Acura Miami Grand Prix - Overall
by Bill Wagner 9 Mar 2009 09:12 GMT
5-8 March 2009
Four days, 10 races, countless smiling faces
In a real rarity and a true testament to outstanding sailing, winners of all four classes at the Acura Miami Grand Prix went wire-to-wire. Ran (IRC 1), Soozal (IRC 2), Nerone (Farr 40) and Bliksem (Melges 32) all led from start to finish, a remarkable feat, but they hadn’t clinched
going into the final day and all sailed every race.
Competition was tight in all four classes of this powerhouse fleet
of 42 boats from seven countries, but the Farr 40 was deemed to be the
most competitive and that earned Nerone the Acura Boat of the Week
honor. The Italian entry won six of 10 races, an almost unheard of
achievement in the professional-laden Farr 40 class. Skipper Massimo
Mezzaroma and crew finished the series in style, getting the gun in both
races yesterday to extend its lead on runner-up Goombay Smash (Doug
Douglass, Newport, RI).
“To win such a great regatta and get Boat of the Week as well, I
don’t know how we can beat this result,” Mezzaroma said. “We had great
karma on the boat and the whole crew was on its game.”
America’s Cup veteran Vasco Vascotto called tactics on Nerone, which
also won this regatta in 2000 and 2003. “We love Miami. For some reason,
our boat and team performs very well here. We have never had this many
firsts in one event… it really is unbelievable. We were very, very fast
downwind and I think that was a big key.”
Pieter Taselaar and his crew aboard Bliksem drew serious
consideration for Boat of the Week after putting forth an impressive
performance in the very tough Melges 32 class. Taselaar opened the
regatta with three straight bullets and never looked back despite being
pushed the whole way by Samba Pa Ti (John Kilroy, San Francisco, CA) and
Red (Joe Woods, Great Britain).
“Once you get the lead there is a lot of pressure to stay ahead. We
just had to stay calm and sail our own race,” Taselaar said. “We had
good teamwork, good boat-handling and good tactics.
Jeremy Wilmot, a member of the intercollegiate dinghy team at
powerhouse St. Mary’s College of Maryland, called tactics on Bliksem.
The Australian native was skipper of the Morning Light program and
served notice he will make a fine professional one day.
“Jeremy was just awesome this week. He is a young guy, but a real
natural talent. He sees shifts about a minute before the competition,
which was a huge advantage for us.”
It marked the first Melges 32 class victory in seven attempts for
Taselaar, a Netherlands native who now lives St. Inigoes, MD. Nathan
Wilmot, who captured an Olympic gold medal as skipper for the Australian
470 team in Qingdao, China, lent his expertise to the team as trimmer.
“We are extremely excited. We really focused on this regatta and put
in a lot of effort. It is very rewarding to see all that preparation pay
off,” Taselaar said.
Owner Dan Woolery and close friend Scott Easom spent a year gearing
up to sail Soozal in the two winter regattas organized by Premiere
Racing. The King 40, designed by Mark Mills and built by Summit Yachts,
has proven a real rocket ship by capturing IRC 2 class at both Acura Key
West 2009 and the Acura Miami Grand Prix.
“This has been a year-long project to get this boat the way we
wanted, and it was all about doing well on this Florida circuit. We feel
wonderful right now because we have met all our goals,” Woolery said.
“It’s just a great design by Mark Mills. We had one heck of a boat and
terrific crew work, which is a nice combination.”
Veteran professional Robbie Haines called tactics on Soozal and drew
high praise from Woolery. “Robbie was excellent as usual. He is just a
wizard at calling the shifts and deserves a lot of credit for our
success. It doesn’t do any good to go fast if you’re on the wrong side
of the course,” he said.
Ran, owned by Niklas Zennstrom of Great Britain, won seven races and
finished second or third in the others en route to victory in IRC 1.
America’s Cup veteran and match racing standout Thierry Peponnet called
tactics on Ran, which edged fellow TP52 Rio by five points.
“We had really fantastic conditions here in Miami this week. It was
sunny and windy every day, which made for fun and exciting racing,”
Peponnet said. “We are very happy with the performance of our team.
Everyone did their job well and we made very few mistakes.”
Ran was a double winner yesterday as it also captured the Acura Grand
Prix Championship Trophy, awarded to the boat with the best combined
performance in Key West and Miami. Zennstrom’s team won six of 10 races
in taking IRC 1 class at Acura Key West 2009 as well.
“We had very good competition with Rio here and in Key West. It was
like match racing. They have a good team and really pushed us hard,”
Peponnet said.
Joe Fly, an Italian boat owned by Giovanni Maspero, earned the Acura
Grand Prix Championship in the Farr 40 class after placing second in Key
West and third in Miami. New Wave, co-owned by Michael Carroll and Marty
Kullman of Clearwater, Fla., took the honors in Melges 32 class thanks
to a fourth in Key West and a fifth in Miami.
“It is quite an honor to win the Acura Grand Prix Championship as it
speaks to consistency at three great events. The competition in Melges
32 class in Key West and Miami was the best we have ever seen so
naturally we are ecstatic,” Carroll said.
Temperatures in the 80s, sunny skies and winds that never dipped
below double digits made the 2009 Acura Miami Grand Prix one of the best
in recent memory. “I don’t know if I have ever seen so many happy faces
leaving a regatta,” event director Peter Craig said. “The weather was
phenomenal, the race committee work was outstanding and the competition
in all four classes was very, very good. All the owners I spoke with are
looking forward to coming back.”
Acura Miami Grand Prix Overall Results:
Farr 40 (12 entries)
1, Nerone, Massimo Mezzaroma, Punta Ala, Italy, 1-1-2-7-1-7-1-4-1-1=26pts
2, Goombay Smash, Doug Douglas, Newport, R.I., 5-2-7-3-6-3-3-1-7-2=39pts
3, Joe Fly, Giovanni Maspero, Como, Italy, 2-5-4-4-4-4-2-2-9-8=44pts
Melges 32 (19 entries, 1 discard)
1, Bliksem, Pieter Taselaar, St Inigoes, M.D., 1-1-1-2-7-5-1-3-(-8)-3=24pts
2, Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy, San Francisco, C.A., 2-6-3-4-3-2-9-1-(-13)-2=32pts
3, Red, Joe Woods, Torbay, UK, 7-8-2-3-2-9-4-6-(-11)-7=48pts
IRC 1 (4 entries)
1, RAN, Niklas Zennstrom, Hamble, GBR, 1-1-1-2-3-1-1-1-1-2=14pts
2, Rio, Charles Dunstone, Cowes, GBR, 2-2-3-1-1-2-2-3-2-1=19pts
3, Synergy, Sergey Pichugin, Moscow, RUS, 3-3-2-3-2-4-3-2-4-3=29pts
IRC 2 (7 entries)
1, Soozal, King 40, Daniel Woolery, Pt Richmond, C.A., 2-1-4-1-1-1-1-1-1-1=14pts
2, Ciao, AC 40, Philippe Paturel, Halifax, CAN, 1-3-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-3=22pts
3, Gold Digger, J/44, James Bishop, Jamestown, R.I., 3-2-1-3-3-2-3-5-3-2=27pts
Acura Grand Prix Championship Overall Results:
Farr 40
1. Joe Fly, Giovanni Maspero, Como, ITA, 79 pts
2. Mascalzone Latino, Vincenzo Onorato, Napoli,ITA, 85 pts
3. Barking Mad, James Richardson, Newport, RI, 86 pts
Melges 32
1. New Wave, M Carroll/M Kullman, Clearwater, FL, 131 pts
2. Red, Joe Woods, Torbay, GBR, 148 pts
3. Calvi Network, Carlo Alberini, Persaro, ITA, 189
IRC Combined
1. Ran (TP52), Niklas Zennstrom, Hamble, GBR 32 pts
2. Soozal (King 40), Daniel Woolery, Pt. Richmond, CA, 33 pts
3. Rio (TP52),Charles Dunstone, Cowes, GBR, 47 pts
The 2009 Acura Grand Prix Championship scoring for the Farr 40 and
Combined IRC class is based on the lowest cumulative points scored for
both Acura Key West 2009 and the 2009 Acura Miami Grand Prix combined.
For the Melges 32 class it is based on the lowest cumulative points
scored for the 2008 Melges 32 Gold Cup, Acura Key West 2009 and the 2009
Acura Miami Grand Prix combined.