Bacardi Cup: Cayard ends 45-year pursuit

After 45 years of chasing one of sailing’s most storied trophies, Paul Cayard (USA) finally won the Star Class Bacardi Cup in Miami, FL. The 2026 event on March 2-7 was the 99th edition, and Cayard and his crew Frithjof Kleen put the cherry on top of their legendary year: after winning the 2025 Star World Championship, Cayard now claims the coveted title.

“A dogfight for the ages” — The trophy was hard-earned. Robert Scheidt and Austin Sperry, just three points behind Cayard and Kleen, forced a final race showdown that history won’t soon forget. “When I’m dead, they’ll still be playing that one,” said Cayard.

After five days of racing, the mathematics were simple: only Cayard or Scheidt could win. Cayard entered the race with a three-point lead and a plan. Scheidt needed to win the race or finish second, while Cayard could sail his throwout.

“When you get a situation like that, you have the opportunity to try to make it not a race,” Cayard explained. “We got on Robert and just made his life basically miserable.”

Ten minutes before the start, Cayard engaged. The two teams match raced for five minutes before the starting sequence even began. The aggressive pre-start engagement pushed both boats deep behind the fleet as the gun fired.

“Robert and Austin had some difficulties in the boat handling, and we both crossed the starting line way behind the fleet, 100 meters late,” Cayard said. “So I would say 90 percent of my job was done right there.”

Both boats had deep starts well behind the fleet. Cayard went right while the rest of the fleet went left, keeping close tabs on his rival as the two legends fought their own battle on the first beat. At the windward mark, Cayard rounded in 26th place and Scheidt in 30th. For Cayard, that was exactly where he needed to be.

Scheidt fought hard to escape his captor and eventually managed to shake loose, charging through the fleet in a remarkable comeback. Despite Cayard’s efforts to control him, Scheidt passed boat after boat and climbed toward the top of the leaderboard.

On the final lap, Cayard and Kleen began to visibly relax. Their fate was now in Scheidt’s hands. Could he pass the entire fleet and finish in the top two? Scheidt did everything he could. His heroics carried him past dozens of boats to finish 10th overall, but it was not enough.

“This means a lot to me,” Cayard said. “I’ve been frustrated for so many years. Bacardi’s Eddie Cutillas keeps telling me, ‘Next year is gonna be your year.’ The pressure builds and builds. I’m grateful that we got the job done. A two hundred pound gorilla fell off my back.”

Kleen added, “What makes a dominant team is chemistry. When we sail our best, we’re pretty hard to beat.”

For both sailors, the victory carries weight far beyond one single regatta. “The Star class is the most important one-design class in the world,” Kleen said. “It’s the boat, it’s the community, it’s the camaraderie, it’s the tradition.”

The podium was completed by six-time consecutive champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada who defeated Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi in a who-beats-who final race to earn the bronze medal.

Final Results (Top 5 of 75)
1. Paul Cayard/Frithjof Kleen (USA) – 11 points
2. Robert Scheidt/Austin Sperry (BRA) – 12 points
3. Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada (POL) – 16 points
4. Diego Negri/Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA) – 23 points
5. Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise (USA) – 30 points

Across five fleets, 177 boats from 23 countries participated on Biscayne Bay. While the Stars had one race a day on March 2-7, the J/70, Melges 24, Snipe, and VX One classes joined in March 5-7. Consistent easterly breeze in the mid-teens, warm sunshine, and steady seas created what many competitors described as near-perfect racing.

“It was the best conditions of any regatta I’ve ever sailed,” said VX One winner Chris Alexander, whose team won eight of 11 races during the regatta. He’s now a five-time champion at this event. “Three days solidly out of the east, 15 to 18 knots the entire time. Just absolutely perfect conditions.”

In the Melges 24 class, Cuyler Morris and the Dark Horse team held their nerve in a deep international field stacked with world-class sailors. “You can’t ever let your guard down,” Morris said. “If you look at the list of sailors on these boats, it’s incredible. We’ve been sailing together for about a year now, and that consistency really helped us this week.”

The J/70 fleet came down to the wire with John Heaton’s team on Empeiria delivering a steady performance. “We just tried to be consistent and precise, not take too many risks, and sail the boat well,” Heaton said. “Plus, we made sure to have fun. Miami is a great place to sail, and the competition here is really strong.”

In the Snipe class, local Ernesto Rodriguez secured another Bacardi Invitational title alongside crew Marina Cano. “The conditions were perfect,” he said. “This is Miami at its best. The racing was tight and it came down to the last race, but my crew stayed optimistic the whole time. That is one tough chick.”

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Source: Hannah Lee Noll