Bacardi Winter Series Event 2 - Day 2
by Luissa Smith 25 Jan 17:15 PST
January 24-26, 2025
J/70 - Charles Thompson's ‘Brutus III' port tacks the fleet in race 4 during Bacardi Winter Series Event 2 © Hannah Lee Noll
A sunny, breezy day greeted the J/70 and Melges 24 fleets on Day 2 of the Bacardi Winter Series Event 2.
Overnight leaders Peter Duncan's 'Relative Obscurity' in the J/70 class and Paolo Brescia's 'Melgina' in the Melges 24 class continue to top their respective leaderboards. Whilst Duncan extended his lead, Brescia faced increasing pressure from a tightly packed fleet.
The day opened with a 10-12 knot breeze from the north-northeast, building to 15-18 knots as it shifted northeast, providing thrilling racing conditions. After racing, sailors enjoyed the Bacardi happy hour and dockside dinner at Shake-A-Leg Miami.
Racing resumes Sunday, January 26, with three scheduled races. The Melges 24 fleet starts at 1100 hrs, followed by the J/70s.
J/70: 'Relative Obscurity' extends lead
With two wins and his 12th place in race 5 discarded, Peter Duncan and his team on 'Relative Obscurity' dominated again. They added just 2 points to their score card and advance to hold a commanding 10-point lead.
Whilst Duncan excelled in races 4 and 6, it was John Heaton's 'Empeiria' who claimed the win in race 3 and moves up from tenth to fifth overall.
The British team on 'Brutus III' found their Miami vibe after an off form opening day, bouncing back to score 3,9,2 and climb to third overall. Charles Thompson's team executed a perfect port tack over the fleet in a move they had been training for. "After endless practising, it is really nice that one has pulled off today, so we loved that," said Thompson.
The usual team on 'Brutus III' has been mixed up a bit, with Ben Saxton and Chris Grube remaining as core, as Thompson explained, "It is also really fun that we can team up with our training partner from Palma, Doug Rastello, so we have mixed the team up a bit and we are enjoying having him on the boat. He brings in a whole new attitude to us."
Consistency paid for Cate Muller-Terhune, as solid finishes of 5,3, combined with discarding an 11th place in Race 3, propelled 'Casting Couch' to second overall.
J/70 Provisional Results after 6 races:
1. Relative Obscurity - Peter Duncan (USA 1311) - 12 pts
2. Casting Couch - Cate Muller-Terhune (USA 34) - 22 pts
3. Brutus III - Charles Thompson (GBR 1123) - 28 pts
4. Superior 1 - Dick Kalow (USA 64) - 33 pts
5. Empeiria - John Heaton (USA 169) - 34 pts
Melges 24: Fleet closes in on 'Melgina'
Laura Grondin had plenty to celebrate after a successful day on the water, with her 'Dark Energy' team securing two race wins in the first and third races. "It was very exciting," Grondin shared. "I've been off the boat for about a year, so it was really fun to get back on, and today I finally felt like I was sailing the boat well."
"In the first race, we had a phenomenal start. We were at the right end of the line and managed to port tack most of the fleet, which is rare. We led wire to wire," she recounted about being the top performing boat.
Grondin laughed off the day's second race when they finished 8th saying, "We'll skip over that!"
In the third race of the day, 'Dark Energy' clawed their way to another win in a downwind battle. "It was kind of a cat-and-mouse fight," Grondin explained. "At various points, we were in 3rd, 2nd, 1st, or maybe even worse, but we pulled it out in the last downwind. I was really excited to have some good blow-throughs in the heavy air."
Peter-David Karrié's 'Nefeli' team from Germany won the race that Grondin didn't and shift up to second overall, reeling in 'Melgina' who has now lost their points advantage after their 10,4,5 scorecard. On tiebreak with 'Dark Energy' is 'Zenda Express', who knocked out superb 3,2,4 finishes.
Melges 24 Provisional results after 6 races:
1. Melgina - Paolo Brescia (USA 8) - 14 pts
2. Nefeli - Peter-David Karrié (GER 859) - 15 pts
3. Dark Energy - Laura Grondin (USA 864) - 17 pts
4. Zenda Express - Harry Melges IV (USA 866) - 17 pts
5. Zingara - Richard Reid (CAN 853) - 20 pts
About the 2024-2025 Bacardi Winter Series
Alongside the individual event results, teams will add their points from BWS #1 in December 2024 to the results from BWS #2, before culminating at the series finale, the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta, March 5-8, 2025.
The event, hosted at Shake-A-Leg Miami, is made possible by the invaluable contributions of our partners. Bacardi leads the way, with essential on-site support from North Sails, Nautical Ventures, Sail22, Race Sense and Harken Derm. These partners will ensure a seamless and successful experience for all participants.
Full results can be found here.