They came, they saw, they conquered was the story on day two of the 97th Bacardi Cup for defending Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Bruno Prada.
From start to finish, Kusznierewicz/Prada exhibited unrelenting control over the sixty-six boat fleet, claiming victory with an impressive lead of one and a half minutes. Kusznierewicz acknowledged the race committee with a tip of his hat at the finish line.
Another perfect day in Miami of warm, sunny weather and an 8-10 knot south-easterly breeze. A super keen fleet forced two general recalls, eventually starting all clear under a black flag.
With Kusznierewicz/Prada out front and coming into the first windward mark from course right, the battle unfolded behind with Austria’s Johann Spitzauer/Christian Nehammer and Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise jostling for second and third.
By the downwind, Kusznierewicz/Prada were still full steam ahead. Doyle/Infelise had moved up to second chased by the Austrians, with a further gap to George Szabo/Guy Avalon in fourth. Kusznierewicz/Prada extended their lead even further on the final upwind, with Doyle/Infelise and Spitzauer/Nehammer still tight, and separation in the chasing fleet. Heading into the downwind finish, the leading boats all headed course left with some tight tactics to settle the scorecards
Racing continues on Wednesday, March 6, with a midday start.
Provisional Results after Day 2: (top ten, 2 races)
1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Bruno Prada (POL 8559) – 3 pts
2. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA 8580) – 6 pts
3. Lars Grael / Ubiratan Matos (BRA 8392) – 8 pts
4. Piet Eckert / Frederico Melo (SUI 8575) – 13 pts
5. Augie Diaz / Henry Boening (USA 8509) – 14 pts
6. Jørgen Schönherr / Markus Koy (DEN 8532) – 17 pts
7. Johann Spitzauer / Christian Nehammer (AUT 8529) – 19 pts
8. Josh Powell / Mark Strube (USA 8522) – 20 pts
9. Ante Razmilovic / Brian Hammersley (GBR 8443) – 23 pts
10. Paul Cayard / Frithjof Kleen (USA 8550) – 28 pts
The Bacardi Invitational Regatta gets under way from March 7-9, with nine races spread across three days for the J/70, Melges 24, Snipe, Viper 640 and VX One
