Irish Olympians win first race in Miami

2008 Olympian Peter O’Leary and David Burrows of Ireland have won the first race of the day for the Star class in the BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG Bank.

Racing got underway in earnest yesterday for the five classes – Star, Viper 640, Audi Melges 20, Melges 24 and J/80.

The Star fleet, competing for the 85th BACARDI Cup, had started racing on Monday but was sidelined for the last two days as a weather system generating high winds and hazardous marine conditions sat over the area.

Today, with easterly winds in the upper teens, the Stars resumed their series, joined by the Melges fleets who shared racing on one circle and the Viper 640 and J/80 classes sharing another.

The Irish duo Peter O’Leary and David Burrows led around the first leeward mark followed closely by 2008 Star World Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (Poland) and Xavier Rohart and Pierre-Alexis Ponsot (France).

The positions remained intact as the three teams crossed the finish line.

In race two, 2007 BACARDI Cup champion Hamish Pepper and crew Jim Turner (New Zealand) were leading at the first mark, followed by Kusznierewicz/Zycki and Rohart/Ponsot, but the Polish team succeeded in beating them across the line, with the French team finishing third.

The win of the second race moved Kusznierewicz and Zycki to the top of the overall standings with three points, followed by O’Leary and Burrows with five.

Day one leaders Hans Spitzauer, a five-time Olympian, and Gerd Habermueller (Austria) placed 9-5 in today’s races and dropped to third overall, where they are tied on points with Rohart and Ponsot. Two points back, Pepper and Turner stand fifth with eight points.

“Overall not a bad day,” said Peter O’Leary. “After two days on shore we were very happy to be on the water again. Conditions were good, yet a bit tricky with big waves that made sailing interesting. We were first at the first mark and we took it from there to the finish. In the second race we had an excellent start and then had to overcome a big wind shift. We made it to the top mark in the top group, and although we wanted to win we had to settle for fourth.”

In the 21-boat Melges 24 class, Ireland’s Conor Clarke won the first race of the day, while Franco Rossini (Switzerland) placed second.

Rossini then took the bullet in the second and third races of the day, not to mention the lead of the overall standings which he now holds with four points. Clarke is second overall with seven points, followed by Riccardo Simoneschi (Milan, Italy) who has 10 points after finishes of 3-5-2.

One point back is Kristen Lane (Tiburon, Calif.) after placing 5-3-3, followed by Alan Field (Los Angeles, Calif.) who placed 4-11-5 for 20 points.

Racing continues today and will conclude for all five classes tomorrow.