolato and Henry Boening and in 3rd Jorge Joao Zarifand Bruno Prada. Overall we have Jorge Joao Zarif leading by one point over Lars Grael and by 9 points over Mark Reynolds.

In attempt to hold on to his lead for the next two races, Jorge Joao Zarif plans to “try to stay consistent and start well. I think our speed on the upwind is fine so if we have a good start and then see where the guys we are fighting against are, Lars, Mark, Torben, Augie, and try to stay close to them.”

The seven M32s completed 5 races on the 1st day of the 6th BMSW. Leading by 1 point is Taylor Canfield on US One, followed by Rasmus Kostner on Trifork in 2nd and then Ron O’Hanley on Escape Velocity. Taylor Canfield commented on today’s sailing saying, “there was great breeze on the water today. Our team worked very well together and we were able to put together 5 good races.”

After 3 races on the J/70 course, Julian Fernandez Neckelmann on Flojito Y Cooperando are leading the 46-boat fleet with a 3rd and two 1sts . In second we have Carlo Alberini on Calvi Network and then Brian Keane on Savasana in third.

Julian Fernandez Neckelmann, today’s leader, said, “we decided to have a conservative start without taking too many risks on this first day of racing. We focused on sailing fast and avoiding any trouble. The greatest challenge is the big fleet and we really wanted to stay away from a deep finish because in such a competitive regatta it is easy to drop back. I think our biggest competitors are Brian Keane on Savasana, Carlo Alberini on Calvi Network and Mauricio Santa Cruz Bruschetta. Moving forward we will keep the same strategy and hopefully it will pay off.”

The second place J/70 finisher, Carlo Alberini commented on their sailing today: “We are very happy with today’s result and it was our first day with new sails and a new mast. We will have small adjustments for tomorrow in order to be competitive in this stacked fleet.”

Completing 4 races, the leader after day 1 of the 32 Viper 640s is Lawrence Crispin on Bubbles, followed by Geoffrey Ewenson on Terminally Pretty and Brad Boston on Jackpot. Bubbles skipper Lawrence said, “Today we had very tight competition with Brad Boston on Jackpot. Our strategy was simple, we kept it clean, we didn’t push the starts tired to have good boat handling and we all were very focused. We held back a little but we always had clean air, which we think was the real advantage for today. We will try to have the same strategy tomorrow and depending on where we end up, we may have to be a little more aggressive on Saturday.”

The 22 VX Ones also completed 4 races today with Phillip Norris on Flash Rider finishing on top. In 2nd and 3rd we have William Griffin on Kill Bill and Donovan Brennan on Team Smuggler, respectively. Phillip recalled his most memorable moment from today: “I had my girlfriend out on the boat and during our first jib she fell overboard. We were able to go back and pick her up, still finishing well (7th).” Phillip continued to say that “racing today was great, there was good wind and I have no complaints. It was very good sailing.”

Report by event media. Photos by Cory Silken.

Background: The 88th Bacardi Cup for the Star Class is March 2-7, while racing for the 6th BACARDI Miami Sailing Week is March 5-7 for the J/70, Viper 640, VX One and M32 classes. On the water activities are coordinated by Coral Reef Yacht Club in collaboration with the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and with the help of the U.S. Sailing Center and Shake-A-Leg Miami.