Horton holds on

All classes now racing at Bacardi Miami Sailing Week

Continuing a run tempered by cautious optimism in a field of highly skilled Star Class teams, Andy Horton and James Lyne once again remained on top in today's overall standings after the fourth day of Star racing at the Bacardi Cup in Miami.

Placing first yesterday overall and then again today, in a session marked by steady increased wind that tapered off towards the end of the day, the American team was able to keep the top spot in standings as Italian Diego Negri and Nando Colaninno won the day's first race, helping the team ascend to number six overall.

With many top contenders working hard to keep in the game, Thursday saw Ireland's Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne again stay in second place overall, with American Rick Merriman and Phil Trinter also remaining where they were yesterday - in third. Brazilian team Grael-Seifert also stayed put in fourth with the US' McChesney-Zwingelberg holding fifth.

"Going into it, just like yesterday, we wanted another top ten finish today," said Horton. "Luckily, James and I were able to get past a bad start where we struggled a bit at first, and were able to make a good comeback. We just kept pushing, staying focused, and all of a sudden we found ourselves gaining ground and able to slide in for a strong finish. We're pleased but also know after tomorrow's race, everyone gets to throw out their poorest finish, which is really going to change the field dramatically. After tomorrow, everyone's going to get a whole lot closer. Hopefully we'll sail another good race. All we can do is see where everyone lands after that."

In addition to the Star Class competition for the Bacardi Cup, the Viper 640 Pan-American Championship at Bacardi Miami Sailing Week continued with Americans Lee Shuckerow and his crew of Brad Boston and Eric Vigrass edging out Wednesday's winners for the top spot overall. Barry and Sue Parkin and John Logue were able to settle for a still solid second place finish in the twenty-one boat Viper field.

As for other classes out for their first day of sailing on Biscayne Bay, Jeff Ecklund was able to get the top spot in the Melges 20 standings in his boat confusingly named Star, among 15 competitors while Donald Wilson and his crew were able to take their boat Convexity to the top of class in Melges 24 with ten competing. In the J/24 class, Scouts' Pride skipper Patricia Walker and her crew were able to steer their way into the top spot in a six boat field.

Star results: