Champions Crowned in Miami
by Jan Harley
For the 472 sailors from 25 countries, conditions on Biscayne Bay were ideal as temperatures in the low 70s and sunny weather combined with shifty breeze to challenge them on the final day of racing at BACARDI Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank where champions were decided in five one-design classes.
In the Star class, racing for the 84th BACARDI Cup over six days, today’s sixth and final race opened with the top-two teams separated by just one point. 2008 Olympian Peter O’Leary and David Burrows (Ireland) were leading the 89-boat fleet followed by Guillaume Florent and Pascal Rambeau (France), and, just five points back, Frederik Lööf with Max Salmiren (Sweden) and Eivind Melleby with Petter Morland Pedersen (Norway) were third and fourth, respectively, but tied on points.
With a 12 knot breeze at the start of the race, the Stars were off on a course covering 11 nautical miles. When all was said and done, 2007 BACARDI Cup winner Hamish Pepper and crew Craig Monk (both New Zealand) were the race winners, followed across the line by Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (Norway) who had led the series early in the week before picking up penalty points in race four. The French team was fourth across the line, and with O’Leary and Burrows crossing sixth, the BACARDI Cup went to Florent and Rambeau with 23 points – edging out the Irish by just one point.
"Up to the last day, the Irish, and even the Swedish could have won the BACARDI Cup,” said Florent who hails from Gravelines, a town in the north of France. “The conditions were super tricky, lots of wind shifts, lots of pressure differences. It made it very challenging to sail out there, especially when you're trying to win the championship. When you finish high in the standings day after day, realizing what is at stake, mentally it is very tough. You have to do your best continuing to stay consistent."
"It was a nail biting race,” Florent continued. “It could have gone either way with the Irish. We were ahead at the top mark, and then they caught up. We managed to pass them again on the second downwind. The key to the race was the last 500 meters before the finish. We spotted good pressure on the left and decided to go there. It was probably that decision that led us to winning the BACARDI Cup."
A 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist in the Finn class, Florent is marking not only his first year in the Star, but also his first BACARDI Cup. “The Star is very interesting because you're sailing with a crew and it's a highly technical boat, so it's extremely challenging. Even before I was thinking about sailing the Star, I've heard about the BACARDI Cup for a long time. The BACARDI Cup is a very prestigious event and I'm absolutely delighted to win. Especially it being my first time participating. On the first day, before the race started, I joked with my coach about winning the BACARDI Cup saying that I spent so much money with BACARDI back when I was student that I would like to get something back from them! We had a good laugh about that of course, and with the BACARDI Cup win I couldn't be happier."
Crew Pascal Rambeau, from La Rochelle, won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in the Star and has competed in the BACARDI Cup before, with his previous best finish a fourth. When Florent was recovering from an Achilles tendon injury a year ago, he reached out to Rambeau, and the rest, as they say, is history.
"Miami is always challenging,” said Rambeau explaining that tonight the duo were going to enjoy the BACARDI Cup before starting to train for the French Olympic Trials in April. “For us, it was good preparation with all the teamwork on board. It was very important for us to be here. Today was a tough day. The wind was very flaky. It was very stressful because there were big shifts and big pressure coming from Key Biscayne. We were very successful on the first upwind and then the race was mano a mano, head to head. It was never more than 20 meters with no more than a couple boat lengths separating us at any time. We were really close with the Irish this morning, chasing them. Until the last 100 meters, anything could have happened. When we crossed the line, it was definitely satisfying. It was our first win together, and this being Florent's first year in the Star and his first BACARDI Cup, this win is very special."
Rounding out the top five in the BACARDI Cup final standings: Melleby and Pedersen (NOR) are third with 26 points; Loof and Salmiren (SWE) are fourth with 29 points; and Pepper and Monk (NZL) are fifth with 30 points.
Results
1. 81 FRA 8270 8270 Star Guillaume Florent / Pascal Rambeau 3 10 1 5 15 4 [15] 23.0
2. 18 IRL 8418 8418 Star Peter O'Leary / David Burrows 7 2 5 8 4 6 [8] 24.0
3. 35 NOR 8317 8317 Star Eivind Melleby / Petter Morland Pedersen 1 8 4 94/BFD 11 2 [94] 26.0
4. 28 SWE 8428 8428 Star Fredrik Loof / Max Salmiren 28 1 2 1 20 5 [28] 29.0
5. 87 NZL 8187 8187 Star Hamish Pepper / Craig Monk 14 3 10 2 18 1 [18] 30.0
6. 17 POL 8417 8417 Star Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Dominik Zycki 6 6 15 11 13 3 [15] 39.0
7. 96 USA 8396 8396 Star Andy Horton / Jamie Lyne 8 17 8 3 6 15 [17] 40.0
8. 58 BER 8442 8442 Star Peter Bromby / Lee White 53 19 3 4 5 13 [53] 44.0
9. 19 POL 8412 8412 Star Maciej Grabowski / Lukasz Lesinski 9 5 13 25 12 19 [25] 58.0
10. 20 USA 8320 8320-M Star Mark Reynolds / Rick Peters 5 12 22 13 23 10 [23] 62.0
11. 67 USA 8267 8267 Star Mark Mendelblatt / Magnus Liljedahl 26 13 14 9 25 11 [26] 72.0
12. 22 USA 8422 8422 Star Rick Merriman / Austin Sperry 21 20 19 22 8 7 [22] 75.0
13. 45 GER 8140 8140 Star Alexander Schlonski / Matthias Bohn 18 94/DNS 7 6 1 48 [94] 80.0
14. 85 USA 8285 8285-M Star Augie Diaz / Bruno Prada 12 27 6 7 46 28 [46] 80.0
15. 77 USA 8177 8177 M Star Jud Smith / Edward Morey 24 29 12 16 9 23 [29] 84.0
16. 34 USA 8434 8434 Star George Szabo / Caleb Paine 4 36 20 23 14 33 [36] 94.0
17. 95 USA 8395 8395-M Star John MacCausland / Kevin Murphy 10 18 94/OCS 27 30 12 [94] 97.0
18. 76 USA 8067 8067 Star Tomas Hornos / Roman Gotsulyok 23 94/DNF 24 19 7 25 [94] 98.0
19. 33 GER 8433 8433 Star Johannes Babendererde / Timo Jacobs 37 35/RDG 9 94/BFD 2 17 [94] 100.0
20. 62 USA 8362 8362-M Star Peter Vessella / Rodney Hagebols 11 4 94/OCS 14 28 45 [94] 102.0
21. 14 GER 8414 8414 Star Johannes Polgar / Markus Koy 19 9 21 94/BFD 10 43 [94] 102.0
22. 23 USA 8408 8408 Star Andrew Campbell / Ian Coleman 2 26 94/DNS 20 26 30 [94] 104.0
23. 31 GER 8331 8331 Star Hubert Merkelbach / Gerrit Bartel 45 21 11 31 24 21 [45] 108.0
24. 0 USA 8000 8000 Star Arthur Anosov / Vitali Kushnir 25 30 26 15 17 41 [41] 113.0
25. 50 USA 8250 8250-GM Star Andrew Macdonald / Michael Nichol 16 24 25 35 34 18 [35] 117.0
26. 40 USA 8440 8440-GM Star Larry Whipple / Phil Trinter 17 11 23 34 33 94/DNF [94] 118.0
27. 8 AUS 8336 8336 Star Paul Mckenzie / Phil Toth 31 14 29 29 19 47 [47] 122.0
28. 10 USA 8410 8410 Star Jon VanderMolen / Geoff Ewenson 29 15 32 17 31 39 [39] 124.0
29. 90 CAN 8235 8235-GM Star Hans Fogh / Roger Cheer 20 16 40 33 58 22 [58] 131.0
30. 43 CAN 8143 8143-M Star Brian Cramer / Matt Johnston 32 22 31 26 22 32 [32] 133.0
31. 59 UKR 8247 8247 M Star Vasyl Gureyev / Volodymyr Korotkov 13 94/BFD 27 39 41 16 [94] 136.0
32. 38 SWE 8338 8338-M Star Mats Johansson / Leif Moller 41 25 94/OCS 10 36 27 [94] 139.0
33. 99 ITA 8399 8399 Star Francesco Bruni / Leone Rocca 22 94/BFD 17 18 94/DNF 9 [94] 160.0
34. 39 CRO 8339 8339 Star Marin Lovrovic / Sinisa Mikulicic 94/OCS 94/BFD 16 28 3 24 [94] 165.0
35. 51 SWE 8351 8351-M Star Tom Lofstedt / Hakan Luudgren 55 23 42 40 27 35 [55] 167.0
36. 9 POR 8309 8309 Star Afonso Domingos / Federico Melo 94/OCS 33 28 12 94/DNF 8 [94] 175.0
37. 93 SUI 8409 8409-M Star Christoph Gautschi / Benedikt Wenk 49 94/BFD 35 44 21 26 [94] 175.0
38. 37 AUT 8437 8437 Star Hans Spitzauer / Massimo Canali 30 94/BFD 18 21 94/DNF 14 [94] 177.0
39. 69 USA 8269 8269-M Star Jock Kohlhas / Rick Burgess 36 7 46 58 37 53 [58] 179.0
40. 48 SUI 7829 7829 Star Michel Niklaus / Serge Pulfer 54 60 44 32 29 20 [60] 179.0
41. 65 USA 8265 8265-M Star Peter Wright / Nathan Quist 51 32 30 30 40 94/DNF [94] 183.0
42. 86 USA 8077 8077 Star Jack Jennings / Marek Valasek 39 40 34 94/BFD 39 31 [94] 183.0
43. 3 AUS 8101 8101 GM Star Peter Bellingham / Nando Coloninno 33 28 94/OCS 24 35 67 [94] 187.0
44. 27 CAN 8427 8427 Star Stuart Hebb / Chris Lanza 35 58 33 59 38 29 [59] 193.0
45. 5 GBR 7601 7601-M Star Michael Hicks / Patrick Hicks 50 38 37 36 53 37 [53] 198.0
46. 73 ITA 8373 8373--M Star Guido Falciola / Federico Medolago 15 41 54 55 51 46 [55] 207.0
47. 26 CAN 7626 7626 Star Mark Passmore / Ivan Bunner 94/OCS 39 39 48 32 61 [94] 219.0
48. 4 USA 8401 8401 Star Terry Line / Larry Scott 38 42 52 50 94/DNF 40 [94] 222.0
49. 79 USA 8379 8379-GM Star Bill Allen / Brad Lichter 79 35 41 37 55 55 [79] 223.0
50. 75 SUI 8075 8075 Star Jean-Pascal Chatagny / Vincent Hagin 34 44 47 54 48 51 [54] 224.0
51. 83 USA 7677 7677-GM Star Chris Rogers / Mark Dolan 66 37 43 62 45 38 [66] 225.0
52. 82 ITA 8392 8392-M Star Renato Irrera / Manuele La Porta 40 94/BFD 50 38 44 60 [94] 232.0
53. 91 USA 8291 8291-M Star William Swigart / Chuck Beek 94/OCS 46 38 42 52 58 [94] 236.0
54. 41 USA 7741 7741 Star Benjamin Sternberg / Valentin Veytsman 44 49 53 61 47 44 [61] 237.0
55. 74 GER 7865 7865-GM Star Stefan Lehnert / Dietmar Hobbie 57 31 63 49 54 49 [63] 240.0
56. 54 SWE 8254 8254 Star Philip Carlson / Daniel Bylock 47 48 36 47 63 64 [64] 241.0
57. 63 USA 8063 8063-M Star Bert Collins / Jacob Doyle 52 45 94/DNF 53 60 34 [94] 244.0
58. 21 ITA 8421 8421 Star Vincenzo Locatelli / Giuseppe Oggioni 69 43 55 57 49 56 [69] 260.0
59. 11 GER 8311 8311-GM Star Axel Hampe / Christian Knoll 60 34 58 56 56 65 [65] 264.0
60. 49 SUI 8329 8329-GM Star Daniel Wyss / Urs Joss 73 54 57 41 42 94/DNF [94] 267.0
61. 44 USA 7620 7620 Star Derek DeCouteau / Dave Martin 27 94/BFD 94/OCS 52 57 50 [94] 280.0
62. 68 GER 8333 8333-M Star Klaus Meyer / Dirk Struve 82 94/BFD 45 43 43 68 [94] 281.0
63. 78 USA 8069 8069-GM Star John Foster / John Foster Jr. 62 66 48 60 50 94/DNC [94] 286.0
64. 29 USA 7629 7629-M Star Ken Woods / Bill Peter 63 63 56 45 62 94/DNC [94] 289.0
65. 36 USA 8036 8036-GM Star Jack Rickard / Sam Edie 76 56 65 70 59 42 [76] 292.0
66. 84 USA 8084 8084-GM Star Robert Teitge / John Finch 94/OCS 52 67 74 64 36 [94] 293.0
67. 42 ITA 8242 8242 Star Lucio Boggi / Sergio Lambertenghi 42 94/BFD 94/OCS 51 16 94/DNC [94] 297.0
68. 30 USA 7930 7930-M Star Harri Palm / Jeffrey Imai 46 55 69 63 65 70 [70] 298.0
69. 71 CAN 8271 8271-GM Star Allan Cullen / Brett Wilson 43 50 64 94/DNF 94/DNF 59 [94] 310.0
70. 32 USA 8132 8132-GM Star Witold Gesing / Adam Gesing 68 61 62 67 70 52 [70] 310.0
71. 15 USA 8215 8215-GM Star John Chiarella / Bob Carlson 72 47 66 71 71 94/DNF [94] 327.0
72. 56 AUT 8436 8436-GM Star Roberto Tomasini Grinover / Gunnar Bahr 74 51 59 94/DNS 94/DNC 54 [94] 332.0
73. 47 USA 7747 7747 Star Donald Massey / R J Treg 64 94/BFD 94/DNF 46 61 71 [94] 336.0
74. 25 USA 4125 4125-GM Star Keith Donald / Jim Pickering 56 68 73 65 75 75 [75] 337.0
75. 52 CAN 8236 8236-GM Star Philippe Hofer / Gary Soules 94/OCS 64 70 72 69 62 [94] 337.0
76. 2 USA 7802 7802-M Star Tom Doran / Jim Albert 71 59 72 69 67 72 [72] 338.0
77. 16 GER 7816 7816 Star Fritz Girr / Bernhard Schaefer 70 94/BFD 71 64 68 69 [94] 342.0
78. 12 USA 8312 8312-GM Star Tony Herrmann / Eric Herrmann 94/OCS 94/DNS 60 66 66 57 [94] 343.0
79. 46 BRA 8127 8127 Star Fabio Bruggioni / Marconi Sansollo 61 94/BFD 51 69/RDG 69/RDG 94/DNC [94] 344.0
80. 89 SUI 8085 8085-M Star Lorenz Zimmermann / Nils Hollweg 58 94/BFD 49 76 72 94/DNC [94] 349.0
81. 66 GER 7750 7750-GM Star Jens Burmester / Friedrich Kleine 77 65 68 75 94/DNF 66 [94] 351.0
82. 24 USA 8217 8217-M Star Mike Phinney / Scott Pirie 81 69 75 68 74 73 [81] 359.0
83. 94 USA 8095 8095 Star Gunti Weissenberger / Chris Hardin 67 53 61 94/DNS 94/DNC 94/DNC [94] 369.0
84. 53 USA 8153 8153-GM Star Joseph Pro / Nicolas Pro 65 62 76 73 94/DNF 94/DNC [94] 370.0
85. 70 USA 7970 7970-GM Star Sam Hopkins / Bart Kaplan 80 70 77 77 73 74 [80] 371.0
86. 64 USA 7964 7964 Star Charles F. Kohlermann IV / Matt Silverman 59 57 74 94/DNS 94/DNC 94/DNC [94] 378.0
87. 1 CAN 7501 7501 Star Amanda Karahanas / Tony Karahanas 75 67 94/DNC 94/DNF 94/DNF 63 [94] 393.0
88. 13 AUT 8110 8110 Star Hans-Christian Nehammer / Felix Kling 48 94/BFD 94/OCS 94/DNS 94/DNC 94/DNC [94] 424.0
89. 80 CAN 6680 6680 Star Greg Poole / Andrew Hamblin 78 94/DNS 94/DNC 94/DNS 94/DNC 94/DNC [94] 454.0
90. 7 ARG 7907 7907 Star Fabian Mac Gowan 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC [94] 470.0
91. 57 USA 8157 8157 Star Thomas White 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC [94] 470.0
92. 61 CAN 8361 8361 Star Richard Clark / Tyler Bjorn 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC [94] 470.0
93. 6 BAH 8406 8406 Star Mark Holowesko / Bill Holowesko 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC 94/DNC [94] 470.0
Bacardi Cup
