Last race match race

Michael Kiss comes out on top at the Audi Melges 20 racing in Miami

The Audi 20s competing in Miami wrapped up eight competitive races with Marc Hollerbach the new Winter Series ranking leader.

After two days of windy, shifty sailing, Biscayne Bay saved the best for last and tee'd up 8-11 knot easterly breeze that settled the score in both the overall and Corinthian standings. With Gulf Stream clouds and Stiltsville serving as the backdrop, two races were completed on the final day of racing and regardless of finishing place, every Audi Melges 20 sailor experienced three powder days of sailing.

On fire since Race One of the event, Michael Kiss's Bacio again used his pin-end prowess and boat speed to launch his team into the top group in Race 7. Despite a shaky moment or two downwind, Kiss made a late pass on two boats to salvage a fifth place finish, but with Alessandro Rombelli's STIG lurking and grabbing second, Kiss still needed to sail the last race and with only a five point advantage headed into the final race.

Locked in a grudge match for the Corinthian title, veteran helm Brian Hill on Atlas turned it on and mixed it up in the front of the fleet doing his best to erase a two point gap behind Audi Melges 20 newcomer Julian Plante on Shimmer. Like an unwelcome dinner guest, Plante managed to hang just a few places behind the entire race and put a up a 12th to Hill's eighth. Trailing by two points entering the day, Hill now had a two point lead heading into the final race.

With an eager fleet, several general recalls ensued in the last race resulting in a Z-Flag start from PRO Bruce Golison. Using an aggressive approach and unable to finish the regatta worse than second, Kiss went after Rombelli in the pre-start and with several circles, dial ups and hard luffs, Kiss was able to force Rombelli into a compromised starting position and headed to the unfavored right side of the race course.

Once free, Rombelli was able to make a heroic comeback from the mid-20s into the top ten by the bottom gate, but the front group was too out of touch to pull off the miracle win. Trailing a few boats behind was Kiss and after seeing the first two boats finish, realised they had sealed the regatta win with an impressively consistent scoreline in this tough fleet.

Once again near the top of the fleet, Corinthians Hill and Plante simply refused to give in, and the table once again turned as Plante was now just a few points ahead of Hill all the way around the track. Unable to jump Plante on the final run, Hill had a tough final run and lost touch with Plante, and ultimately the Corinthian title. With several new Corinthian teams coming out of the frozen North, including the all-Porter team from Chicago who had several moments of brilliance, the all-amatuer series is going down to the wire.

In just over a months time, the Audi Melges 20 fleet will be back in the paradise of Biscayne Bay with the first inaugural, stand alone Melges Rocks Regatta. Recovering from a painful first day, and posting an unreal scoreline from Race 4, Marc Hollerbach and his Fu team salvaged an improbable fifth place and have a solid lead on the 2015 Audi Melges 20 Winter Series. Trailing behind is board member Richard Davies on Section 16 with Winter Regatta Champion Michael Kiss in third. The only thing more exciting than the sailing is the drama and which hard working team will show up to play at the next event.

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