NORTH SAILS FASTER THAN EVER IN MIAMI

SIX BULLETS, PURE SPEED AT THE STAR MIDWINTERS

North Designs Show Superb Performance as Teams Warm-Up for the Bacardi Cup

While most of North America was shivering and digging out from extreme winter storms, a great group of (smart) Star sailors traveled to Miami for the annual combination of the Walker Cup and Star Midwinter Championship. Teams came from as far away as California, Annapolis, and Argentina to test their skills on Biscayne Bay. The first two days were raced in tribute to the late Harry Walker who was a great friend of the Star Class in Miami for many years.

Competitors were greeted on the first day with a beautiful southerly breeze, 10-15 knots, and warm sunny skies. The fleet was very tight all around the track with Augie Diaz/Arnie Baltins taking the win in the first race and Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise taking bullets in race two and three. The Coral Reef Yacht Club Race committee headed up by PRO Carl Shellback did a great job running three windward-leeward courses on Thursday, and two on Friday. Eric/Payson had two great races on Friday to take the Walker Cup and it was a tight 2nd place for Augie/Arnie with Peter Vessella and Phil Trinter finishing 3rd overall.

A front passed through Friday night and Saturday came with a lot less humidity and a northerly breeze, still quite strong. The breeze was quite shifty and water was flat until the tide turned and most of the Cuban navy turned out to chop up the waves. Big bands of pressure came down the bay so it was important to keep your head out of the boat with the predominantly-right shifting breeze. The first race was a course four, while the final race was a course five with an upwind finish to finish sailors closer to home. The last run ended up quite exciting with puffs over 20-knots at times and the incoming current stacking up the waves. There were some broken poles and bent masts, but all in all, it was a great day. Sunday dawned with 20+ knots and increasing, the regatta was over for the tired, but grateful teams. Eric and Payson had an unstoppable streak of six bullets to win the Midwinter Championship.

“All the North teams used the M-25 main, our all-purpose option. We raced with the J-7 jib while all the other teams used the J-115 full-radial jib. I think this really showed the nice overlap between the two sails and the overall speed of the M-25 main. The North clients were all going fast and are ready for the famous Bacardi Cup next month,” said Eric Doyle.