Caramba takes Piana Cup
The Louis Piana Cup was stalled in December due to lack of wind, but after a quick poll of the fleet, the sailors agreed to try again the day before Florida States. 47 boats took to the starting line on Biscayne Bay on a sunny Friday morning for three races.
“We had a beautiful ‘chamber of commerce; day today,” said class Meteorologist Chelsea Carlson of Sea-Tactics. “After a short 30-minute postponement for wind to fully fill, the Race Committee was able to get 3 races off back to back in a building south breeze up to 10-12 kt. Tomorrow will be a different story, with a cold front bringing in NE 20-30 knots and squalls making it a different ball game.”
At the end of the day, it was Caramba, Jose Fuentes’ crew who rose to the top with 19 points. After a 15th in the first race, they overcame that setback to go on to a third and a first-place finish.
“15th in this fleet is not a bad finish. What we have here is some of the best sailors in the world, so the top 20 is hyper-competitive and a game of inches. Our tactician [Tony Rey] made the perfect call for starts and connecting the pressure points around the course for 2nd and third races which translates into staying in front if you have good speed. Lots of gear changes and not afraid to be aggressive when it counts. Owe it to my crew who was flawless,” he continued. Wilson Stout is on the foredeck and Marc Gauthier is trimming the jib.
Tomorrow the Florida States will kick off for two days but the weather may be drastically different. All are part of the lead-up to Worlds 2023 in April.
Photos from Pieter Vanderlaan;
