Star Bacardi Cup at Coral Reef Yacht Club, Miami

Star Bacardi Cup at Coral Reef Yacht Club, Miami - Day 4

by Janet Maizner 12 Mar 2009 09:00 GMT 8-13 March 2009

Racing on day four of the 2009 Bacardi Cup © Alex Gort

Race win for Bromby & Liljedhal

Bermuda’s Peter Bromby and crew Magnus Liljedhal of Miami held off a late charge by Jon VanderMolen of Gull Lake, Michigan, and crew Geoff Ewenson of Annapolis, Maryland, to win day four at the 82nd Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta on the waters of Biscayne Bay, Miami.

With the victory, Bromby and Liljedahl increase their overall lead to seven points with two races to go in the regatta.

Winds were 8-10 knots out of the northeast today as Day 4 of the 2009 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta got underway, picking up to 12 knots and more as the four-leg race progressed. Olympian Peter O’Leary and crew Tim Goodbody (IRE) were among the first boats off the starting line with a pack that took a left tack upwind.

However, Bromby and Liljedahl established themselves as the team to beat with the lead at the first mark, and they never looked back. By the third mark, Bromby’s lead was more than eight boat lengths, but it whittled to about one boat at the finish following several strong attacks by the Americans on the final downwind leg.

“We bided our time before we attacked,” said VanderMolen. “If you start attacking too early, you potentially give up ground to the boats behind you, so it’s a delicate balance.” Ewenson added, “Chances weren’t good that we would pass [Bromby], but we had to attack him. We got close enough that we could hear them talking. I like to think we made them a little nervous today.”

When asked about that, Liljedahl assured, “They didn’t make us nervous at all. When they jibed out on the final leg, it allowed us to get a little more pressure on the run. [VanderMolen] did a good job, but I knew Peter would pull it out.”

With Wednesday’s second place finish, VanderMolen and Ewenson remain in second place in the overall standings.

Rounding out the top five Wednesday were Switzerland’s Flavio Marazzi and crew Petter Pedersen; Ireland’s O’Leary and crew Goodbody; and Americas Cup veteran and former Star Class World Champion Paul Cayard with Olympian Austin Sperry of the United States.

“We were a little bit faster, shorter and higher today,” said Pedersen (NOR), who rounded the third mark in sixth place, but gained three boats on stronger gusts during the final run. “There’s more action when there’s wind.”

Bacardi Cup participants sail one race daily through Friday, March 13, keeping their five best finishes to determine the overall champion.

Results after Day 4:

Pos	Bow / Sail No	Helm	Crew	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	54/ 8272	Bromby, Peter	Liljedahl, Magnus	BER	1.7/AVG	2	2	1	6.7
2	76/ 8376	VanderMollen, Jon	Ewenson, Geoff	USA	2	16	6	2	26
3	60/ 8259	Cayard, Paul	Sperry, Austin	USA	11	10	8	5	34
4	59/ 8267	Mendelblatt, Mark	Prada, Bruno	USA	3	23	1	10	37
5	32/ 8265	Wright, Peter	Quist, Nathan	USA	13	3	19	13	48
6	37/ 8261	O'Leary, Peter	Goodbody, Tim	IRL	4	29	17	4	54
7	73/ 8273	Szabo, George	Peters, Rick	USA	1	20	25	9	55
8	90/ 8285	Diaz, Augie	Strube, Mark	USA	15	5	10	27	57
9	57/ 8157	Anosov, Arthur	Dolan, Mark	USA	17	17	5	21	60
10	62/ 8362	Merriman, Rick	Trinter, Phil	USA	6	44	7	6	63
11	20/ 8320	Reynolds, Mark	Haenel, Hal	USA	12	15	12	31	70
12	95/ 8195	MacCausland, John	Murphy, Kevin	USA	10	28	4	32	74
13	25/ 8025	Gimson, John	Greig, Ed	GBR	16	22	24	14	76
14	52/ 8241	Campbell, Andy	Nichol, Brad	USA	19	18	28	12	77
15	92/ 8292	Mathias, Dahlman	Heinonen, Erkki	FIN	7	36	20	15	78
16	78/ 8077	Jennings, Jack	Rehe, Mike	USA	31	8	23	16	78
17	46/ 8361	Pickel, Marc	Mitchell, Steve	GER	5	26	45	8	84
18	29/ 8143	Cramer, Brian	Johnston, Matt	CAN	22	27	21	17	87
19	50/ 8250	MacDonald, Andy	Fatih, Brian	USA	64/DNF	13	3	11	91
20	64/ 8364	Marazzi, Flavio	Pedersen, Petter	SUI	64/OCS	12	13	3	92
21	47/ 8318	Coughlin, Daniel	Balmert, Brad	USA	35	6	18	34	93
22	40/ 8341	Boggi, Lucio	LaPorta, Manuele	ITA	21	1	9	64/BFD	95
23	38/ 8338	Johansson, Mats	Moller, Leif	SWE	8	53	14	23	98
24	34/ 8215	Allen, Bill	Hatfield, Bruce	USA	32	21	31	18	102
25	68/ 8268	Hagebols, Rodney	Finlay, William	USA	27/AVG	7	33	41	108
26	56/ 8382	Irrera, Renato	Cristaldini, Corrado	ITA	28	9	22	51	110
27	53/ 8253	Brethorst, Rick	Anderson, Scott	USA	24	11	41	35	111
28	77/ 8177	Modena, Luca	Lambertenghi, Sergio	ITA	29/AVG	43	37	7	116
29	36/ 7601	Hicks, Michael	Hicks, Patrick	GER	23	25	49	26	123
30	74/ 8072	Smith, Doug	Moore, Mike	USA	29	42	29	24	124
31	79/ 8279	Bonanni, Claude	Burgess, Rick	USA	34	33	30	28	125
32	49/ 7750	Burmester, Jens	Kleine, Friedrich	GER	37	30	16	43	126
33	80/ 8247	Gureyev, Vasyl	Korotkov, Volodmyr	UKR	26	31	36	33	126
34	66/ 8263	Jorissen, Sander	Veldhuizen, Erik	NED	14	64/BFD	11	45	134
35	69/ 8369	Tomasini Grinover, Roberto	Bahr, Gunnar	AUT	44	19	27	47	137
36	65/ 7865	Lehnert, Stefan	Struve, Dirk	GER	45	50	26	22	143
37	67/ 8333	Bischoff, Clay	Bjorn, Tyler	USA	64/OCS	4	64/OCS	19	151
38	28/ 45	Valasek, Marek	Galarce, Mauricio	SVK	57	37	38	20	152
39	89/ 8024	Fogh, Hans	Cheer, Roger	CAN	36	64/DNF	15	39	154
40	86/ 8286	Dannesboe, Henrick	Morey, Edward	SUI	30	58	47	25	160
41	70/ 8170	Londrigan, Tom	Hall, Stewart	USA	25	64/BFD	34	38	161
42	30/ 7930	Hofkirchner, Terry	Imai, Jeffrey	CAN	49	14	44	55	162
43	45/ 8245	Zambella, Joe	Scott, Larry	USA	41/AVG	55	39	29	164
44	22/ 8311	Hampe, Alex	Conrads, Chris	GER	27	38	58	42	165
45	27/ 8329	Wyss, Daniel	Joss, Urs	SUI	42	54	35	46	177
46	85/ 7986	Biegal-Vosbury, Barbara	Zuschnit, Michael	USA	50	52	42	36	180
47	83/ 8183	Tamburini, Antonio	Ricci, Renzo	ITA	47	39	40	54	180
48	26/ 7626	Passmore, Mark	Bunner, Ivan	CAN	64/OCS	24	64/OCS	30	182
49	93/ 7902	Gunther, Stephen	Armstrong, Lance	USA	53	32	52	49	186
50	98/ 8095	Weissenberger, Gunti	Hardin, Chris	USA	39	45	55	48	187
51	48/ 8112	Bainton, John	Rogers, Chris	USA	52	47	48	40	187
52	43/ 8132	Kohihas, Jock	Gesing, Witold	USA	47.3/AVG	46	32	64/BFD	189.3
53	96/ 7307	Suter, Larry	Jenkins, John	USA	38	41	51	60	190
54	63/ 8063	Collins, Bert	Avellon, Guy	USA	43	48	46	53	190
55	44/ 8348	Bierman, Guus	Skinner, Duncan	NED	46	51	64/OCS	37	198
56	23/ 8344	Barovier, Alberto	Nobili, Gilberto	ITA	49.7/AVG	35	64/DNF	50	198.7
57	24/ 7713	Fransen, Ben	Coleman, Ian	USA	64/OCS	34	50	52	200
58	35/ 7501	Karahanas, Amanda	Karahanas, Tony	CAN	55	49	43	64/DSQ	211
59	94/ 8323	Doyle, Erick	Calder, Steve	USA	64/DNS	40	64/OCS	44	212
60	55/ 8217	Phinney, Mike	Poole, Greg	USA	40	59	57	59	215
61	82/ 8083	Chiarella, John	Carlson, Bob	USA	48	57	56	58	219
62	39/ 7970	Hopkins, Sam	Serenis, Aaron	USA	54	56	54	56	220
63	97/ 7497	Wilson, Kris	Quinn, Sean	USA	56	60	53	57	226