Bacardi Winter Series Event 2

Bacardi Winter Series Event 2 - Day 1

by Luissa Smith 25 Jan 13:07 NZDT January 24-26, 2025

J/70 – upwind battles - Bacardi Winter Series Event 2 © Hannah Lee Noll

The opening day of the Bacardi Winter Series Event 2, January 24-26, brought puffy, shifty conditions to Biscayne Bay, rewarding those who could interpret the very nuanced racetrack.

Peter's Duncan's J/70 'Obscurity' and Paolo Brescia's Melges 24 'Melgina' controlled their fleets in the moderate north-westerly breeze. Conditions of 8-12 knots, with the occasional gust, challenged everyone, while unexpectedly chilly weather caught some by surprise.

After racing, the Bacardi happy hour took the spotlight.

Racing continues on Saturday, January 25, with three races scheduled. The Melges 24 fleet have a scheduled start of 1100 hrs, followed by the J/70s.

J/70 – Peter Duncan helms ‘Relative Obscurity' to the top spot on day 1b - photo © Hannah Lee Noll

J/70: 'Relative Obscurity' leads tight fleet

A tight day of racing for the forty-one-boat fleet, with three different winners across the day's three races.

Peter Duncan's 'Relative Obscurity' showed consistency, posting scores of 1,6,3 to secure top of the leaderboard by a single point. Paul Green's 'Progress' followed closely with 2,3,6, while 'Casting Couch' skippered by Cate Muller-Terhune claimed race 2 and sits in 3rd overall. David Jannetti, the reigning J/70 North American Champion, on 'Two Odd' ended the day with a win, boosting him to 5th overall.

"Well, we hung in there," said Duncan, who has been away from the class for over a year and is racing with his reunited 2017 J/70 World Championship winning team. He added, "It was all the guys on the boat - I'm just on the back steering. We're putting the band back together and excited to be back at Bacardi."

Looking ahead to day 2, he predicted, "We're hopeful to keep plugging away, keep our nose clean and have some good results. There are both some great newcomers and some longtime J/70 teams who have now gotten very good. The competition is very high - it's a real battle."

Duncan revealed he has another J/70 Worlds victory on his mind, saying, "We are committed to sailing together this year with the idea of going to Argentina for the Worlds — so we're excited to start here at Bacardi."

J/70 - Provisional results after 3 races

Melges 24 - ‘Melgina' executes a perfect pin end start - Bacardi Winter Series Event 2 - photo © Hannah Lee Noll

Melges 24: Brescia's 'Melgina' shines

Paolo Brescia's 'Melgina' had a dream start, with back-to-back wins and a 5th place to take a commanding 9-point lead over 'Zenda Express' with Harry Melges IV at the helm, and just 1 point back is Laura Grondin's 'Dark Energy'.

Race 1 featured a nail-biting finish as tactician Stefano Cherin called for a wing-on-wing maneuver to edge out Peter McClennen's 'Gamecock'. Cherin explained, "The finishing wing-on-wing helped us to move from third to 1st and was just a last call. At the beginning I said to Paolo, 'do you feel confident to do it?' and he agreed to try. I am happy that I made the call, it paid well."

Due praise from Brescia who exclaimed, "He is a genius!"

Again, in race 2, 'Melgina' stayed ahead, this time seeing off 'Dark Energy'. Race 3 saw 'Melgina' recover from an OCS to finish 3rd, while Canada's Richard Reid on 'Zingara' claimed the race win.

Melges 24 - ‘Melgina' on their way to a race win - Bacardi Winter Series Event 2 - photo © Hannah Lee Noll

"Today we had a great day," remarked Brescia whose long-standing team operated like the well-oiled machine they are, boosted by the fact they are all friends too. "I think we were in a good mood and everything was very easy to approach the start of the race with positivity!"

Cherin added, "It was quite a shifty day and we enjoyed the weather, although if felt like wintertime in Italy. Two bullets was amazing. Let's push like this for the next days!"

Advantage to Canada's Richard Reid on 'Zingara' gave them the race 3 win to end their day in 6th overall.

Melges 24 - Provisional results after 3 races