Bacardi Invitational Winter Series 1 in Miami - December 17-19

17.12.2021

December 17, 2021 - Miami, FL, USA - The Bacardi Winter Series 1 will host around 40 teams in Miami this weekend. The regatta will be comprised of the J70 and the Melges 24 fleets, racing out of Shake-A-Leg on Biscayne Bay.

Packed with talent, the J70 and Melges 24 are each scheduled to contest a six race series across two days, the 18th and 19th of December.

Daily Post-Race Bacardi Happy Hours will boost our shore side socials.

Eddie Cutillas of Bacardi USA commented, "We are excited to welcome sailors back to South Florida and the Biscayne Bay starting line for this weekend's opening event of the Bacardi Series. After the challenges of the past months, we are glad to be running an almost normal regatta and I wish everyone a great two days of racing and camaraderie. Who wouldn't want to be racing in Miami in December!"

An impressive line-up and plenty of well-known faces will be jostling to dominate the Biscayne Bay race track. The provisional J/70 entry list features eighteen teams, including familiar names such as Michael Illbruck on 'Pinta' and Travis Odenbach, winner of the 2021 Bacardi Invitational Regatta, who is teaming up with David Jannetti on 'Very Odd'. Heading up from the Cayman Islands is Peter Cunningham and his 'Powerplay' team who are also regular front of fleet contenders.

In the twenty-two boat Melges 24 fleet, Bora Gulari and his team on 'New England Ropes' will be mission on to repeat last season's domination, culminating in glory at the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta. For this event 1 they will face most of the top ten from last year, including Peter Duncan on 'Rasta Mixta', who returns to the Melges 24 after winning the J/70 Worlds this summer. Also set to be up in the front of fleet battle are Travis Wiesleder on 'Lucky Dog, Bruce Ayres on 'Monsoon' and Laura Grondin on 'Dark Energy', who also switches to the Melges 24 after finishing 3rd at the J/70 Worlds.

To make this a truly international and talented fleet, we will see on the starting line:

- Peter Karrie's NEFELI with an experienced Italian crew from Germany
- Richard Reid's ZINGARA from Canada, with two-time M24 World Champion (2003&2009) Richard Clarke onboard
- Alessandro Rombelli's STIG from Italy with America's Cup sailor Francesco "Checco" Bruni and 2005 M24 World Champion Manuel Modena in crew
- Drew Freides - two-time Melges 20 World Champion and Melges IC37 and Farr 40 World Champion on PACIFIC YANKEE with the Melges 24 class legends Federico Michetti and Morgan Reeser in crew

The Bacardi Invitational Winter Series 1 and 2 (28-30 January 2022) are fiercely contested events, which set the stage and the leader board challengers for overall glory at the Bacardi Invitational Regatta series finale from 9-12 March 2022. Also racing in March are the VX One, Viper 640 and Persico 69F classes. As always the Star Class will headline at the historic Bacardi Cup, one of the world's oldest sailing events, which celebrates its 95th anniversary from 6-12 March 2022.

These annual events return to Miami fully supported by host Bacardi, who is committed to contribute to the continued enjoyment of sailing and is equally dedicated to supporting a safe environment with respect to Covid-19 precautions.

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