2007 Acura Miami Grand Prix - Day 2
by Bill Wagner 10 Mar 2007 08:47 GMT
8-11 March 2007
French skipper Erik Maris and the Twins crew are currently on top of a talent-laden Farr 40 fleet at the 2007 Acura Miami Grand Prix. However, they face two more days of tough competition before they can lay claim to the prestigious Grand Prix Championship that rewards outstanding performance at both of Premiere Racing’s winter regattas.
Twins is one of three Farr 40s battling to win the Acura Grand Prix Championship, awarded to the team with the lowest cumulative points scored in Key West and Miami combined. Alinghi, which won Key West in convincing fashion, leads the grand prix standings with Flash Gordon 5 (Helmut Jahn, Chicago, Ill.) and Twins close behind.
“We are interested in any hardware that we can get our hands on,” Maris said when asked his thoughts on the Acura Grand Prix Championship. “It would be fantastic to win the combined trophy because that would mean we did well at two major events.”
Twins narrowly held onto its overall lead in the 16-boat Farr 40 class at Acura Miami Grand Prix, which also serves as the Rolex North American Championship. Maris and crew posted a seventh and ninth on Friday and saw their lead over the Italian entry Nerone (Massimo Mezzaroma) cut in half.
“We had a tough day. We got two mediocre starts and struggled with our speed,” said Maris, who has Lorenzo Bressani aboard as tactician. “We tried our best to limit the damage, but the whole thing has tightened up. If we sail tomorrow like we did today, we will no longer be leading.”
Alinghi got off to a rough start – absorbing a ninth and a 12th on Thursday – but rebounded nicely on Friday with a fourth and a second. Skipper Ernesto Bertarelli and the Swiss syndicate, current holder of the America’s Cup, moved into third overall for Miami and regained the lead in the grand prix championship.
Nanoq, owned by Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, won Race 5 and jumped from eighth to fourth in the overall standings. Bouwe Bekking, skipper of the movistar in the last Volvo Ocean Race, was all smiles as he stood on the dock at the Miami Beach Marina afterward.
“We had a very nice day. We are getting better and better with every race,” Bekking said. “Everything came together in the second race today. We got a good start, we had sharp mark roundings and our boat speed was excellent.”
John Kilroy, skipper of the TP52 Samba Pa Ti, could say the same about his team’s performance on Friday. The California entry notched a first and a second to take over the overall lead in IRC class.
“I’m very happy with the way the team sailed today. I think we had the boat set up right and our decision-making on the water was real strong,” said Kilroy, a Los Angeles resident. “It was just another day at the office for this bunch. We have some very talented sailors onboard.”
Tactician Stu Bannatyne heads a long list of America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race veterans who are crewing on Samba Pa Ti, which moved four points ahead of Day 1 leader Magic Glove. Other notables on Samba include Richard Clarke, Mike Howard and Peter Dorien.
“We felt the rig was tuned too tight on Wednesday so we went back to the setup we had in Key West and it worked better,” Kilroy said.
Samba Pa Ti also overtook Magic Glove in the grand prix championship standings for IRC. The Ker 50, owned by Colm Barrington of Dublin, Ireland, went from two points ahead to three points behind.
“I like the concept behind combining the two regattas. It’s good for the boats to have that as an objective,” Kilroy said.
Fresh Guidance, skippered by Simon Williams of Newport, R.I., lost the lead in Melges 32 class late Thursday night after being disqualified from Race 3. That moved Star to the top of the leader board and skipper Jeff Ecklund maintained that position with a first and a third on Friday.
“We’ve struggled getting off the line, but we have exceptional downwind speed and that has saved us,” said Ecklund, a native Midwesterner who now lives in nearby Ft. Lauderdale.
Harry Melges is calling tactics while brother Hans Melges is trimming on Star, which has improved its performance significantly since finishing fifth in Key West.
“This class is only a year old and, like everyone, we are still learning the boat,” Ecklund said. “We don’t have as much time in the boat as some of the other top teams. We haven’t practiced and we haven’t been coached so we are kind of figuring things out by the seat of our pants.”
Let’s Roll, an Italian entry skippered by Claudio Recchi, dominated the fleet in Key West – clinching the regatta with a race to spare and finishing with an 18-point margin of victory. It’s been tougher sledding here in Miami for Let’s Roll, which is two points behind Star.
“It has been very close racing, which is more exciting and more fun for everyone,” Recchi said. “The fleet has improved a lot in two months.”
Let’s Roll still holds a nearly insurmountable lead in the grand prix championship, a title Recchi would love to claim.
“Of course we would like to win that championship because it shows consistency,” he said.
Mean Machine and Groovederci continue to duke it out in Mumm 30 class with the former entry making a strong move on Friday. Monaco-based skipper Peter De Ridder steered Mean Machine to a pair of bullets to increase his lead over Deneen Demourkas from two to four points.
“The battle has been raging, but Peter is getting the best of us,” said Demourkas, a resident of Santa Barbara, Cal. “Our boat speed is very good both up and down wind so that’s not an excuse. We need to position ourselves better and we need to get around the corners better.”
Action in the four-day regatta, organized by Premiere Racing, continues on Saturday with principal race officer Dave Brennan planning to start three races. The 10-race series, being held on a course set just off the north end of Key Biscayne, concludes on Sunday.
Results after Day 2:
IRC:
1. Samba Pa Ti, TP52, John Kilroy, San Francisco, CA, USA, 3-1-3-2-1, 10pts
2. Magic Glove, Ker 50, Colm Barrington, Dublin, IRL, 1-3-2-5-3, 14pts
3. Windquest, TP52, Doug DeVos, Holland, MI, USA, 4-2-1-3-6, 16pts
Farr 40: (Rolex National Championship)
1. Twins, Erik Maris, Newport, RI, USA, 6-1-2-7-9, 25pts
2. Nerone, Massimo Mezzaroma, Rome, Italy, 9-3-1-6-8, 27pts
3. Ainghi, Ernesto Bertarelli, Geneva, SUI, 1-9-12-4-2, 28pts
Melges 32:
1. Star, Jeff Ecklund, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 4-1-1-3-1, 10pts
2. Let’s Roll, Claudio Recchi, YC Italiano, ITA, 3-2-2-2-3, 12pts
3. Highlife, Peter Rogers, Hanble, UK, 1-7-3-4-6, 21pts
Mumm 30:
1. Mean Machine, Peter De Ridder, Monaco, 1-2-1-1-1, 6pts
2. Groovederci, Deneen Demourkas, Santa Barbara, CA, 3-1-2-2-2, 10pts
3. Kaizen, Baker / Solomon, Noank, CT, 2-4-4-4-3, 17pts