Doyle and Infelise win Walker Cup

Miami, FL (February 19, 2021) – Beautiful conditions continued for day two of the Star Midwinters and Walker Cup. After dominating on day one, Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise continued their streak, posting two bullets for the day, while Augie Diaz and Arnis Baltins maintained their position behind the leaders with two second place finishes. Peter Vessella and Phil Trinter, who were tied in the standings with Paul Cayard and Luke Lawrence yesterday, sailed a more consistent day to move themselves into third overall.

The breeze was up for day two, ranging from 10 to 15 knots and shifted a little more to the south. Gray clouds with light rain crossed the course periodically throughout the morning, dictating where boats went on the course.

Race four saw a massive split on the first upwind with boats at both ends of the 1.2 mile beat. Diaz and Baltins boldly split from the other regatta leaders and played the left side of the course, managing to arrive at the windward mark just behind Doyle and Infelise who were the furthest right on the course.

The first downwind offered little in the way of tactics, making speed was the name of the game. For the top teams, all going similar speeds, positions and distance changed little. On the second beat, however, the fleet mixed it up a bit with the leaders going opposite ways at the leeward gate.

At the end of the race, positions stayed the same with Doyle and Infelise taking the win, Diaz and Baltins in second, and Vessella and Trinter in third. Cayard and Lawrence, who were playing catch-up after a tough first beat, sailed a great second upwind and downwind to move themselves into the top group, finishing close to the leaders in fourth.

The breeze continued to build for the second race of the day. Cayard and Lawrence were called over early and restarted. They sailed a stellar first beat on the left-hand side to put themselves in second place at the first mark, just behind Doyle and Infelise.

The building breeze made for some nice action downwind. The angle of the waves made submarining easy and crews were more cautious with their weight forward compared to previous runs. The front pack remained tight for the downwind.

The second upwind brought a few more shifts than the previous beats. Diaz and Baltins, who usually favor the left side of the course, found their way to the right in the final quarter of the upwind and took over the lead at the second windward mark. It was a battle between Diaz, Doyle, Vessella, and Cayard in the final downwind.

The teams all displayed impressive work between the skippers and the crews, but Doyle’s aggressive pumping at the end of the leg paid off as he passed Diaz to take another bullet for the day, making the them winners of the two-day Walker Cup Series.

Walker Cup Series – Final Results (5 races)
1. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise , USA – 2 -1 -1 -1 -1 ; 6
2. Augie Diaz / Arni Baltins , USA – 1 -9 -3 -2 -2 ; 17
3. Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter , USA – 8 -2 -4 -3 -3 ; 20
4. Paul Cayard / Luke Lawrence , USA – 9 -3 -2 -4 -4 ; 22
5. John MacCausland / Guy Avellon , USA – 5 -5 -6 -5 -5 ; 26
6. Ante Razmilovic / Philip Carlsson , GBR – 4 -4 -8 -7 -7 ; 30
7. Jim Buckingham / Phil Toth , USA – 3 -8 -5 -8 -10 ; 34
8. Shane Zwingelberg , USA – 7 -11 -7 -6 -6 ; 37
9. Alberto Zanetti / Javier Bok , ARG – 6 -7 -9 -11 -8 ; 41
10. Tom Londrigan / TC Belco , USA – 10 -6 -12 -10 -13 ; 51
11. Joshua Powell / Mark Strube , USA – 13 -12 -11 -9 -11 ; 56
12. Mike Hecky / Michael Brundage , USA – 15 -10 -15 -15 -9 ; 64
13. Nick Madigan / Aaron Smith , USA – 16 -13 -14 -12 -12 ; 67
14. Darren Mason / Paul Loubet , USA – 12 -15 -10 -14 -19/DNS ; 70
15. Robert Lippincott / Matthew Rajacich , USA – 11 -16 -13 -16 -15 ; 71
16. Fabiano Vivacqua / Dave Martin , USA – 17 -14 -16 -17 -14 ; 78
17. Larry Whipple / Brian Fatih , USA – 14 -19/DNC -19/DNC -13 -19/DNS ; 84
18. Fabio Prada / ?, BRA – 19/DNC -19/DNC -19/DNC -19/DNC -19/DNC ; 95

Racing was scheduled February 18-19 for the Walker Cup and continues to February 21 for the Midwinters.

Race information – Results – Star Winter Series

The Star Winter Series schedule is made up of four winter weekend regattas and a 4-day Midwinter Championship, all sailed in Miami, FL.

2020-21 Schedule
SWS Event 1 – Schoonmaker Cup – November 14-15, 2020
SWS Event 2 – Commodore’s Cup – December 5-6, 2020
SWS Event 3 – Levin Memorial Cup – January 9-10, 2021
SWS Event 4 – Walker Cup – February 18-19, 2021
SWS Event 5 – Star Midwinters – February 18-21, 2021

Scoring: Only the best three Winter Series weekend regattas will count toward the SWS Championship. The Star Winter Series Champion will be the skipper with the lowest total score to be calculated as follows: The sum of the overall place in the Star Midwinters multiplied by 2, plus the lowest three scores from the four SWS weekend regattas. Series Championship ties will be decided by the finish position in Midwinters.

Source: Kathleen Tocke