A friend to the Grove wins Bacardi Cup this year

The Bacardi Cup went to Guillaume Florent and Pascal Rambeau, of France, with 23 points – edging out the Irish by just one point. You may remember Pascal from our story here. He is the one who had had his gear stolen when he was here in January and the whole Grove came together to retrieve it. That's Pascal (left) and Guillaume above, in action.

In the Star class, racing for the 84th Bacardi Cup over six days, yesterday’s final race opened with the top-two teams separated by just one point. 2008 Olympian Peter O’Leary and David Burrows (Ireland) were leading the 89-boat fleet followed by Guillaume and Pascal, and just five points back, Frederik Lööf with Max Salmiren (Sweden) and Eivind Melleby with Petter Morland Pedersen (Norway) were third and fourth, respectively, but tied on points.

"Up to the last day, the Irish, and even the Swedish could have won the Cup,” said Guillaume who hails from Gravelines, a town in the north of France. “The conditions were super tricky, lots of wind shifts, lots of pressure differences. It made it very challenging to sail out there, especially when you're trying to win the championship. When you finish high in the standings day after day, realizing what is at stake, mentally it is very tough. You have to do your best continuing to stay consistent."

Crew Pascal, from La Rochelle, won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in the Star and has competed in the Bacardi Cup before, with his previous best finish a fourth. When Guillaume was recovering from an Achilles tendon injury a year ago, he reached out to Pascal, and the rest, as they say, is history.

"Miami is always challenging,” said Pascal explaining that the duo were going to enjoy their win before starting to train for the French Olympic Trials in April. “For us, it was good preparation with all the teamwork on board. It was very important for us to be here. Today was a tough day. The wind was very flaky. It was very stressful because there were big shifts and big pressure coming from Key Biscayne. We were very successful on the first upwind and then the race was mano a mano, head to head. It was never more than 20 meters with no more than a couple boat lengths separating us at any time. We were really close with the Irish this morning, chasing them. Until the last 100 meters, anything could have happened. When we crossed the line, it was definitely satisfying. It was our first win together, and this being Florent's first year in the Star and his first Bacardi Cup, this win is very special."


Photos courtesy Bacardi Cup