If you wait long enough, the weather will change in Miami! The weather reports said that we were going to have some rock and roll action by noon, and they were right. [more]Although the participants had their doubts sitting on the beach, the race committee saw the real deal from out in the middle of Biscayne Bay. The wind was coming, and it was going to be the day!
A challenging course was set to test the fleet and see who was the best. With a start well offshore and the upwind mark well clear of any wind shadows, the sailors would make their way down to a gate about 50 yards above the start, then back up, then down, then back up again. From there they headed to a reaching mark set just out front of the amazing vista of the Miami landmark Viscaya, then back through the gate and then around the pin end of the start line before finishing behind the committee boat. Four races were scheduled for the day, but a error by the committee led to a fifth race being run. The total of race scored for the event was 5 including the light wind first day.
The winds were blowing quite steadily for the final day of the event at a consistent 14 to 17 knots. The greatest challenge for competitors as the day wore on besides the course itself, was the increasing presence of weeds on the Bay. By the end of the day, there were patches big enough to be sold as real estate to any willing celebrity buyers! Multiple catapults, weed clearing jumps, and demoralizing back winded back downs were seen all over the venue. Only the most committed sailor was going to win the event, no matter what their ideal wind condition was.
In the end, Wilhelm Schurmann of Brazil was the Overall Winner again this year. Joining him on the Podium were fellow countrymen Paulo Dos Reis in second and Mathias Pinheiro in Third. The Movie Star, Alex Morales made it out on top of the Open Fleet on his Tillo International boards, joined by Britt Viehmann and Sergio Kapul. The Junior fleet was topped by Bebeko Aldo Maia of Team Brazil, followed by Ian Stokes and Miami boy Ludovico Belli. Lone woman racer Karen Marriott rocked it around the course besting some of the boys in a couple of heats.
The fleet is really starting to get its groove, and it was impressive to see how far many of the sailors have come in a few short years. In the end though the champions rocked the rest and another event bites the dust.
Gallery – http://www.miamiproam.com/gallery/
