Battle lines drawn

Acura Miami Grand Prix fires up tomorrow

If the final practice day was any indication, the 2007 Acura Miami Grand Prix should deliver just what the hundreds of visiting sailors are seeking.

Most of the 46 entries participating in the annual regatta headed out of Government Cut for one final tune-up before the competition turns serious on Thursday. It proved an ideal day for testing sails and training crew as sunny skies and warm temperatures were augmented by winds that ranged from 12-15 knots.

"It truly is wonderful to be back here in Florida. We had lovely conditions today with the sun shining brightly and the wind blowing strong," said Colm Barrington, owner of the IRC entry Magic Glove. "That is why we all come here to go sailing in the winter. There aren’t many places in the world this nice at this time of the year."

In his native Dublin, Ireland, it is quite cold and nasty at the moment. Barrington steered his Ker 50 to overall victory in the IRC 2 class at Acura Key West 2007 and is hoping to duplicate that type of performance here in Miami. It won’t be easy as the one IRC class has nine good boats ranging in size from Marcin Rojek’s Swan 45 Better Than to Hap Fauth’s JV 66 Bella Mente. In between are four TP52s and a pair of Farr 60s.

"I think if anything the competition will be more intense than in Key West because we’ve added the three bigger boats," Barrington said. "A lot will depend on the type of conditions we get. Certain boats perform better in certain conditions."

No one can ever accurately predict the wind and weather, but Premiere Racing will surely deliver its characteristic top-notch race management and superb awards parties throughout the Acura Miami Grand Prix, being held Thursday through Sunday on an ocean course set just off the north end of Key Biscayne.

Respected Principal Race Officer Dave Brennan and his well-trained team of volunteers plan to conduct 10 races over four days while the evening social gathering at Monty’s Raw Bar is sure to deliver the best in food and drink.

There is certain to be stiff competition in all four grand prix classes as some of the top professional sailing talent in the world has trekked to this colorful, cosmopolitan city.
Robert Greenhalgh, a past International 14 World Champion and ABN AMROOne crewman for example is sailing aboard Magic Glove.

Samba Pa Ti, a TP 52 owned by California native John Kilroy, has four Volvo veterans aboard, including tactician Stu Bannatyne. Samba Pa Ti, named for Kilroy’s favorite Carlos Santana song, finished just one point behind Magic Glove at Key West.

"I’ve always enjoyed doing the Florida circuit, and to me that means a regatta in Key West and a regatta in Miami," said Kilroy, a veteran of the old Southern Ocean Racing Circuit.

An international fleet of 16 Farr 40s has come to contest the Rolex North American Championship and has typically attracted a slew of big-time professionals. Alinghi is the pre-regatta favorite after putting forth an impressive performance in Key West. Skipper Ernesto Bertarelli has several members of his America’s Cup crew onboard, including tactician Brad Butterworth.

"On paper, Alinghi has got a really good cart and a really good team," said Helmut Jahn, German-born skipper of Flash Gordon 5. "We were one of the other boats that did well in Key West, but it can all be turned upside down at this regatta. That is what makes this class so exciting."

Several foreign entries that missed Key West have arrived in Miami, including Aleph (Hughes Lepic, France), Cannonball (Dario Ferrari, Italy), Monick (Nicklas Holm, Denmark) and Old Boys (Eduardo Souza Ramos, Brazil).

"There are some new players and all of them are capable of doing well," said Jahn, who finished second, three points behind Alinghi, at Key West.

Another notable entry in Farr 40 class is Norwegian Storm, runner-up at the 2006 Miami Grand Prix. Skipper Eivind Astrup and crew led the regatta most of the way before being overtaken by Heartbreaker on the final day. "We are very happy to be back because this is such a well-organised regatta. We hope this place brings us the luck we deserve,” Astrup said.

There figures to be equally stiff competition in Melges 32 class, which also has drawn a slew of talent-laden teams. Skipper Claudio Recchi and crew aboard Let’s Roll overwhelmed the competition in Key West, clinching overall victory with one race to spare. Recchi is remaining humble despite keeping the Italian team entirely intact.

"It’s always nice to be in sunny Florida. We are back to see if we still have the boat speed we had in Key West," said Recchi, who deflects credit to tactician Gabriele Benussi. "We had very good fortune in Key West. It will be difficult to repeat. The gap in this class is very close."

Let’s Roll could get a challenge from Grins, the Georgia-based entry that placed second in Miami last year. Skipper Rick Orchard missed Key West for the first time in years because he was helicopter skiing in Canada with boyhood friends from California.

"From what I heard, Let’s Roll won Key West with good execution. It wasn’t the rig, it wasn’t the sails, it was time on the water and time in the boat," Orchard said. "We haven’t spent as much time in the boat as we should, but feel we can be competitive."

Peter De Ridder and the Mean Machine team are early favorite in Mumm 30 class after losing a tiebreaker and placing second in Key West. Volvo Ocean Race veteran Jono Swain, a Ft. Lauderdale resident, is calling tactics on Mean Machine.

"We are coming into this confident and sailing well," said De Ridder, who is mounting a Volvo Ocean Race campaign. "Our main competition will probably be Groovederci (Deneen Demourkas), although there are several solid teams here."

Line-up

Boat Name	Type	LOA	Owner / Entrant	Homeport	Helmsman	Tactician
Class A - IRC
Bella Mente	JV 66	66	Hap Fauth	Newport, RI	Hap Fauth	Peter Staulkus
Numbers	Farr 60	60	Daniel Meyers	Newport, RI	Daniel Meyers	Murray Jones
Hissar	Farr 60	60	Edgar Cato	Newport, RI	Brad Read	Morgan Reeser
Rusal-Synergy	TP52	52	Alexey Nikolaev	Gibraltar/Russia	Andrey Nikolaev	Alexey Nikolaev
Windquest	TP52	52	Doug Devos	Holland, MI	Doug Devos	John Bertrand
Samba Pa Ti	TP52	52	John Kilroy	Los Angeles, CA	John Kilroy	Stu Bannatyne
Decision	TP52	52	Stephen B. Murray	New Orleans, LA	Stephen B. Murray	Andy Lovell
Magic Glove	Ker 50	50	Colm Barrington	Dublin, IRL	Colm Barrington	Robert Greenhalgh
Better Than	Swan 45	45	Andrzej Rojek	Newport, RI	Andrzej Rojek	Britt Hughes
Farr 40
Aleph	Farr 40	40	Hughes Lepic	FRA	Hughes Lepic
Alinghi	Farr 40	40	Ernesto Bertarelli	Geneva, SUI	Ernesto Bertarelli	Brad Butterworth
Barking Mad	Farr 40	40	James Richardson	Newport, RI	ames Richardson	Brian Ledbetter
Cannonball	Farr 40	40	Dario Ferrari	Portofino, ITA	Dario Ferrari	Cameron Appleton
Fiamma	Farr 40	40	Alessandro Barnaba	Cala Galera, ITA	Alessandro Barnaba	Chris Larson
Flash Gordon 5	Farr 40	40	Helmut & Evan Jahn	Chicago, IL	Helmut Jahn	Mark Ivey
Groovederci	Farr 40	40	John Demourkas	Santa Barbara, CA	John Demourkas	Jeff Madrigali
Monick	Farr 40	40	Nicklas Holm	Tuborg, DEN	David Holm	Nicklas Holm
Nanoq	Farr 40	40	HRH Prince Frederik	Copenhagen, DEN	HRH Prince Frederik	Bouwe Bekking
Nerone	Farr 40	40	Massimo Mezzaroma	Savona, ITA	Antonio S Migliori	Lorenzo Bressani
Norwegian Steam	Farr 40	40	Eivind Astrup	Oslo, NOR	Eivind Astrup	Morten Henriksen
Old Boys	Farr 40	40	Eduardo Souza Ramos	Sao Paulo, BRA	E. Souza Ramos	Dee Smith
Opus One	Farr 40	40	Wolfgang Stolz	Frankfurt, GER	Wolfgang Stolz	Tim Powell
Ramrod	Farr 40	40	Rod Jabin	Annapolis, MD	Rod Jabin	Scott Nixon
Twins	Farr 40	40	Erik Maris	YC Porquerolles, FRA	Erik Maris	Gildas Philippe
Warpath	Farr 40	40	Steve Howe	San Diego, CA	Steve Howe	Ian Williams
Melges 32
Badfish	Melges 32	32	Philip Lotz	Annapolis, MD	Philip Lotz	Bill Jorch
Bigtime	Melges 32	32	Mark Landwer & Jeff Wittenberg	Chicago, IL	Jeff Wittenberg	Matt Woodworth
Evil Woman	Melges 32	32	George Gamble	Pensacola, FL	George Gamble	Mark Foster
Fast Forward	Melges 32	32	Tad Fairbank	Bainbridge Isl, WA	Tad Fairbank	Bob Pistay
Fresh Guidance	Melges 32	32	Simon Williams	Newport, RI	Simon Williams	Bill Hardesty
Grins	Melges 32	32	Rick Orchard	Flowery Branch, GA	Rick Orchard	Dave Chapin
Highlife	Melges 32	32	Peter Rogers	Hamble, UK	John Taggart	Ben Cooper
Let's Roll	Melges 32	32	Claudio Recchi	YCI, Italy	Claudio Recchi	Gabriele Denussi
New Wave	Melges 32	32	Carroll/Kullman	St Pete/Clearwtr, FL	Marty Kullman	John Jennings
Nitemare	Melges 32	32	Tom Neill	Chicago, IL	Tom Neill	Pat Considine
Nosedive	Melges 32	32	David Hoyt	Stowe, VT	David Hoyt
Savannah	Melges 32	32	Walter Kennedy	Charlotte, NC	Walter Kennedy	Rick Applin
Star	Melges 32	32	Jeff Ecklund	Ft Lauderdale, FL	Jeff Ecklund	Harry Melges
Stewball	Melges 32	32	Caleb Everett	San Francisco, CA	Caleb Everett
Vamoose	Melges 32	32	Robby Wilkins	Lexington, SC	Robby Wilkins	Ross Griffith
Wicked Woman	Melges 32	32	George Gamble	Pensacola, FL	Joe Godard	Mark Ploch
Mumm 30
Champosa	Mumm 30	30	Jonathan McDonagh	Minneapolis, MN	Jonathan McDonagh	TBD
Groovederci	Mumm 30	30	Deneen Demourkas	Santa Barbara, CA	Deneen Demourkas
Just Plain Nutz	Mumm 30	30	J. Cameron Dean	Pleasant Valley, NY	Norm Dean	Billy Heintz
Kaizen	Mumm 30	30	Scott Baker/Moise Solomon	Noank, CT	Moise Solomon	Clinton Hayes
Mean Machine	Mumm 30	30	Peter De Ridder	Monaco	Peter De Ridder	Jono Swain