Bacardi Cup Invitational Series 2: A Winter Blast Exceeds Expectations!

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SPORTY CONDITIONS LIVEN UP BACARDI WINTER SERIES EVENT 2

January 27th, 2023
Text Credit: Luissa Smith
Photo Credits: Hannah Lee Noll
https://bacardiinvitational.com/



The three-day Bacardi Winter Series Event 2 opened today, Friday, January 27, on Biscayne Bay, Miami, in thrilling conditions.

A fresh breeze, averaging 15 knots across the day and gusts above it, ensured on time starts, with fast and high energy racing for the J/70, Melges 24 and 69F fleets.

Three windward/leeward races saw Andrea Pozzi’s ‘Bombarda’ out front in the Melges 24 and Robert Hughes on ‘Heartbreaker’ dominate the J/70. Six more races are scheduled over the weekend. For the 69F a superb victory to Antigua ‘Rhum Runners’ from an intense six races.

Friday morning got underway with a weather briefing hosted by Quantum Sails in partnership with Sail22 and Sail Flow, and smiles on teams’ faces in anticipation of wavy planing conditions and a steady breeze.

Hosted at Shake-A-Leg-Miami, the Bacardi Winter Series enjoys the same legendary hospitality as every Bacardi event, with post-race cocktails and shoreside fun for all.



Melges 24
Andrea Pozzi’s Italian crew on ‘Bombarda’ won the race 1 start and accelerated away to set the pace around the track with virtually no look-back. Second to Bruce Ayres’ team on ‘Monsoon’ and third to Michael Goldfarb’s ‘War Canoe’.

For race 2, Drew Freides’ well-rehearsed crew on ‘Pacific Yankee’ bucked off their 7th place from the opening race and led to the windward mark, pursued by ‘Monsoon’, ‘Nefeli’, ‘Gamecock’ and ‘Team Barbarians’. ‘Pacific Yankee’, who won the Bacardi Winter Series Event 1, looked good downwind until a mistake left them with a ripped kite on the takedown which almost proved costly. Disaster too for Stuart Simpson‘s ‘Team Barbarians’ who lost their rig, along with a few other Melges 24 mark rounding wipeouts, as the 17-22 knot breeze kept the racing super edgy. The breeze was fairly consistent, so it was all about speed.



‘Pacific Yankee’ swiftly prepared their back-up kite for the second downwind, losing no pace to win by an impressive margin. With two races down, a 1,3 scorecard from ‘Bombarda’ kept the team in first overall with ‘Nefeli’ in second and ‘Pacific Yankee’ in third, and on tie-break with the teams placed through to 6th.

For race 3 ‘Bombarda’ bounced back to claim another win, pushed by ‘Nefeli’ in second and ‘Pacific Yankee’ in third, with the overall lead still in the hands of ‘Bombarda’.

Complimenting the Italians’ 1,3,1 performance, Mike Buckley, crew on 7th placed ‘Lucky Dog’ said, “The Italians were on fire today, especially downwind, finding the breeze and connecting the puffs. Yeah, they put on a show!”

After three races, seven different Melges 24 teams had punched their way through the fleet to claim a top 5 finish, and there is plenty more to unfold over the next six races.

Melges 24 Provisional Top 5 results – after 3 races
1. Andrea Pozzi / Carlo Zermini / Matteo Ivaldi / Stefano Ciampalini / Nicolas Dal Ferro (ITA 830) – 5 pts
2. Peter Karri? / Alessandro Franci / Niccol? Bianchi / Alessandro Saettone / Saverio Cigliano (GER 673) – 9 pts
3. Drew Freides / Nic Asher / Charlie Smythe / Kyle Navin / Mark Ivey (USA 865) – 11 pts
4. Bruce Ayres / Tomas Dietrich / Edward Hackney / Chelsea Simms / Jeremy Wilmot (USA 851) – 12 pts
5. Michael Goldfarb / Chris Rast / Jonny Goldsberry / Matteo Ramian / Chris Watters (USA 825) – 16 pts



‘Heartbreaker’ headlines the J/70s
J/70
Three races down and nine different teams appeared inside the top five finishers as a true indicator of talent in the J/70 fleet.

After a general recall in race 1 the fleet got away, with John Heaton’s ‘Empeiria’ the boat to beat, as they controlled the fleet round the track. Frustratingly, ‘Empeiria’ found themselves on the wrong side of the downwind as the pressure filled in from the left towards the finish, and Robert Hughes’ ‘Heartbreaker’ seized the advantage and the win.

‘Empeiria’ again headlined off the start and led to the windward mark in race 2, with Andrew Fisher’s ‘Button Fly’, Tiani Hausen’s ‘Gaucho 3’, Richard Witzel’s ‘Rowdy’ and Charlie Thompson’s ‘Brutus III’ in pursuit. All change by the next windward rounding, with ‘Rowdy’ earning the lead and it stayed that way to the finish, with ‘Rowdy’ taking the win and a few position shake-ups behind.

Following on from their confident performance, ‘Heartbreaker’ nailed the win in race 3 and claimed the overall event lead, with ‘Rowdy’ dropping to second.

Robert Hughes, who is sailing only his second event with his ‘Heartbreaker’ crew line-up, commented, “I think the first regatta I did here was ’97 or ’98 and we keep coming back, because the bay for smaller boats is very reliable, a great breeze, great chop. You can’t beat it.

“Everybody comes from all over the place. You have a lot of good teams, international teams, that just makes the racing a higher level and a lot of fun. There is no better place to be, that’s for sure.”

Reflecting on their day and series lead, he continued, “We had one of those great days that you love on a first day. Any first day where you don’t blow your throw out is a good one! The team did great. We were going really well downwind and had the boat set up nice. It is hard to sail those boats in the chop, but when you get it just right, it makes a difference.”

J/70 Provisional Top 5 results – after 3 races
1. Robert Hughes / Marc Gauthier / Willem Van Waay / Manu Weiller (USA 353) – 8 pts
2. Richard Witzel / Carlos Robles / Max Salminen / Thomas Barrows (USA 1562) – 11 pts
3. John Heaton / Will Felder / Zeke Horowitz / Zac Mason (USA 169) – 11 pts
4. Douglas Rastello / Alex Curtiss / Orrin Starr / John Wallace (USA 602) – 15 pts
5. Fernando Perez Ontiveros / Gon?alo Ribeiro / Bernardo Freitas / River Paquin (MEX 1152) – 22 pts
Fresh from contesting the Youth Foiling Gold Cup 2023 Act 1 on Biscayne Bay, the foiling 69F line-up joined the three days of racing.

Descending on the race track for the day’s six races, in what marks the first event of the US Select Series, were six teams spanning north America and the Caribbean, representing Antigua and Barbuda, Canada and the USA.

Rocco Falcone, Teresa Romairone and Filipo Amonti ate up the race track with a standout performance to secure ‘Antigua Rhum Runners’ day one leaderboard glory.



69F Provisional Results – after 6 races
1. Antigua Rhum Runners – 108 pts
2. NYYC American Magic Team 1 – 102 pts
3. NYYC American Magic Team 3 – 97 pts
4. Flying Canucks – 86 pts
5. Pitch Perfect – 83 pts
6. NYYC American Magic Team 2 – 62.5 pts

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Blustery conditions on the second day of racing at Bacardi Winter Series Event 2, Saturday, January 28, upped the ante with 15-22 knots sweeping through the racetrack.

Text Credit: Luissa Smith
Photo Credits: Hannah Lee Noll
https://bacardiinvitational.com/




It was a beautiful day on Biscayne Bay, with an incredible breeze and choppy sea guaranteeing thrilling racing for three races in the J/70 and Melges 24 fleets, with the 69F teams in epic foiling mode for their six races. The mainly South breeze went right a bit for the last race, with the Race Committee changing and lengthening the course.

The discard after race 6 for the J/70 and Melges 24 saw a few shifts in the leaderboard but no change in the event leaders, with Robert Hughes’ ‘Heartbreaker’ and Andrea Pozzi’s ‘Bombarda’ of Italy holding firm. NYYC American Magic Team 1 is now the team to beat in the 69F.

Teams representing Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and the USA are relishing the conditions in Miami, with one more day of racing on Sunday and more of the same weather expected.




Melges 24
Overnight leaders ‘Bombarda’ have again been relentless in their teamwork and pace, scoring another two race wins today to control the leaderboard. Michael Goldfarb’s ‘War Canoe’ nipped past them in race 5 and edged into the top three by the end of the day, on tiebreak over Bruce Ayres’ ‘Monsoon’ in fourth. Moving up one from yesterday’s third place is ‘Pacific Yankee’ with Marcus Eagan stepping in to helm.



Andrea Pozzi, helm of ‘Bombarda’ said, “It is a fantastic spot Miami. Today and yesterday were incredible, and for me incredible results. It is a good team, we are friends. Tomorrow is another day.”

The ‘Bombarda’ team have switched their game considerably, since finishing 10th at the opening event of the Bacardi Winter Series 1 in December 2022.




Commenting on the key to their success, coach Giulio Desiderato laughed, saying, “We are old but gold!”

Desiderato added, “We will see if we can perform in the same way. As a team, we sailed a lot in the past altogether and ‘Bombarda’ is one of the historical teams of the Melges 24. We stopped for a couple of years, but we worked a lot together so now we are starting again but of course we carry what we did in the past.

“Having fun is one of the keys to success. We are a group of friends, so we are having a good time, not only on the water sailing but spending time here in Miami.”

Strong initial pace from Peter McClennen’s ‘Gamecock’ team saw them dominate the early stages of races 4 and 5, but both times faltered to allow others to pass on the downwind legs.





Melges 24 Provisional Top 5 results – after 6 races
1. Andrea Pozzi / Carlo Zermini / Matteo Ivaldi / Stefano Ciampalini / Nicolas Dal Ferro (ITA 830) – 7 pts
2. Marcus Eagan / Nic Asher / Charlie Smythe / Kyle Navin / Mark Ivey (USA 865) – 14 pts
3. Michael Goldfarb / Chris Rast / Jonny Goldsberry / Matteo Ramian / Chris Watters (USA 825) – 16 pts
4. Bruce Ayres / Tomas Dietrich / Edward Hackney / Chelsea Simms / Jeremy Wilmot (USA 851) – 16 pts
5. Peter Duncan / Victor Diaz de Leon / Norman Berge / Morgan Trubovich / Erik Shampain (USA 829) – 20 pts
J/70
Three races, three different winners, and none of the same frontrunners as yesterday, with the challenging conditions giving everyone opportunities to open their lanes and find pace.

Fernando Perez Ontiveros’ ‘Black Mamba’ of Mexico claimed the first race of the day with a significant lead. Douglas Rastello’ ‘Good to Go’ took the second win and over to Great Britain’s ‘Brutus III’ with Josie Gliddon driving to taste glory in race 3. The scoreboard remains finely balanced in the J/70 fleet with just a few points separating the leading boats.

Crushing the competition to still sit pretty out front from their 6,2,2 scorecard is Robert Hughes’ ‘Heartbreaker’ with Marc Gauthier / Willem Van Waay / Manu Weiller onboard. The team continues to outperform their scorecard from Bacardi Winter Series Event 1 last year where they finished fifth.

“This is a beautiful event,” said Willem Van Waay of ‘Heartbreaker’. “We have breeze, it has been 12-22 for the past two days and it is hard to mess with that. We are going well, just trying to stay out of trouble. There are some great competitors, and we will just try to keep doing what we are doing. Breeze-wise there are some shifts out there and we are just trying to stay in the pressure downwind and keep it ripping and have some fun!

“We are a great team. This is like our third event together and we are finally really flowing better.”

Another super consistent 2,4,3 performance from John Heaton’s ‘Empeiria’ shifts them up to second with Douglas Rastello on ‘Good to Go’ leapfrogging to third ahead of Richard Witzel’s ‘Rowdy’.

After two general recalls in the last race of the day, a black flag start kept the fleet in order.

J/70 Provisional Top 5 results – after 6 races
1. Robert Hughes / Marc Gauthier / Willem Van Waay / Manu Weiller (USA 353) – 12 pts
2. John Heaton / Will Felder / Zeke Horowitz / Zac Mason (USA 169) – 15 pts
3. Douglas Rastello / Alex Curtiss / Orrin Starr / John Wallace (USA 602) – 19 pts
4. Richard Witzel / Carlos Robles / Max Salminen / Thomas Barrows (USA 1562) – 21 pts
5. Charlie Thompson / Chris Grube / Bex Saxton / Josie Gliddon / Elisabeth Whitener (GBR 1123) – 24 pts



69F
Stunning conditions saw the 69F on fire flying around the track to contest six races. The same 69F teams hold the top three positions, just a switch between first and second, as NYYC American Magic Team 1 dominated the track, with outstanding teamwork and strategic brilliance from the USA’s Harry Melges IV, Severin Gramm and Ripley Shelley. The same order remains for the teams in 4th-6th place.

“Being here in Miami for the Bacardi Winter Series Regatta is always great,” commented Ripley Shelley, flight controller on NYYC American Magic Team 1. “I mean who doesn’t love a little of this,” he smiled raising his cocktail.

Putting speed in perspective, NYYC American Magic Team 1 clocked a max 28 knots today, averaging 25 knots downwind. Reflecting on the pressure of high-speed racing and closing speeds of 50-60 knots, Shelley added, “There is usually a lot of screaming and it gets intense out there!”

69F Provisional Results – after 6 races
1. NYYC American Magic Team 1 – 207 pts
2. Antigua Rhum Runners – 202.5 pts
3. NYYC American Magic Team 3 – 194 pts
4. Flying Canucks – 167 pts
5. Pitch Perfect – 160.5 pts
6. NYYC American Magic Team 2 – 159.5 pts

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GLORY DAYS AT BACARDI WINTER SERIES EVENT 2 ON BISCAYNE BAY, MIAMI

Text Credit: Luissa Smith
Photo Credits: Hannah Lee Noll
https://bacardiinvitational.com/

Three days in a row of perfect sailing conditions on Biscayne Bay, January 27-29, 2023, and a dream event for all, with fantastic breeze, sun and shoreside Bacardi bonhomie at Bacardi Winter Series Event 2.



A leaderboard shake-up saw all new leaders in the sport boats after today’s racing, with J/70 glory claimed by John Heaton’s ‘Empeiria’ and Drew Freides’ ‘Pacific Yankee’ crowned in the Melges 24, whilst Harry Melges IV sealed victory with NYYC ‘American Magic Team 1’ in the 69F.





The change of breeze and flatter water called for a new race strategy, with the wind easing to 10-15 knots from the east and tapering off as the day unfolded. Quantum Sails shared their insights on the new weather pattern, before it was out to the racetrack with all starts getting away to plan.

The Bacardi Winter Series Event 2 wrapped-up with the Bacardi Happy Hour at Shake-A-Leg-Miami and prize giving celebrations. Teams now look to the next event as the focus moves to the renowned Bacardi Cup and Bacardi Invitational Regatta in just over one month’s time, March 5-11, 2023. Entries are open for the Star, J/70, L30, Melges 15, Melges 24, VX One and 69F Classes.

Melges 24
The day’s opening race 7 was a start to finish control game from Michael Goldfarb and his team on ‘War Canoe’. Peter Duncan’s ‘Rasta Mixta’ picked their way through the fleet, converting a 4th at the first mark to 2nd at the finish to claim their best result of the series and third to Bruce Ayres’ team on ‘Monsoon’.

Series leaders going into the day, the Italians on ‘Bombarda’ still held the lead, but after scoring a 7th place finish in race 7 the points were compressed, with just 10 points between 1st to 5th, and then a 10 point gap to 6th place.

All change for race 8, as ‘Pacific Yankee’ pulled it out of the bag to wrestle their way up from fourth overall, leading to the first mark and piling it onto the finish, to claim what turned out to be the first of back-to-back wins, with ‘Bombarda’ relegated to a fourth place.

Making their mission a mountain going into the deciding race 9, with scores of 8,4, series leaders ‘Bombarda’ saw their points advantage diminish over the chasing pack. They just needed to stay ahead of ‘Pacific Yankee’ to seal victory.

A thrilling final race 9 was all about reactions and skill, as several teams were in the running for the event win and more in touching distance of the podium. An epic battle from ‘Pacific Yankee’ saw them save their best until last, show their pedigree and do what was needed to claim the final race win and seize overall victory, by 1 point over ‘Bombarda’. The Italians were toppled by their 8th place finish, with Bruce Ayres’ ‘Monsoon’ coming through to cross the line in 5th place for third overall.

‘War Canoe’ helmed by Michael Goldfarb had put themselves in the running for a podium finish, but an unfortunate UFD penalty in race 9 dropped them to 4th overall.

“The feeling is fantastic,” said Charlie Smythe, trimmer on ‘Pacific Yankee’. “We really missed Drew today and yesterday, but bringing Marcus in and having a great time with him, he has been part of ‘Pacific Yankee’ for a long time.

“We just wanted to make Drew proud. It was all fight, never giving up. We just did what we had to do, which was win the last two races and let the chips fall where they fall,” he noted in reference to their usual helm Drew Freides who could only race on Friday, with Marcus Eagan stepping in.

On what made the difference to the team’s performance when it really mattered, bowman Kyle Navin commented, “Really good upwind speed was the key today and keeping it going through the chop, light air and always hitting the shifts.”

‘Pacific Yankee’s’ coach Vince Brun, who amongst many accolades won the first ever Melges 24 Worlds in 1998, added, “They are a good team, they have a good time together and sail well together, because it is a good group of people.”

Melges 24 Final Top 5 results – after 9 races
1. Marcus Eagan / Nic Asher / Charlie Smythe / Kyle Navin / Mark Ivey (USA 865) – 23 pts
2. Andrea Pozzi / Carlo Zermini / Matteo Ivaldi / Stefano Ciampalini / Nicolas Dal Ferro (ITA 830) – 24 pts
3. Bruce Ayres / Thomas Dietrich / Edward Hackney / Chelsea Simms / Jeremy Wilmot (USA 851) – 29 pts
4. Michael Goldfarb / Chris Rast / Jonny Goldsberry / Matteo Ramian / Chris Watters (USA 825) – 31 pts
5. Peter Duncan / Victor Diaz de Leon / Norman Berge / Morgan Trubovich / Erik Shampain (USA 829) – 31 pts








J/70
A real mix-up in fleet order throughout race 7, with early leader Daniel Goldberg on ‘Bazinga’ dipping away from the frontrunners, before clawing on the downwind to nail a second, behind Great Britain’s ‘Brutus III’, who pulled off another win with Josie Gliddon at the helm. A third-place finish to John Heaton’s ‘Empeiria’ positioned them on tiebreak with series leaders, Robert Hughes’ team on ‘Heartbreaker’.

All change again in race 8, with ‘Gaucho 3’ punching through the fleet to claim their first race win, with ‘Empeiria’ pulling another top result in second, and David Janetti’s ‘Very Odd’ in third. ‘Empeiria’ was now propelled into a 4-point advantage over ‘Heartbreaker’, and third to ‘Brutus III’.

Going into race 9, ‘Empeiria’ looked assured of overall victory, unless ‘Heartbreaker’ won the race. No chance there as ‘Brutus III’ romped home to another blinding race win and elevated themselves to second overall, with ‘Empeiria’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ scoring 9 and 7 respectively.

A stellar win to John Heaton’s ‘Empeiria’, and an impressive climb up the leaderboard for ‘Brutus III’, from 9th after the opening day to 2nd overall, with Robert Hughes’ ‘Heartbreaker’ settling for third.







“We had really good starts and good boat speed,” reflected Heaton. “I have a really good team. We have sailed for two years together and I think our ability to keep going is a testament of our work.

“I am not exactly sure what happened,” he proffered about the turnaround in leaderboard fortunes. “Our focus today was on ourselves and trying to sail really well, sail fast and keep going. The last race today, we have something to learn because we did not sail our best race the last race, so we need to learn how to finish regattas, but we are happy with our progress today and the whole weekend. Testament to the other competitors too, just make us all better. It is impressive sailing.”

Charlie Thompson of ‘Brutus III’ paid tribute to the fleet, saying, “With a tight fleet like this, it is the best fleet in the world, you have got to have a good start. We managed to get away clean three times. It was a bit of a fight at the top mark and after that you just got to pick your lane and take it from there. I’ve got a great crew. I am also very proud to have two excellent girls sailing with me. They bring a balance to the boat that maybe isn’t there if you are sailing with an all-male crew.”

“I’ve never done a J/70 regatta helming before,” said Josie Gliddon. “We just have a lot of fun and sailing should all be about fun to start off with and if you have good guy and girls and have fun you tend to do quite well.”

J/70 Final Top 5 results – after 9 races
1. John Heaton / Will Felder / Zeke Horowitz / Zac Mason (USA 169) – 25 pts
2. Charlie Thompson / Chris Grube / Bex Saxton / Josie Gliddon / Elisabeth Whitener (GBR 1123) – 30 pts
3. Robert Hughes / Marc Gauthier / Willem Van Waay / Manu Weiller (USA 353) – 31 pts
4. Douglas Rastello / Alex Curtiss / Orrin Starr / John Wallace (USA 602) – 33 pts
5. Richard Witzel / Carlos Robles / Max Salminen / Thomas Barrows (USA 1562) – 42 pts

69F



A mixed format for the foiling 69F, with the six races featuring three one-lap windward/leeward races, followed by three races on the quadrilateral course with a reaching start, downwind leg and reach upwind to the finish.

Another remarkable day for NYYC ‘American Magic Team 1’, helmed by Harry Melges IV, as they scooped up five more wins.

“It feels awesome to come on top this weekend,” said Melges. “We had a really nice three days of racing. It was pretty windy the whole time, so we had some really good speed runs and tons of fun.”

Commenting on what made the difference to their path to victory, he continued, “We were able to practice a bunch before this event, which was great, and the guys I am sailing with I have sailed with most of my life so that is pretty easy,” he added in reference to teammates Severin Gramm and Ripley Shelley. “I think our manoeuvres were really strong this weekend, so that really helped us,”

No change in the leaderboard order for second and third, with Rocco Falcone, Filipo Amonti and Teresa Romairone on Antigua Rhum Runners and Charlie Hibben, Ford McCaan and Cam Farrah on NYYC American Magic Team 3 holding firm.

69F Final Results – after 12 races
1. NYYC American Magic Team 1 – 331 pts
2. Antigua Rhum Runners – 324.5 pts
3. NYYC American Magic Team 3 – 296 pts
4. NYYC American Magic Team 2 – 270.5 pts
5. Flying Canucks – 261 pts
6. Pitch Perfect – 256.5 pts