Sailors enjoyed the week and the perfect weather

Biscayne Bay delivered once again and gave last week's Miami Sailing Week great sailing conditions for all days of the 9th GOSLINGS Miami Sailing Week (MSW) that included the Canadian-American Opti Cup. 115 sailing teams raced on Biscayne Bay. 

Miami Sailing Week kicked off with the National One Design Sailing Academy Clinic, which took place on Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7 at Coconut Grove Sailing Club. The clinic, run by Bill Gladstone of North U, was a great success with over 25 sailors mastering their racing skills in both classroom and on the water.

On Wednesday March 7 the regatta registration and welcome party took place at Coconut Grove Sailing Club where sailors were greeted with a warm hospitality provided by the Club. Every night throughout the week there was an event at the MSW hospitality with music, food, bar and great sailor stories; one of those was picked-up by the Miami Herald on March 9.

Racing for the 9th annual MSW was smooth sailing with good breeze and changing wind directions that made racing tactical and very interesting. The Melges 24 completed 9 races over the event. Finishing 1st was Monsoon skippered by Bruce Ayres (Newport Beach, CA) with two bullets, three 2nd places and two top 5 finishes. Finishing 2nd was Brian Porter skippering Full Throttle  (Fontana, WI) with two bullets and 7 top 10 finishes, and 3rd we had Mikey with Kevin Welch (Anacortes, WA).

Eight races were completed the one person A-Cat catamaran with 16 teams battling each other. Winning the foiling division was Bruce Mahoney (La Porte, TX) with 8 wins. Tracy Oliver on Lunatic Fringe followed in 2nd (Virginia Beach, VA), and then Tony Vandenoever on Flying Dutchman, in 3rd (Sarasota, FL).  In the classic division Ben Hall (Bokeelia, FL) on La Femme Nikita took first place followed by Andrew Burdett (Budd Lake, NJ) on Kiwi Magic and by Mark Herendeen (Melbourne, FL) on Real Estate Ink Solutions.

In the Flying Tiger fleet Richard Griffin (Miami, FL) on Torqeedo took first place followed by Kenneth Luczynski on Incineroar and by Christopher Tate (Westerly, RI) on Accessibil-it.  It was a great experience for all participants both on and off the water.  “This has been a fantastic event and we’re excited to come back next year with more boats.” Said Dave Smith Director of National One Design Sailing Academy.

Making Miami Sailing Week special this year was the addition of the youth component with the Inaugural Canadian-American Opti Cup.  72 Optimist sailors from Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coral reef Yacht Club and the Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron gathered for a day of racing as part of MSW program.  The top three sailors were awarded MSW silver plates.  “Thank you to all the sailors, coaches and volunteers for making this event possible.” said Alberto Olivo Youth Sailing Director. “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.

Everyone is already looking forward to the 2019 regatta that will take place in Coconut Grove and Biscayne Bay from March 4th to the 10th and we look forward celebrating the 10th edition of Goslings Miami Sailing Week. 

Full results are available here, while more information on Miami Sailing Week is available at MiamiSailingWeek.com 


Photo Credit: (c) Cory Silken/Miami Sailing Week