Win for Dane and Sperry

The defending Bacardi Cup champions took victory in race four at the event in Miami

The father and son-in-law team of John Dane and crew Austin Sperry, defending 2006 Bacardi Cup champions, won the fourth race of the 2007 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta off the coast of Miami Wednesday. With the victory, they climb to 14th in the overall standings heading into the final two races of the regatta.

Poland’s Mateusz Kusznierewics, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in the Finn Class, and crew Dominik Zycki finished second Wednesday, followed by seven-time Bacardi Cup Champion Mark Reynolds and crew Hal Haenel in third. Rounding up the top five were Norway’s Eivind Melleby with crew Petter Pedersen and two-time Bacardi Cup Champion Peter Bromby of Bermuda with crew Bill McNiven.

Dane and Sperry showed good speed off the starting line and rounded each of the first two marks in the top ten, while Reynolds and Haenel built a commanding early lead. Dane and Sperry held the left side and manufactured consistent gains throughout the race. A wind shift on the final downwind leg helped them to overtake Reynolds and Haenel and take a clear lane to the finish.

“On the second beat, we started protecting the right side – that’s how we got the good early lead,” said Reynolds. “But the attack came from the left. Then on the final leg, we were reaching coming up to the finish. The winds shifted in our favor, but just a little too much. Downwind, we just weren’t as fast; and you can’t cover Dane, Bromby, and [Kusznierewicz] all at the same time.”

The reigning World and North American Star Class Champion Hamish Pepper of New Zealand and his crew David Giles of Australia finished 16th, dropping to a tie with Kusznierewicz and Zycki for the overall lead. Australia’s Iain Murray with crew Andrew Palfrey finished eighth today and remains in third overall. Following Thursday's race, sailors drop their worst of six finishes to determine the overall leaders.

“We were having a lot more fun last year,” said Sperry, who with Dane held the overall lead at the midway point of the 2006 Bacardi Cup Regatta. “We can only drop one of our two bad races this week, so we’re out of the title hunt this year; but with a couple of big races tomorrow and Friday, we can finish in the top ten.”

Results:

1-Hamish Pepper and David Giles - NZL, 22.00
2-Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominick Zycki - POL, 22.00
3-Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey - AUS, 25.00
4-Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom - SWE, 30.00
5-Peter Bromby and Bill McNiven - BER, 31.00
6-Matthias Miller and Manuel Voigt - GER, 42.00
7-Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen - NOR, 50.00
8-George Szabo and Magnus Liljedahl - USA, 53.00
9-Hans Spitzauer and Chrisitan Nehammer - AUT, 57.30
10-Luca Modena and Michele Marchesini - ITA, 66.00