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7:02 PM Thu 12 Mar 2009 GMT
Bermuda's Peter Bromby and crew Magnus Liljedhal of Miami held off a late charge by Jon VanderMolen of Gull Lake, Michigan, and crew Geoff Ewenson of Annapolis, Maryland, to win day four at the 82nd Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta on the waters of Biscayne Bay, Miami.
With the victory, Bromby and Liljedahl increase their overall lead to seven points with two races to go in the regatta.
Winds were 8-10 knots out of the northeast today as Day 4 of the 2009 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta got underway, picking up to 12 knots and more as the four-leg race progressed. Olympian Peter O'Leary and crew Tim Goodbody (IRE) were among the first boats off the starting line with a pack that took a left tack upwind.
However, Bromby and Liljedahl established themselves as the team to beat with the lead at the first mark, and they never looked back. By the third mark, Bromby's lead was more than eight boat lengths, but it whittled to about one boat at the finish following several strong attacks by the Americans on the final downwind leg.
'We bided our time before we attacked,' said VanderMolen. 'If you start attacking too early, you potentially give up ground to the boats behind you, so it's a delicate balance.' Ewenson added, 'Chances weren't good that we would pass [Bromby], but we had to attack him. We got close enough that we could hear them talking. I like to think we made them a little nervous today.'
When asked about that, Liljedahl assured, 'They didn't make us nervous at all. When they jibed out on the final leg, it allowed us to get a little more pressure on the run. VanderMolen did a good job, but I knew Peter would pull it out.'
With Wednesday's second place finish, VanderMolen and Ewenson remain in second place in the overall standings.
Rounding out the top five Wednesday were Switzerland's Flavio Marazzi and crew Petter Pedersen; Ireland's O'Leary and crew Goodbody; and Americas Cup veteran and former Star Class World Champion Paul Cayard with Olympian Austin Sperry of the United States.
'We were a little bit faster, shorter and higher today,' said Pedersen (NOR), who rounded the third mark in sixth place, but gained three boats on stronger gusts during the final run. 'There's more action when there's wind.'
Bacardi Cup participants sail one race daily through Friday, March 13, keeping their five best finishes to determine the overall champion.
Star Bacardi Cup - Positions after 4 races of 6
1 BER 8272 Bromby Peter Liljedahl Magnus 1.7 [AVG] 2 2 1 6.7
2 USA 8376 Vandermolen Jon Ewenson Geoff 2 16 6 2 26
3 USA 8259 Cayard Paul Sperry Austin 11 10 8 5 34
4 USA 8267 Mendelblatt Mark PRADA BRUNO 3 23 1 10 37
5 USA 8265 Wright Peter Quist Nathan 13 3 19 13 48
6 IRL 8261 O'Leary Peter Goodbody Tim 4 29 17 4 54
7 USA 8273 Szabo George Peters Rick 1 20 25 9 55
8 USA 8285 Diaz Augie Strube Mark 15 5 10 27 57
9 USA 8157 Anosov Arthur Dolan Mark 17 17 5 21 60
10 USA 8362 Merriman Rick Sharp Brian 6 44 7 6 63
11 USA 8320 Reynolds Mark Haenel Hal 12 15 12 31 70
12 USA 8195 Maccausland John Murphy Kevin 10 28 4 32 74
13 GBR 8025 Gimson John Greig Ed 16 22 24 14 76
14 USA 8241 Campbell Andy Nichol Brad 19 18 28 12 77
15 FIN 8292 Dahlman Mathias Heinonen Erkki 7 36 20 15 78
16 USA 8077 Jennings Jack Rehe Mike 31 8 23 16 78
17 GER 8361 Pickel Marc Mitchell Steve 5 26 45 8 84
18 CAN 8143 Cramer Brian Johnston Matt 22 27 21 17 87
19 USA 8250 Macdonald Andy Fatih Brian 64.0 [DNF] 13 3 11 91
20 SUI 8364 Marazzi Flavio Pedersen Petter 64.0 [OCS] 12 13 3 92
21 USA 8318 Coughlin Daniel Balmert Brad 35 6 18 34 93
22 ITA 8341 Boggi Lucio LaPorta Manuele 21 1 9 64.0 [BFD] 95
23 SWE 8338 Johansson Mats Moller Leif 8 53 14 23 98
24 USA 8215 Allen Bill Hatfield Bruce 32 21 31 18 102
25 USA 8268 Hagebols Rodney Finlay William 27.0 [AVG] 7 33 41 108
26 ITA 8156 Irrera Renato Cristaldini Corrado 28 9 22 51 110
27 USA 8253 Brethorst Rick Anderson Scott 24 11 41 35 111
28 ITA 8177 Modena Luca Lambertenghi Sergio 29.0 [AVG] 43 37 7 116
29 GER 7601 Hicks Michael Hicks Patrick 23 25 49 26 123
30 USA 8072 Smith Doug Moore Mike 29 42 29 24 124
31 USA 8279 Bonanni Claude Burgess Rick 34 33 30 28 125
32 GER 7750 Burmester Jens Kleine Friedrich 37 30 16 43 126
33 UKR 8247 GUREYEV Vasyl Korotkov Volodmyr 26 31 36 33 126
34 NED 8263 Jorissen Sander Veldhuizen Erik 14 64.0 [BFD] 11 45 134
35 AUT 8369 Tomasini Grinover Roberto Bahr Gunnar 44 19 27 47 137
36 GER 7865 Lehnert Stefan Struve Dirk 45 50 26 22 143
37 USA 8333 Bischoff Clay Bjorn Tyler 64.0 [OCS] 4 64.0 [OCS] 19 151
38 USA 45 Valasek Marek Fedyszn Todd 57 37 38 20 152
39 CAN 8024 Fogh Hans Cheer Roger 36 64.0 [DNF] 15 39 154
40 SUI 8286 Dannesboe Henrick Morey Edward 30 58 47 25 160
41 USA 8170 Londrigan Tom Hall Stewart 25 64.0 [BFD] 34 38 161
42 CAN 7930 Hofkirchner Terry Imai Jeffrey 49 14 44 55 162
43 USA 8245 Zambella Joe Scott Larry 41.0 [AVG] 55 39 29 164
44 GER 8311 Hampe Alex Conrads Chris 27 38 58 42 165
45 SUI 8329 Wyss Daniel Joss Urs 42 54 35 46 177
46 USA 7986 Beigel-Vosbury Barbara Zuschnit Michael 50 52 42 36 180
47 ITA 8183 Tamburini Antonio Ricci Renzo 47 39 40 54 180
48 CAN 7626 Passmore Mark Bunner Ivan 64.0 [OCS] 24 64.0 [OCS] 30 182
49 USA 7902 Gunther Stephen Armstrong Lance 53 32 52 49 186
50 USA 8095 Weissenberger Gunti Hardin Chris 39 45 55 48 187
51 USA 8112 Bainton John Rogers Chris 52 47 48 40 187
52 USA 8132 Kohlhas Jock Gesing Witold 47.3 [AVG] 46 32 64.0 [BFD] 189.3
53 USA 7307 Sutter Larry Jenkins John 38 41 51 60 190
54 USA 8063 Collins Bert Avellon Guy 43 48 46 53 190
55 NED 8348 Bierman Guus Skinner Duncan 46 51 64.0 [OCS] 37 198
56 ITA 8344 Barovier Alberto NOBILI Gilberto 49.7 [AVG] 35 64.0 [DNF] 50 198.7
57 USA 7713 Fransen Ben Coleman Ian 64.0 [OCS] 34 50 52 200
58 CAN 7501 Karahanas Amanda Karahanas Tony 55 49 43 64.0 [DSQ] 211
59 USA 8323 Doyle Eric Calder Steve 64.0 [DNS] 40 64.0 [OCS] 44 212
60 USA 8217 Phinney Mike Poole Greg 40 59 57 59 215
61 USA 8083 Chiarella John Carlson Bob 48 57 56 58 219
62 USA 7970 Hopkins Sam Serenis Aaron 54 56 54 56 220
63 USA 7497 Wilson Kris Quinn Sean 56 60 53 57 226
by Janet Maizner
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