Mendelblatt and Fatih come from behind
Five one-design fleets, awash with competitors representing over a dozen nations, concluded six days of racing as the 2013 Bacardi Miami Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank wrapped up today.
With points tight among the top contenders in each class, the big story of the regatta was the win of the 86th Bacardi Cup by the Florida team of Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih. Having started their series on Monday by picking up the max number of points for an over early start, the duo worked their way back up the standings to end the penultimate day of the series in second overall.
"We started [the series] not in the best way, but we turned it around,” said Mendelblatt, who previously won the Bacardi Cup in 2005. “It was a disappointing start and it was my fault for not having a good first race. After that we've been very consistent with low scores. We won the last two races and everything went our way. Winning the Cup again means a lot to me; it's really great because winning any big Star regatta is not easy at all! I am very happy to have had Brian with me. He is a great crew and wanted to have his name on the Tito Bacardi trophy. The Bacardi Cup is a great event and now, with the addition of all the other classes, it's even more satisfying."
Mendelblatt and Fatih, who represented the USA in the Star class at the 2012 Olympics, won the single race contested by the 56 Star teams on the final day of the series to move to the top of the standings with 26 points. Lars Grael and Mario Lagoa (BRA), who had been atop the overall standings throughout the week, took second overall with 30 points after placing seventh in the race. Defending champion Xavier Rohart (FRA) ended the series tied on points with Grael after finishing the race in fourth place to take third in the overall standings.
The only change for Diego Negri and Frithjof Kleen (ITA) or 2003 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.) and Arnis Baltins, was in the point totals as both retained their positions in the top-five with, respectively, 33 and 41 points.
The 44-boat Audi Melges 20 class saw a different winner – Michael Kiss, John Taylor and Robert Hughes – in each of the three races sailed to complete their series. Starting the final day fifth overall, Kiss, the defending class champion, went on to post finishes of 3-2-1 which propelled him to the top of the standings with 22 points. Italy's Alessandro Rombelli also moved up four spots in the standings with finishes of 7-3-9 for 33 points. James Wilson with 37 points, Richard Davies with 42 and Russell Lucas with 43, complete the top-five.
In the 18-boat Melges 24 class, Italy's Riccardo Simoneschi won two of the three races sailed to claim the class title with 16 points.
"We’re happy for the win here in Miami,” said Simoneschi. “It’s our first race of the year. We really like racing on Biscayne Bay and within the Bacardi Miami Sailing Week program, which is one of the top regattas. I’ve never won in Miami and I am happy to have done it with our new tactician Enrico Fondi who is a world champion. We will definitely be back next year to defend our win.”
Don Wilson, finished 9-1-2 to net 21 points and take second overall, beating California Alan Field on a tie-breaker. Catherine Evans was third overall with 29 points, followed by Alec Cutler with 33.
Three races were also sailed by the Viper 640 fleet, and the two won by Canadian Lee Shuckerow assured him of the class title with 20 points. Phil Lotz won the other race and moved up three spots to second overall in the 18-boat standings with 24 points. Jason Carroll took third with 26 points. The 2012 class champion the UK's Glyn Locke and Pieter Taselaar ended the series tied on 29 points, with Locke winning the standings tie breaker.
The J/70 class made a strong debut in Miami with 20 boats racing. In pole position with no finish worse than third to start the final day of the series, Briane Keane added two wins to his score line to take the inaugural BMSW class win with 13 points.
“Learned a lot in Key West, tried new things here in Miami and things have worked out!,” said Keane. “Our goal was to be in the top-five and we did it. The J/70 class is the most exciting class in 10 years with top sailors; it’s the best fleet in North America right now; winning Miami is a great accomplishment.”
Keane had the largest point cushion – 19 points – of any top finisher in the competing fleets. Peter Duncan, who won one of the day’s races, finished second overall with 32 points, beating Will Welles in a standings tie-breaker. Torquay's finest, Joe Woods with 43 points, and Brian Elliott with 47, rounded out the top-five.
Star results:
Pos | Sail no | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Tot | Net |
1 | USA 8177 | Mark Mendelblatt / Brian Fatih | 64/OCS | 13 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | [64] | 26 |
2 | BRA 8392 | Lars Grael / Marco Lagoa | 1 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 32 | 7 | [32] | 30 |
3 | FRA 8237 | Xavier Rohart / Serge Pulfer | 24 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | [24] | 30 |
4 | ITA 8452 | Diego Negri / Frithjof Kleen | 12 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 5 | [12] | 33 |
5 | USA 8465 M | Augie Diaz / Arnis Baltins | 3 | 1 | 10 | 22 | 7 | 8 | 12 | [22] | 41 |
6 | USA 8320 | George Szabo / Magnus Liljedahl | 4 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 22 | 3 | [22] | 55 |
7 | BRA 8390 | Alessandro Pascolato / Henry Boening | 18 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 64/BFD | 17 | 2 | [64] | 59 |
8 | IRL 8473 | Peter O'Leary / Rodney Hagebols | 2 | 36 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 27 | 6 | [36] | 61 |
9 | GER 8331 | Hubert Merkelbach / Gerrit Bartel | 14 | 11 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 40 | 9 | [40] | 68 |
10 | USA 8195 | John MacCausland / Guy Avalon | 16 | 2 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 21 | 10 | [23] | 72 |
11 | USA 8067 | Tomas Hornos / Joshua Revkin | 22 | 64/BFD | 34 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 8 | [64] | 82 |
12 | UKR 8247 GM | Vasil Gureev / Vitali Kushnir | 29 | 22 | 5 | 64/BFD | 8 | 14 | 13 | [64] | 91 |
13 | USA 8362 | Peter Vessella / Austin Sperry | 30 | 30 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 5 | 17 | [30] | 94 |
14 | USA 8000 | Arthur Anosov / Mark Dolan | 5 | 28 | 27 | 9 | 64/BFD | 12 | 14 | [64] | 95 |
15 | CAN 8143 M | Brian Cramer / Cam Lymburner | 9 | 7 | 18 | 7 | 34 | 34 | 24 | [34] | 99 |
16 | USA 7741 | Benjamin Sternberg / Valentin Veytsman | 32 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 16 | 64/DNS | 15 | [64] | 101 |
17 | ARG 8286 | Daniel Della Torre / Edward Morey | 21 | 25 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 16 | 33 | [33] | 101 |
18 | USA 8484 GM | Larry Whipple / Phil Trinter | 31 | 5 | 19 | 64/DNF | 28 | 10 | 11 | [64] | 104 |
19 | USA 8389 | Brian Ledbetter / Tyler Bjorn | 11 | 38 | 17 | 6 | 32 | 19 | 21 | [38] | 106 |
20 | ARG 8285 | Erich Mones / Diego Peisajovich | 37 | 14 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 2 | 26 | [37] | 114 |
21 | USA 8072 M | Doug Smith / Uli Seeberger | 15 | 31 | 25 | 64/DNF | 15 | 9 | 22 | [64] | 117 |
22 | USA 7462 | Dave Watt / Dave Martin | 64/OCS | 4 | 22 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 39 | [64] | 123 |
23 | ITA 8341 | Lucio Boggi / Sergio Lamberdinelhi | 35 | 18 | 4 | 21 | 24 | 28 | 32 | [35] | 127 |
24 | CAN 8466 | Stuart Hebb / Mark Strube | 64/OCS | 9 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 42 | 16 | [64] | 127 |
25 | ARG 8278 | Alberto Zanetti / Nicolas Rosas | 7 | 17 | 12 | 64/BFD | 23 | 48 | 29 | [64] | 136 |
26 | USA 8464 | Jack Jennings / Brian Sharp | 19 | 39 | 29 | 64/BFD | 17 | 7 | 27 | [64] | 138 |
27 | USA 8291 GM | William Swigart / Phil Brewster | 8 | 23 | 37 | 30 | 64/BFD | 18 | 30 | [64] | 146 |
28 | BRA 8459 | Admar Gonzaga Neto / Alexandre Freitas | 25 | 27 | 26 | 20 | 18 | 31 | 31 | [31] | 147 |
29 | ITA 8382 | Renato Irrera / Manuele La Porta | 20 | 35 | 21 | 25 | 29 | 45 | 20 | [45] | 150 |
30 | BRA 8287 | Luiz André Reis / Renato Moura | 13 | 48 | 8 | 64/DNF | 19 | 24 | 41 | [64] | 153 |
31 | SUI 8479 | Jean-Pascal Chatagny / Patrick Ducomhon | 45 | 21 | 48 | 64/BFD | 13 | 13 | 18 | [64] | 158 |
32 | CAN 8272 | Jerry Wendt / Mike Nichol | 17 | 43 | 28 | 24 | 26 | 23 | 40 | [43] | 158 |
33 | CAN 8271 GM | Allan Cullen / Phil Toth | 34 | 19 | 14 | 64/BFD | 39 | 20 | 35 | [64] | 161 |
34 | SUI 7829 | Michel Niklaus / Marcus Niklaus | 28 | 20 | 31 | 64/DNF | 31 | 33 | 19 | [64] | 162 |
35 | SUI 8409 | Gautschi Christoph / Dominik Schenk | 36 | 33 | 33 | 19 | 22 | 39 | 25 | [39] | 168 |
36 | USA 8217 M | Mike Phinney / Rick Burgess | 2/RDG | 53 | 43 | 32 | 30 | 30 | 36 | [53] | 173 |
37 | SUI 8329 | Daniel Wyss / Urs Joss | 6 | 32 | 53 | 29 | 45 | 26 | 64/DNF | [64] | 191 |
38 | GER 8179 | Klaus Meyer / Jörg Müller | 33 | 41 | 49 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 38 | [49] | 194 |
39 | USA 8015 | Donald Massey / Isao Boyama | 64/OCS | 40 | 50 | 17 | 38 | 37 | 23 | [64] | 205 |
40 | USA 8036 GM | Jack Rickard / Sam Eadie | 46 | 24 | 32 | 37 | 27 | 50 | 42 | [50] | 208 |
41 | SUI 8133 | Urs Infanger / Oleg Chtchetinine | 43 | 26 | 36 | 36 | 43 | 25 | 44 | [44] | 209 |
42 | USA 8312 GM | Anthony Herrmann / Chris Nielson | 42 | 16 | 44 | 27 | 42 | 47 | 64/DNC | [64] | 218 |
43 | GER 7865 | Stefan Lehnert / Dietmar Hobbie | 27 | 50 | 47 | 64/DNF | 33 | 38 | 28 | [64] | 223 |
44 | GER 7750 EGM | Jens Burmester / Markus Mehlen | 40 | 47 | 51 | 33 | 37 | 41 | 37 | [51] | 235 |
45 | SUI 8482 | Lorenz Zimmermann / Nils Hollweg | 38 | 49 | 42 | 26 | 40 | 46 | 45 | [49] | 237 |
46 | USA 7986 M | Barbara Beigel-Vosbury / Laura Beigel | 26 | 64/BFD | 38 | 64/DNC | 44 | 44 | 34 | [64] | 250 |
47 | USA 8175 | James Babel / Scott Benson | 64/OCS | 34 | 46 | 28 | 47 | 35 | 64/DNC | [64] | 254 |
48 | USA 7629 | Ken Woods / Kip Gardner | 10 | 45 | 45 | 64/DNF | 35 | 64/DNC | 64/DNC | [64] | 263 |
49 | USA 8112 GM | J. Joseph Bainton / Chris Rogers | 39 | 44 | 35 | 64/DNF | 46 | 36 | 64/DNC | [64] | 264 |
50 | USA 8215 EGM | John Chiarella / Bob Carlson | 48 | 52 | 55 | 64/DNF | 49 | 29 | 43 | [64] | 276 |
51 | GER 8416 | Hubert Rauch / Kilian Weise | 64/OCS | 51 | 39 | 35 | 41 | 51 | 64/DNF | [64] | 281 |
52 | USA 7469 | Blaise Gallahue / James Rudser | 49 | 42 | 56 | 64/DNF | 48 | 49 | 47 | [64] | 291 |
53 | USA 8087 | Keith Donald / Kevin Elterman | 23 | 37 | 40 | 64/DNF | 64/DNC | 64/DNC | 64/DNC | [64] | 292 |
54 | USA 8361 | Joseph Pro / Nicolaus Pro | 44 | 64/DNC | 52 | 64/DNF | 50 | 43 | 46 | [64] | 299 |
55 | USA 7306 | Lou Roberts / Brian McSweeney | 41 | 46 | 54 | 38 | 64/DNF | 64/DNC | 64/DNC | [64] | 307 |
56 | USA 8084 | Robert Teitge / Eric Beckwith | 47 | 29 | 41 | 64/BFD | 64/DNC | 64/DNC | 64/DNC | [64] | 309 |
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