More than 90 Star teams including some of the world’s top sailors lined up on the start line for the first day’s racing at the 75th annual Star Barcadi Cup at Miami on Sunday 3 March.

Early morning showers abated just in time for the noon start and racing began in perfect conditions – 8-10 knots and sunshine. After four general recalls, the fleet got underway on a black flag start. Foss Miller and Greg Newhall of Vashon, Washington, came from behind to win the first race of the world-class six-day sailing competition on Miami’s Biscayne Bay.

Team GBR Ian Barker had an excellent start to the regatta finishing in eighth place on the first day having recovered from a 60th place at the first mark. Barker commented: “We didn’t do a lot wrong after the first beat and pulled up through the fleet. The biggest gains were on the last run where myself and Paul Cayard in particular, pulled through in extra pressure and several contenders were caught on the wrong side of the run and lost plenty, notably, defending champion Peter Bromby, and Olympic Champion, Mark Reynolds.” Teammate Iain Percy, had an unfortunate day after being one of the many caught on the wrong side of a shift that saw him drop out of the top ten into 31st position.

Day two brought very different conditions for the fleet. A challenging cold front across Biscayne Bay gave Bacardi Cup veterans skipper Mark Reynolds and his crew Magnus Liljedahl a chance to show off their sailing abilities on the second day of racing. Reynolds and Liljedhal, took Monday’s race in winds of 20 knots and gusts of 22 knots.

Team GBR sailors, Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell made a dramatic improvement on their 31st place from the first day, to finish in second place behind the Olympic Gold Medallists. “The course is a lot longer than the Finn course that I am used to, so we are very happy to have finished in second place, especially after our result on the first day.” Commented Percy.

The Bacardi Cup concludes on Friday 8 March, with competitors sailing one race a day.

Results (after two races sailed)

1, John MacCausland and Sean Delaney (USA)

2, Jose Van Der Ploeg and Diego Fructuoso (ESP)

3, Alfonso Domingos and Bernardo Santos (POR)

4, Ian Barker and Edmund Peel (GBR)

5, Jock Kohlhas and Richard Peters (USA)

6, Rod Hagebols and Paul Erickson (USA)

7, Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl (USA)

8, Riccardo Simoneschi and Ferninando Colaninno (ITA)

9, Andy Lovell and Prieur Leary (USA)

10, Augie Diaz and Christian Finnsgard (USA)