Day 2 of Racing at the Bacardi Cup

Monday, March 09, 2009

The Italian team of Lucio Boggi and crew Manuele La Porta led at the start and played cat and mouse with three-time Bacardi Cup champion Peter Wright and crew Nathan Quist, both of Chicago, IL, through most of the 10.5 mile race on Biscayne Bay. The Italian duo are now in 8th place overall and the Chicagoans are in third.

Wright who took 10 years off since his last Bacardi Cup win in 1993, said he had good speed from the start and was in a jibing duel with the Italians from the second mark on. “We weren’t watching Bromby at all. He got between us at the end,” said Wright.

The powerhouse team of Peter Bromby and Magnus Liljedhal, both Olympians and Bacardi Cup champions, slid into second place on the run to the finish and move up to first place overall.

“We found some pressure at the right time and picked off a couple of boats by tacking to the left of the boats ahead of us just after the start,” said Bromby who was out of the top 10 at the first mark but had consistent gains throughout the race.

Miamian Augie Diaz and crew Mark Strube took fifth place today and moves into 5th place overall. “We had a really poor start but we were fortunate that the wind came in strong when we cleared. We made it to the weather mark 9th. “

Day one leader Szabo/Peters finished 20th today putting them at 6th overall and still in striking distance of Olympians Paul Cayard and crew Austin Sperry.

The 62-boat fleet, peppered with Star World champions and Olympians also has a first-time Star sailor from Slovakia.

For complete race results go to www.starclass.org and to www.bacardicup.org for daily photos and videos.

The 82nd Annual Bacardi Cup Star Class regatta continues with daily racing through Friday, March 13th when the coveted Trofeo Bacardi will be awarded.