More of the same at Bacardi Cup

Miami, FL (March 8, 2022) – While two races is an insufficient sample size to claim a pecking order but the top four Star teams are holding form at the 95th anniversary of the Bacardi Cup. Once again it was 2-time winners Mateusz Kusznierewiz (POL) and Bruno Prada (BRA) that won today’s race, with Eric Doyle/ Payson Infelise (USA) and Peter O’Leary/ Robert O’Leary (IRL) now tied and three points off the lead. Diego Negri/ Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA), winners in 2018, are in fourth after posting a pair of fours.

Race 2 got underway on attempt number two, after a bunch of ambitious teams in the middle of the line forced the Race Committee to a general recall. A perfect day delivered as good as Star Class racing gets, with a consistent south-easterly breeze of around 12-15 knots, waves serving up full hiking upwind legs and super surfing conditions downwind for the 110 minutes, 9 nautical mile race.

Kusznierewicz/ Prada know the nuances of Biscayne Bay well, opting for the left side upwind, before making a faultless tactical decision to move to the right side and find the increasing pressure for the final part of the first upwind. The leaders were chased hard by Augie Diaz/ Christian Nehammer (USA), O’Leary brothers (IRL), Doyle/ Infelise (USA) and Jack Jennings/ Pedro Trouche (USA), who had all made a break ahead of the fleet.

The teams who played the left side of the track got crushed and a significant number overstood the port tack layline, leading to a crazy and close mark rounding.

Downwind the easing breeze consolidated the fleet, picking up as teams rounded the gate to again favor the strong and experienced who flew back upwind. As before, a significant gap unfolded between the top seven boats and the rest of the fleet. Heading upwind, Kusznierewicz/ Prada extended their lead, with Diaz/ Nehammer, the O’Leary brothers and Diego Negri/ Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) battling it out for second place.

On the final downwind the O’Learys made a key move, pressing Kusznierewicz/ Prada every step of the way, as Peter explained, “Robert decided we would go round the other gate, at the bottom left looking down, and he was spot on. We gained a nice bit of space and were able to get close to the leader.”

Onto the final upwind, the brothers got forced a bit past the layline, giving Doyle/ Infelise the advantage to move into second by a couple of meters, the Irish in third and Italians fourth.

“It was proper racing,” continued Peter. “It is as close to an Olympic standard as you are going to get. There was very little between the boats.”

Doyle/ Infelise were pleased with their score, having chipped their way through the fleet to get back on form and pop the result after an uninspiring start.

“It was beautiful tough sailing, it’s a super competitive fleet,” said Infelise. “The key was to sail by yourself, get going fast, hit the shifts when you can and just keep the boat moving as quickly as you could.

“Everywhere you look you are turning around and looking at a World Champion or a silver Star, so super competitive. I think it is the most competitive we have had in a few years here. It is really nice to have all the Europeans and everyone back here.”

Another 4th place finish from Italy’s Negri/Lambertenghi positions them 3 points behind the Americans and Irish.

“More or less the performance was even worse than yesterday,” commented Lambertenghi as we caught up with him relaxing post-race in the pool.

“We were a little bit slower I think, because it was lighter than yesterday, and we were not so brilliant as we felt yesterday. But anyway, we had a good race, a couple of mistakes on manoeuvre on my side and a couple of small mistakes on the tactics. We had fun and we had the same result as yesterday and we are quite satisfied – not 100%, but good!”

The Stars race on March 7-12 and will be joined March 10-12 with the J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640, VX One, and 69F classes.

Series information – Race details – Results

Day Two Results (Top 10 of 57)
1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Bruno Prada , POL – 1 -1 ; 2
2. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise , USA – 3 -2 ; 5
3. Peter O’Leary / Robert O’Leary , IRL – 2 -3 ; 5
4. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi , ITA- 4 -4 ; 8
5. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin , NOR – 6 -7 ; 13
6. Paul Cayard / Frithjof Kleen , USA – 10 -6 ; 16
7. Augie Diaz / Christian Nehammer , USA – 12 -5 ; 17
8. Erik Lidecis / Greg Smith , USA – 7 -15 ; 22
9. , Jack Jennings / Pedro Trouche , USA – 13 -9 ; 22
10. Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter , USA – 8 -18 ; 26

The 2021-22 Bacardi Invitational Winter Series is held for J/70 and the Melges 24 fleets on December 18-19 and January 28-30 (along with Persico 69F) with the finale on March 10-12. Also racing in March are the VX One, Viper 640, and Persico 69F classes. Additionally, the Star Class will headline the historic Bacardi Cup, one of the world’s oldest sailing events, which celebrates its 95th anniversary on March 7-12, 2022. – Details

Source: Bacardi