Alec Cutler and his crew sailing Hedgehog sailed their way up the leaderboard on the final day of the 2014 Melges 32 Miami Winter Regatta hosted at Miami Beach Marina supported by Coconut Grove Sailing Club and Melges USA.
Cutler and his crew started the day in the 10th position, but after the two races sailed on the final day they finished in 5th place.
Cutler finished the first race of the day in 3rd place, before recording a 6th place finish in the second and final race of the day and the Regatta.
Cutler was able to throw out his worse finish which was his first finish of 12th to end the regatta with 41 points.
Roberto Tomasini Grinover on Robertissima led from start to finish taking the title with 17 points.
Byte CII North American Championship
The Byte CII North American Championship being held out of the US Sailing Center Martin County concluded with Ceci Wollmann, Ben Smith and Peter Dill all taking part.
This event is also the continental qualifier for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games to be held this August in Nanjing, China.
28 competitors from 14 countries left the beach in a light southeasterly. Henry Marshall from the United States had secured victory with 2 races remaining and finished with only 12 points in the 10 race series after discarding two 3rd place finishes. Henry also won the 2013 championship last summer. His focus now turns to the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
While the USA and Canada boys had qualified their countries at the 2013 Worlds, 4 additional spots were up for grabs this week. Pablo Bertran from the Cayman Islands finished with a convincing 2nd place with 34 points and qualified his country. The remaining 3 teams to qualify were Sam Morrell from the British Virgin Islands with 50 points, Paul de Souza from the Bahamas with 51 points and Scott McKenzie from the US Virgin Islands with 54 points.
Smith just missed qualifying the country by one spot finishing with 60 points, Dill finished in 13th place with 92 point.
Wollmann was the top female with 96 points. Wollmann and Celeste Lugtmeijer from the Dominican had qualified their countries at last year’s world which left 4 spots up for grabs. Florence Allan from the Cayman Islands, Paige Clarke - USVI, Abigail Affoo – TRI and Paula Pelayo- MEX won the remaining 4 spots.
Cristian Noe, head coach of the Argentina Olympic Team, is thrilled to be coaching both Henry and Ceci the top male and female sailors. They have worked hard to optimize the tuning of the boat. "We have spent a lot of time with the batten tension over the past several months to perfect the sail shape based on the breeze," said Christian. "We find that video of our training has really helped show the sailors how every little mistake can add up to be a big difference."
