Action moves on to Miami

Top racing continues for the Farr 40, Melges 32 and Mumm 30 classes at the Acura Miami Grand Prix next month

Key West champions and other top caliber sailing talent are heading for 'America’s Riviera' next month. The 2007 Acura Miami Grand Prix (March 8–11) will feature renewed rivalries that originated last January during Acura Key West 2007. Warm Florida ocean waters and hot South Beach nightlife are drawing grand prix programs from around the world and across the U.S.

Three high profile one design classes - the Farr 40, Melges 32 and Mumm 30 - along with a ‘big-boat’ IRC class, will see plenty of action in this 10-race series just south of Miami’s Government Cut.

America’s Cup defender Ernesto Bertarelli and the Alinghi crew will have another defence to contend with - having recently won the ultra competitive Farr 40 class in Key West. This class is projected to have more boats in Miami with any number of entrants looking to avenge the Swiss walk-away victory last month. Look for Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino, which will have their 2006 World Championship tactician Russell Coutts back onboard, to put pressure on the Key West winner.

The Farr 40 story line will again be an international one with early entrants including Eivind Astrup’s Norwegian Steam (Oslo, Norway), Wolfgang Stolz’s Opus One (Frankfurt, Germany), and Erik Maris’ Twins (Paris, France). Norwegian Steam was a mere point from the class win last year with Onorato a close third, Opus One, Twins, Alesandro Barnaba’s Fiamma (Cala Galera, Italy) and Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone (Savona, Italy) all finished in the top ten last year.

The IRC racing action will pick up right where it left off in the deciding last race of the Key West series where Dan Meyers’ Farr 60 Numbers edged sistership Hissar by one point in the IRC 1 class . The scratch boat in Miami will be Hap Fauth’s 2006 Newport to Bermuda winner Bella Mente (J/V 66).

Key West’s top three finishers in a very competitive IRC 2 class - finishing within 4 points of one another - will add intrigue to the Miami handicap racing. Key West champion Magic Glove, Colm Barrington’s new Ker 50 (Dublin, Ireland), will test herself against the 60 footers next month. The TP52s Samba Pa Ti (John Kilroy) and Windquest (Doug DeVos) will be looking to improve on their second and third place finishes and hoping to see planing conditions which were not present in Key West last January.

Last year the Melges 32 class attained one design status in both Key West and Miami. The high performance sportboats enjoyed dramatic growth in 2007 with 20 entries in Key West. The Acura Miami Grand Prix title will be well earned with 2006 Key West Champions Mike Carroll and Marty Kullman’s New Wave (St. Petersburg, FL) and Jeff Ecklund’s Star (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) both boats to watch in this very competitive class.

Monaco’s Peter de Ridder ( Mean Machine) will defend his 2006 Mumm 30 class title next month, in what are bound to be some close matches. De Ridder’s team was edged out in Key West by Australian Bruce Eddington ( Southern Sun) on a tie breaker. Deneen Demourkas ( Groovederci) and her Santa Barbara, CA based crew have the top spot in their sights as they renew their close rivalry with DeRidder. They were second to Mean Machine last year in Miami, and just missed 3 rd in Key West on a tie-breaker, with the Monaco team taking second.

The Acura Grand Prix Awards will be presented to the boats with the lowest combined cumulative points for Acura Key West and the Acura Miami Grand Prix in their respective classes. Given the stature of both events and the competitiveness of these four grand prix classes, these four recipients will be special champions. Perpetual awards are in the offing to the Farr 40, Mumm 30, Melges 32 and IRC classes. Mascalzone Latino is the defending Farr 40 Acura Grand Prix Champion, and Groovederci is the Mumm 30 Champion.