Mental challenge on light and shifty Biscayne Bay sees new faces claim wins

On the penultimate day of racing at the 98th Bacardi Cup and Bacardi Invitational Regatta, Biscayne Bay demonstrated all the reasons why sailing is a thinking person’s sport. With light and shifty breezes, both teams and the Race Committee were kept on their toes.

The Race Committee made an early decision to postpone all fleets ashore as they waited for the wind to fill in. Today separated the best from the rest, requiring a lot of transitions in response to the changing breeze. Perfectly executed team plays saw the frontrunners working together to dominate the course, while across all fleets new teams staked their names on the race wins.

Despite the weather challenges, camaraderie remains at the heart of the event. As Brian Kamilar, tactician on the J/70 ‘Zingara’, put it, “Even on a light air, tough day like today, everyone is smiling, waving and having a good time. Yes, there’s long waits but everyone is super enjoying it. Friendship is so big here. This is the marquee event of the year. Everyone needs to be here doing this every year.”

The stage is set for an exciting finale on Saturday, March 8, as the Star, J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640 and VX One prepare to crown their champions. Racing is scheduled to start at 1030 hrs for the BCIR and 1100 hrs for the Bacardi Cup. The weather is for a building southerly breeze, forecast to be around 6-11 knots for the scheduled starts.

98th Bacardi Cup
After four attempts to start race 5 for the Star, each of which had to be postponed as the wind kept shifting up to 50 degrees, racing got underway on attempt number five.

All eyes were on the five-time defending Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada and their closest rivals Paul Cayard/Frithjof Kleen, the only team realistically capable of challenging. Upwind both teams headed to the right, with Kusznierewicz/Prada holding a slight edge over Cayard/Kleen. However, neither team was at the front of the pack, with both sitting in the mid-teens at this stage.

A performance pedigree as deep as that of Kusznierewicz/Prada ensures they are always the ones to beat. Whatever position they find themselves in, they have an extraordinary ability to make gains. On the left on the first downwind, they took a roll of the dice, becoming the first boat to gybe. Boat by boat chipped their way through the fleet, delivering another masterclass to claw back and secure a second-place finish. Their unstoppable performance has secured them mathematical victory at the 98th Bacardi Cup with a race to spare.

Commenting on their strategy to stay focused with the repeated starts, Prada explained, “We already had four good races, so we did not feel that much pressure today, as we still had today and tomorrow to do good results. We have a lot of experience, and we are used to being in this situation.”

Kusznierewicz explained, “We also reset. For one minute we take the pressure off, just quiet on the boat, with Bruno and I just in our own world. Then building towards the new start, looking what settings, where to start, what the wind is going to do. So, you are resetting and building again, resetting and building.”

Commenting on their tactics, Kusznierewicz continued, “We knew this is going to be a long race. So, we pass a couple of boats the first downwind, we pass I think five boats second upwind. Then I think we passed four boats the last downwind. With this kind of mindset you know that maybe on the beginning it is not going your way, but you’re looking for every opportunity to catch here, catch here. We enjoyed it,”

Whilst Kusznierewicz/Prada surged ahead, Cayard/Kleen did the opposite, ultimately crossing the line in 28th. “Obviously we had a bad day today, a terrible day,” admitted a disappointed Cayard.

Cayard’s son Danny, crewing for Will Stout, claimed the race win to secure their place in the final battle for a podium finish.

The leaderboard top five have separated themselves from the rest of the fleet. It all comes down to Saturday’s race 6 to determine which two teams from the chasing pack of four will join the champions Kusznierewicz/Prada on the podium. Cayard/Kleen, Stout/Cayard, Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise and Jack Jennings/Pedro Trouche are separated by just 6 points.

Provisional Results - Top 3 after Race 5
1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada (POL 8587) - 7 pts
2. Paul Cayard/Frithjof Kleen (USA 8550) - 12 pts
3. Will Stout/Danny Cayard (USA 8538) - 13 pts