Miami Grand Prix 2010 – Miami – Banchine affollate a Miami, dove domani avrà inizio il Miami Grand Prix 2010, evento che vedrà impegnati Farr 40 e Melges 32, oltre che il meglio dell’altura statunitense.
Tra i Melges 32 grande è l’attesa per capire se Samba Pa Ti di John Kilroy e del veterano della Volvo Ocean Race, Stu Bannatyne, dominatore a Key West verso la metà di gennaio, riuscirà a confermarsi. A tentare di impedirglielo saranno senza dubbio alcuno i campioni del mondo di Bliksem. L’equipaggio di Pieter Taseelar e del tattico Jeremy Wilmot ha varato solo alcuni giorni fa la nuova barca ma, nonostante la scarsa conoscenza del nuovo mezzo, è determinato a far bene, così come lo sono i britannici di Red, al comando del Melges 32 Midwinter Championship, e il team di Lanfranco Cirillo, armatore di Fantastica, il Melges 32 che a Key West ha tenuto alti i colori italiani salendo sul terzo gradino del podio.
“Amiamo moltissimo regatare a Miami: le condizioni sono sempre favorevoli. Non c’è davvero posto migliore al mondo. Guardiamo avanti fiduciosi, verso un fine settimana di grande vela” spiega Massimo Bortoletto, project manager di Nerone, il Farr 40 considerato tra i favoriti della vigilia. Non a caso, infatti, lo scafo del tattico Vasco Vascotto è campione uscente: “Lo scorso anno siamo stati bravi e abbiamo avuto la fortuna dalla nostra: speriamo di riuscire a riproporre la stessa formula” chiosa Bortoletto.
Principale avversario dello scafo di Massimo Mezzaroma sarà Barking Mad, per una volta orfano di Terry Hutchinson, impegnato nel Louis Vuitton Trophy di Auckland con Artemis. Jim Richardson, che affronterà la manifestazione come ultimo allenamento prima del Mondiale di Casa del Campo del mese prossimo, è corso ai ripari, assicurando al suo equipaggio di campioni del mondo le chiamate di Steve Hunt che ha subito fatto capire di avere le idee molto chiare: “Certo vogliamo vincere, ma dobbiamo anche testare vele e configurazioni in vista del Mondiale”.
Le regate inizieranno nella tarda serata italiana e proseguiranno sino a domenica. Sono previste un massimo di dieci prove.
Per visitare il sito della manifestazione clicca qui.
MIAMI GRAND PRIX 2010, THE COUNTDOWN IS OVER
[Premiere Racing Press Release] Talent-laden fleets in the Melges 32, Farr 40 and IRC classes highlight the 2010 Miami Grand Prix. A terrific stretch of wind and weather conditions is shaping up. Temperatures are warming and the wind has filled in nicely. A strong fleet of 39 racing sailboats will head out through the Government Cut and onto the Atlantic Ocean to begin four days of action-packed racing March 4 – 7.
The Melges 32 continues to grow and develop as a grand prix class and they’ll have an impressive 23 boats on the starting line in Miami with many teams featuring accomplished professional sailors as tacticians and trimmers.
John Kilroy and his crew aboard Samba Pa Ti hope to remain on a roll after topping a loaded fleet at Key West 2010. Volvo Ocean Race veteran Stu Bannatyne will call tactics while Morgan Reeser and Sam Rogers will trim aboard Samba, which posted an impressive 18-point victory over Red in Key West.
“When you win an important regatta you always hope you can pick up where you left off – said Kilroy, who carries over the same crew from Key West to Miami – However, every event is new and different unto itself and I would say this regatta is up for grabs”.
Bliksem, owned by Pieter Taselaar of New York, opened with three straight bullets and never looked back in topping the Melges 32 class at last year’s Miami Grand Prix. That result foretold a special season for Bliksem, which went on to capture the class world championship off Sardinia, Italy last September.
Australian standout Jeremy Wilmot returns as tactician aboard Bliksem, which has built its 2010 campaign around repeating as world champ off San Francisco in September. Taselaar and team did not compete at Key West in January, but would not miss Miami.
“We love this regatta. It’s a great town with loads of entertainment options and the breeze always seems to turn on and make for great racing” Wilmot said.
Taselaar took delivery of a brand new boat on Friday and the crew took it out for a shakedown sail on Tuesday. Wilmot was not worried about the team racing an untested platform this week.
“These boats come out of the box in terrific shape and the Melges folks have shown us how to set one up straight away – he said – We would love to win this regatta again, but really our main goal is to get the boat up to speed and begin our preparation for the worlds”.
Samba Pa Ti placed second to Bliksem at the 2009 Miami Grand Prix with Kilroy noting the two boats performed differently depending on the point of sail: “We were first to the weather mark the most, but they sailed very well downwind. Hopefully, we’ve improved our downwind speed since then,” he said.
Red, owned by Joe Woods of Great Britain, leads the Melges 32 Midwinter Championship by five points going into the Miami Grand Prix. Fantastica (Lanfranco Cirillo, Italy) stands third and will try to make up a six-point deficit.
“Miami is one of our favorite events of the year. It is one of the best spots in the world to sail with very consistent conditions and you could not ask for a better place to party – said Massimo Bortoletto, boat captain and crew member aboard Nerone, one of the pre-regatta favorites in Farr 40 – We are very happy to be here and looking forward to a great week of racing.”
Nerone, skippered by Massimo Mezzaroma, is defending class champion at the Miami Grand Prix. Tactician Vasco Vascotto made numerous good calls as the Italian entry got the gun in six of 10 races a year ago. “We had good fortune last year and hopefully we can find that magic formula again” Bortoletto said.
Nerone won four races to overcome three double-digit results and take 3rd place at Key West 2010. “We had a few bad races, but overall we sailed very well in Key West. We are hoping to build off that result and do even better in this regatta – Bortoletto said – As usual in this class there are a lot of great teams here and almost all of them are capable of winning.”
Barking Mad, a US entry skippered by Jim Richardson of Newport, R.I., placed second at Key West 2010 – just two points ahead of Nerone. Regular tactician Terry Hutchinson is racing in the Louis Vuitton Series off Auckland but the team found a capable replacement in former College of Charleston All-American Steve Hunt.
“I have big shoes to fill, but fortunately this is a very well organized program with a lot of talent onboard the boat. I’ve found that tactics are easier when you have great boat-handling and speed” said Hunt, happy to have veteran trimmers Skip Baxter and Dave Armitage aboard.
Hunt has been calling tactics for Alan Field in the Melges 24 class, but has experience with the Farr 40 fleet after crewing aboard Heartbreaker (Robert Hughes) and Flash Gordon (Helmut Jahn). He knows Nerone and fellow Italian entry Fiamma (Alessandro Barnaba) will be tough, but said the Barking Mad team is looking at the big picture. Like most skippers in the class, Richardson is using the Miami Grand Prix as a final tune-up prior to the Farr 40 World Championships, being held next month off Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic.
“Of course we want to win this regatta, but our main focus is to prepare for the worlds. We’ll be looking at sails and testing some other things this week,” said Hunt, who currently resides in San Diego after mounting an Olympic campaign in 470 class.
Four days of racing begins Thursday, with as many as 10 races scheduled.
To visit the event website click here.
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