NORWAY'S PEDER NERGAARD WINS ACURA SORC

Miami Beach was the location for the final US winter series regatta for the growing Melges 24 Class. The Melges 24 Winter Series begins in Jacksonville, Florida. The Midwinters is in Key West and then the final stop is Miami.

With entries from Britain, Italy and Norway as well as across the US and ten races sailed in great weather off Miami's South Beach it was yet another fantastic regatta for the Melges 24s.

The light winds and choppy ocean seas made the sailing challenging for all fleets. The two boats that really sailed consistently faster than the rest were Peder Nergaard's Norway 560 and the Joe Fly Racing Team with helm Luca Santella from Italy. Both boats using North Main, Jib and Asymmetricals had a speed edge.

Upwind as the breeze would build and you were sailing on Starboard tack into the chop you had to really get into a routine with the waves. As you rolled up on top of a big wave and your pressure increased the top boats would drop their traveller to centerline or a bit below. As they came down the wave and the pressure would go away the traveller would go up to weather a bit allowing the boat to keep powering through the water. The Italian boat and the Nowrweigan boat were fast with this upwind routine.

Downwind brought a similar type of discipline to the sailing. You could surf the big waves but due to the light air you had to head up, gain pressure right away again so that you did not slow down after getting your boat so low (dead downwind) down the wave. Keeping your crew and helmsperson focused was the key to success downwind.

Whilst Nergaard and Santella dominated the racing, Britain's Roger Peacock with helm Colin Smith made a welcome return to the class after a couple of seasons out and showed they could still cut the mustard with a third place. Leading US boat was Bruce Ayres in fourth just ahead of Brian Porter and the Full Throttle Team whose fifth overall was just enough to win them the overall US Winter Series title.

As always Miami's South Beach provided a great backdrop for the on the water activities as well as offering plenty of apres sailing entertainment.

The next stop for the Melges fleet is in Pensacola, Florida. There the PYC will hold the National Championship for 2003. Racing begins on Thursday March 13.

Andy Burdick