Fifth BACARDI® Miami Sailing Week Presented by EFG Bank - Day 1
by Icarus Sailing Media 3 Mar 2015 07:42 GMT
2-7 March 2015
Tough break for Larry Whipple and Austin Sperry
A beautiful sunny Miami welcomed Star sailors to the first day of the 88th Bacardi Cup. One race is scheduled for each day of the 6-day event as part of the BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG Bank. With winds around 10 knots from the East, the racing area was set about 1 ¾ miles south of Dinner Key Channel. The course is set at 95 degrees with 2-mile legs, which will test the sailors' endurance both mentally and physically.
After a short postponement, 54 boats checked in for the 1st race of the event. Everyone seemed excited and very competitive resulting in 2 general recalls, and then leading to a black flag start with all boats clear. The first boat around the weather mark was Benjamin Sternberg and Stuart MacIntosh (New York City, NY), followed by Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl (San Diego, CA), and Arthur Anosov and Andrey Shafranuk (Ruskin, FL), respectively. Arthur Anosov sailed a spectacular downwind leg to round the gates in first with Larry Whipple and Austin Sperry (Port Ludlow, WA), and Jorge Joao Zarif and Bruno Prada (Sao Paulo, BRA) close behind. The standings at the 2nd rounding of the weather mark held through the finish with Larry Whipple and Austin Sperry (Port Ludlow, WA) crossing the line first, followed by Jorge Joao Zarif and Bruno Prada (Sao Paulo, BRA) in second, and Arthur Anosov and Audrey Shafranuk (Ruskin, FL) in third.
"It was good," says Larry Whipple about the first race. "At the first top mark we were top 10, 8th or 9th, then we jibed away to the left hand side and got more pressure on the run and ended up second at the bottom of the run. On the second beat we got a little bit father right of Austen, Bruno and Jorge and were able round the weather mark a little bit in front of them. We were just barely able to hold them off on the run; I think we only won by 2 boat lengths. It was a fun day, nice breeze, a little shifty, but always in the 8-12 knot range."
Unfortunately, Larry Whipple and Austin Sperry were scored as DSQ for breaking rule 11.1, failing to check-in before the start.
Brazil's Jorge Joao Zarif crossed the line second, but will be scored with a 1st. He said sailing today, "Was really hard because the wind was changing a lot and there was a lot of pressure from both sides. You had to choose a side to work and try to work the shifts and pray to your God." His crew, Bruno Prada added that, "we were pretty lucky with our decisions. In a race like BACARDI with only 6 races, the consistency counts."
Being scored second we have Arthur Anosov whose crew, Andrey Shafranuk is sailing stars for the first time. Arthur said "it was great fun, especially for him and for me obviously." Arthur continues talking about the racing today, saying, "Obviously we wanted to win, we were leading after the first time around and we lost two boats, but we are so happy with a third place, those guys are so great. BACARDI has always been my favourite regatta; I have been in the US since 1994, and I don't think I have missed more than one or two BACARDIs."
Biscayne Bay is known for being a great place to sail, and according to Larry Whipple, "This is the best place to sail in the world right here, whether you win or lose; I have always said that. The first Bacardi Cup I came to was 1973, I haven't been to all of them, but I have been to a lot and it's always fun. Out of 60 boats I bet we have 30 boats from Europe or South America. You can tell when that many people want to come here that it's a pretty good place to sail." Hopefully, after their tough break today, Larry and Austen will come back strong tomorrow.
Sailors can be found relaxing after sailing at the BACARDI Village located in Kennedy Park, complete with BACARDI Rum, food, music and great people. A special art exhibit, Sailing Dreams by Vicki DaSilva, is set up in CocoWalk until March 7th, along with a pop-up store inside Unit 115. DaSilva is exhibiting 10 light paintings (made by moving a hand-held light source while taking a long exposure photograph) that present to the community how she interprets the beautiful sport of sailing into art.
Over the weekend BMSW hosted the Pro-Am Gala and Pro-Am Regatta to raise money to benefit Shake-A-Leg-Miami (SALM), Sailing Heals, and Team Paradise. The Pro-Am Gala dinner sold out with over 120 guests in attendance. Guests were treated to free-flowing BACARDI Rum, delicious food, great music, and a live auction. On Sunday, 20 amateurs sailed with Star pro-sailors on Sonars and 15 guests raced on the M32 catamarans, in the Pro-Am Regatta. Sailing Heals brought cancer patients from Miami's Children Hospital to sail on 3 sailing vessels generously offered by volunteers. Both of these events were hugely successful and over $10,000 was raised in support of SALM, Sailing Heals and Team Paradise.
The sixth annual running of BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG Bank will run through March 7, 2015. Regatta headquarters are at Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove. The Star class, whose teams are competing in the 88th Bacardi Cup, headlines the six-day BMSW racing schedule. On the last four days of the regatta, competitors in the J/70, M32, Viper 640 and VX One classes will join the Stars on Biscayne Bay.
Full results are available at www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1222 while more information on the BACARDI Miami Sailing Week and the 88th BACARDI Cup is available at www.MiamiSailingWeek.com and www.BacardiCup.com.