Ninety-two years of history is a record that not many sports competitions can match. With the number of teams and the unparalleled talent on the water increasing each year, the Bacardi Cup Regatta is among the world’s most iconic sporting events. For 56 years, this event has had the pleasure of calling the beautiful warm waters of Biscayne Bay its home.
This year, the Organizing Committee decided to extend an invitation not only to the Star Class, but also to other one-design fleets, making the 2019 Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta the most attended spring sailing event. The J/70 class, the fastest-growing one-design fleet in the world, has been invited for the second year in a row, while the successful long-lived Melges 24 class will make its return to Biscayne Bay along with the high-performance classes represented by the Viper 640 and Flying Tiger 7.5!
Racing gets underway in Biscayne Bay on Monday, March 4th and on Saturday, March 9th we shall know the winners of the 92 edition of the Bacardi Cup, the Star fleet will compete in a single daily race of proper endurance racing, which is the traditional format that the more than 100-year-old class dictates and exactly what the sailors relish.
Teams from across the U.S. will be joined in every class by an international line-up of 22 different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Ukraine.
The 2019 Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta has a recording-breaking 165 entries, with more than 500 sailors attending. World champions, Olympians and America’s Cup legends will be on the starting line. The most shining one will traditionally be the Star Class, with the many heroes that still competitively race in it and sport the Gold star on their main sail for winning at least one Star World Championship. We are excited to have competitors that include the very eclectic Paul Cayard (USA), who has been sailing the Star for 40 years alongside his successful career in the America’s Cup and big yacht racing; Xavier Rohart (FRA), the Bronze Olympic medalist in the class in Athens; Lars Grael (BRA), a two times Bronze Olympic medalist in the Tornado class; and Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL), the Gold and Bronze winner at the Olympics in Atlanta and Athens in the Finn class.
The reigning champs of Bacardi Cup, Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA), will be on the water to try and replicate their success in the huge fleet of almost 70 boats and win the 2,500 points for the SSL Ranking the event will assign to the winner, as Bacardi Cup is an SSL2500 regatta.
Post-race, the BACARDÍ rum team will greet and host competitors each evening, with great food, music and plenty of BACARDÍ cocktails. BACARDÍ has sponsored the event since its inception in 1927. The nightly parties make sure the fun continues long after the finish line. Social events include the Bacardi Cup Welcome Cocktail to kick off event at Coral Reef Yacht Club tonight, the Mid-Week Party at Shake-a-Leg Miami on March 6 to mark the half-way stage of the event and the Prize Giving Dinner on Saturday, March 9. Race activities are directed by Coral Reef Yacht Club, in collaboration with Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and Key Biscayne Yacht Club.
SSL Press Officer since 2015
Focus on / Sailors / Regattas
