10th Annual Miami Sailing Week delivers exceptional sailing conditions to over 200 competitors
by Studiomilano 12 Mar 2019 15:43 NZDT
4-10 March 2019
2019 Annual Miami Sailing Week © Cory Silken
Biscayne Bay delivered once again and provided great sailing conditions for all days of the 10th Anniversary Miami Sailing Week (MSW) event. The A-Cat class, along with Optis, Lasers and i420, took part in this year's event with an impressive 207 sailing teams racing, on three different courses, on beautiful Biscayne Bay.
Miami Sailing Week kicked off on Monday March 4th with scheduled sailing activities at Coconut Grove Sailing Club (CGSC) whose mission is to encourage the sport of sailing, to promote the science of seamanship, provide instructional classes, promote regattas and to foster a spirit of cooperation and good fellowship.
On Wednesday March 6th and Friday March 8th the regatta registration and welcome parties took place at Coconut Grove Sailing Club where sailors were greeted with a warm hospitality provided by CGSC, Goslings rum, Santa Margherita wines, Concrete Beach Brewery and Matilde's Tiramisu'. Throughout the week there was an event at the MSW/CGSC hospitality with music, food, bar and great sailor stories.
Racing for the 10th Anniversary MSW was smooth sailing with great steady breeze and changing easterly wind directions that made racing tactical and very interesting. The A Cats completed 9 races over the event. Finishing 1st in the Classic division was Ben Hall on USA 99 Black & Blue (Newport Beach, CA) with one bullet, three 2nd places and five thirds. Finishing 1st in the foiling division was John Tomko skippering USA 400 Lupe Tortilla with four bullets.
With 96 boats on the starting line, the Opti Championship Class was the biggest fleet of the event. With a total score of 15 Griggs Diemar (USA) took first place followed by Jack Redmond (USA) with 30 points and Freddie Parkin (USA) with 40 points. The Green fleet had 58 boats on the line and Reece Schwartz (USA) won with 13 points followed by Daniil Riabykh (USA) with 16 points and Ciara Murphy (CAY) with 24.
In the Laser 4.7 Division US sailor Spencer Dominguez took the win in a 21-boat fleet; Canadian Carling Davies and US Kevin Gosseling followed him. In the Radial division Humberto Porrata took the win followed by Alex Gonzalez and Sammy Clark, both sailors from the USA.
Making Miami Sailing Week special this year was the youth component with sailors from Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coral Reef Yacht Club, the Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron along with competitors from the Cayman Islands and Mexico. "Thank you to all the young sailors, coaches and volunteers for making this event possible." said Alberto Olivo Youth Sailing Director at CGSC. "And to Miami Sailing Week for including us in the event. We are looking forward to an even bigger and better event next spring" concluded Olivo.
"This was our Anniversary event and we can't be happier." Added Gabriele Pedone, Event Chair and Founder. "Being back as the largest spring regatta is a great achievement that we are all very proud of. I am also very proud to have been able to put this many kids on the water and be able to promote the sailing core values: loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship. Through entry fees and sponsorship funds Studiomilano, MSW OA, will be able to present CGSC with a substantial check that will help the club furthering their mission."
Everyone is already looking forward to the 2020 regatta that will take place in Coconut Grove and Biscayne Bay from March 2nd to the 8th, 2020.