Miami Never Disappoints — Ayres' Monsoon Wins Bacardi Melges 24 Winter Series Event No. 1

"Miami never disappoints...," proclaimed Monsoon winning tactician Mike Buckley on his Instagram feed after racing from sunny and warm Miami, Florida where the Melges 24 Class was the largest fleet in attendance at the first ever Bacardi Winter Series. Twenty teams traveled to the warmest spot in the country to take in some much needed one-design therapy and Biscayne Bay sailing.

Three races were completed over the two-day regatta. Sunday's racing was abandoned due to lack of breeze, so results from Saturday's three heats are final.

Brian Porter's Full Throttle, and John Brown's Blind Squirrelrounded out the podium in ultra-competitive style (second and third, respectively). Porter won the slot on countback as the two were tied with an equal 12-points each.

As usual, the Corinthian category was stacked and on top was USM24CA Midwest District Governoress Megan Ratliff and an awesome Decorum Melges 24 team. Stuart Simpson's 'Barbies' came second with Carlo Vroon from the Netherlands on Gelikt completed the top three.

This is just the start of something beautiful. 

Sign-up for the next two stages and make the Melges 24 all the rage in Miami for 2019!

Bacardi Winter Series (Stage 2) - January 19-21
Bacardi Invitational Regatta (Winter Series, Stage 3) - March 7-9 

TOP FIVE RESULTS (OVERALL)
1.) USA - Bruce Ayres, Monsoon; 2-3-2 = 7
2.) USA - Brian Porter, Full Throttle; 1-2-9/SCP = 12
3.) USA - John Brown, Blind Squirrel; 6-1-5 = 12
4.) USA - Wes Whitmyer, Slingshot; 8-4-1 = 13
5.) CAN - Richard Reid, Zingara; 3-9-6 = 18

TOP FIVE RESULTS (CORINTHIAN)
1.) USA - Megan Ratliff, Decorum
2.) GBR - Stuart Simpson, Team Barbarians
3.) NED - Carlo Vroon, Gelikt
4.) USA - Sandra Askew/Will Van Cleef, Flying Jenny
5.) USA - Roger Counihan, Jaws 
View Full Results