The 2024 Star Western Hemisphere Championship, hosted by Biscayne Bay Yacht Club in Miami, concluded today with an exhilarating display of sailing skills and tight competition. With 33 teams representing 7 nations, the event showcased fantastic Star boat racing over three intense days of competition.
On the azure waters of Biscayne Bay and under the sunny skies of Miami, sailors battled it out across 8 full-on races. As the competition heated up, it all came down to the wire on the final day. Tomas Hornos and Mauricio Bueno (USA / BRA) emerged as the triumphant victors, clinching the title of 2024 Star Western Hemisphere Champions. With a narrow three-point difference going into the last day, Hornos and Bueno showcased their expertise by securing a decisive bullet in the first race. Their stellar performance continued as they sealed their dominance with a second-place finish in the final race, solidifying their position at the top of the leaderboard. Despite challenging weather conditions characterized by winds reaching up to 15 knots from the North Northeast, with significant shifts of up to 20/25 degrees, Hornos and Bueno demonstrated they were the best to interpret and navigate the shifting winds to their advantage.
“Really complicated strategy today, we went into the day three points behind Piet and Frederico and they were sailing really strong and we had to make sure that we didn't sail a drop race early in the in the day so we kind of sailed our own race the first race”, commented Tomas Hornos. “Most of the fleet was focused on one side of the course and so we played the shifts and ended up winning the race pretty handily, which made the second race today very, very interesting because there's now only two points separating us. Again it was wildly shifting, I mean 20/25° shifts, with velocity differences all over the course and we had to decide who we had to cover and where to go on the race track.. It was incredibly difficult, a lot of risk management we were just hyper focused the whole time. It was tremendous day, with difficult and great conditions, the race committee did a fantastic job and Mauricio obviously too, you know we had perfect communication onboard, it was excellent, we got better and better and we just made sure that we were always in phase, it worked, it feels so good!”
In a closely contested battle for the podium, the Swiss/Portuguese duo of Piet Eckert and Frederico Melo claimed the runner-up position, showcasing their skill and determination throughout the championship, in an ever improving streak of results started with the Worlds in Scarlino in 2023. Rounding out the top three were the 2023 Star Western Hemisphere Champions, Augie Diaz and Bruno Prada, who finally felt at their best only on the final day.
Behind the scenes, PRO Carol Ewing orchestrated a flawless event, skillfully managing the diverse and challenging conditions to ensure a fair and competitive championship for all participants.