Miami, January 28, 2024 - Three days of exceptional sailing conditions on Biscayne Bay, January 26-28, made the Bacardi Winter Series 2 a dream event.

Maintaining their overnight position, Bora Gulari’s Kingspoke topped the Melges 24 open leaderboard. In the all-amateur division, 2023 National Ranking Champion Dan Berezin racing Surprise won the Corinthian division.

On a stunner of a sunny day in Miami, two races shaped the final podium in a variable and shifty 8-16 knot breeze. Racing was postponed ahead of the second race to wait for a wind shift to settle, which given the time limit was the final of the series. Bacardi Winter Series 2 wrapped up with the usual epic Bacardi sailing soirée and prize-giving celebrations at Shake-A-Leg Miami. 

Teams now turn their focus to the BCIR, March 6-9, 2024. Registration is underway and entries have already tipped over one hundred for the J/70, Melges 24, Snipe, Viper 640 and VX One. The iconic Bacardi Cup celebrates its 97th anniversary from March 3-9, with more than sixty Star teams so far confirmed.

“My heartfelt congratulations to the winners,” said Eddie Cutillas, Bacardi USA. “On behalf of Bacardi, thank you all for being here. You, the sailors, are the essence of the event and we really value your support.

“I look forward to seeing you back in Miami in a few weeks for our annual celebration of world class racing and friendship at the grand finale of the series, the Bacardi Invitational Regatta.”

With just an 11-point spread between the leading five Melges 24 teams at the start of the day, the racing offered plenty of possibilities.

Bruce Ayres and his Monsoon team opened strong, securing the first race win and narrowing the gap to just 4 points between the top three as they headed into the final race. Gulari remained in pole but had a job ahead to control Alec Anderson (in for owner Geoff Fargo) driving Sentinel and Monsoon, made harder in the shifty and unpredictable breeze.

In the second race, Ayres once again led the fleet, before Gulari surged ahead at the first gate. Going into the final upwind, the pressure intensified as the top five boats were neck and neck. By the finish, their race order mirrored their final leaderboard positions. Gulari never let up, sealing the deal to win race 8 with a substantial lead and claim BWS2 victory.

Carlos Robles, tactician on Kingspoke, reflected on their day, “Today was hard because we had to control a couple of boats and it was really shifty, and strange I would call it, so it was a hard day. It was really variable and kept us on our toes.

Speaking on the challenge of sailing their own race versus controlling others, he added, “It is a hard balance, because the moment you start focusing on other boats too much you forget about the big picture, and you end up going the wrong way or you end up getting out of phase.

“The team did a great job, they’re all great guys. We went the right way most of the time and we had good wheels, the boat was going fast, the guys were doing a great job.”

Regarding racing alongside Bora, Robles smiled saying, “Bora is awesome. He is laser focused. He is a really hard worker, pushing every day to get faster and he is very knowledgeable, so it is good to be next to him and learning from him too.”

Repeating their form from BWS1, Canada’s Dan Berezin and crew on Surprise finished 15th as the top placed Corinthian team.

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Text Credit: Luissa Smith
Photo Credits: Hannah Lee Noll

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