A stunning fleet of one hundred and seventy-one boats were out on Biscayne Bay as the 96th Bacardi Cup entered its fourth day and the Bacardi Invitational Regatta kicked off.

Racing doesn’t get better than this, with the perfect Miami weather delivering 12-15 knots of breeze, challenging shifts and pressure, with the early cloud cover giving way to sunshine. After racing, it was time to soak up the atmosphere shoreside accompanied by Bacardi’s renowned hospitality.

Peter Duncan’s ‘Raza Mixta’ team took the opening win with a tidy lead over the other twenty-four boats. Duncan led race 2 as well, but a ripped kite on the first downwind knocked them back and, despite nifty work by Erik Shampain to rig the spare for the final downwind, they couldn’t recover. They finished in third, with another 3rd in race 3 giving them the overall lead. You wouldn’t expect anything less from the reigning Melges 24 World Champions.

The day featured three different race winners, with Bruce Ayres on ‘Monsoon’ and Alessandro Rombelli on ‘STIG’ also proving a masterful match. No wins but a consistent 2,4,4 scorecard from Drew Freides’ team on ‘Pacific Yankee’, who won both of the Bacardi Winter Series events, sees them in second overall.

In the Corinthian division, Megan Ratliff’s ‘Decorum’ with her brother Hunter at the helm currently holds the lead. In second place is Bacardi Winter Series leader Chuck Lamphere on ‘Entente’, followed by 2022 Corinthian U.S. National Champion Steve Suddath on ‘3 1/2 Men’.

TOP FIVE OVERALL RESULTS (Preliminary, After 3 Races)
1. Peter Duncan/Victor Diaz de Leon/Patrick Wilson/Morgan Trubovich/Erik Shampain (USA) - 7 pts
2. Drew Freides/Nic Asher/Charlie Smythe/Alec Anderson/Mark Ivey (USA) - 10 pts
3. Bruce Ayres/Thomas Dietrich/Edward Hackney/Chelsea Simms/Jeremy Wilmot (USA) - 15 pts
4. Peter Karrié/Alessandro Franci/Niccolò Bianchi/Alessandro Saettone/Saverio Cigliano (GER) - 17 pts
5. Brian Porter/RJ Porter/Bri Porter/Matt Woodworth (USA) - 19 pts
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