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February 20, 2008 -
For Immediate Release
2008 Acura Miami Grand Prix –
Good As It Gets!
-- March Regatta to Feature
World Class Competition
Miami Beach, Fla. –
Rivalries and rematches will be the order of the day when racing
beings on Thursday March 6 off of South Beach. At press time over 60
boats from 13 different countries had entered the 2008 Acura
Miami Grand Prix. The competition promises to be fierce and
world class.
A Farr 40 class
approaching 30 boats, two IRC classes and over 20 Melges 32s,
teeming with international talent and world champions, make up this
extraordinary grand prix fleet.
Class championships and
bragging rights for this four day, 10-race regatta are not all that
is at stake. The Acura Grand Prix trophies for the best
combined Key West and Miami scores will be awarded at the conclusion
of racing, and the Farr 40s will have taken another step toward
their Rolex World Championship at this same venue later in April.
January’s Key West event set the
stage for the 2008 Acura Grand Prix trophies. These
prestigious awards debuted in 2005, recognizing the top performing
boats with the best combined score from the celebrated Key West and
Miami regattas. The Farr 40, Melges 32 and IRC classes are eligible.
"In
recent years, winning in Key West has been one of the paramount
achievements for sailing in this country. Now the level of
competition in Miami is equally as high," Event Director Peter Craig
said. "Winning the Acura Grand Prix Trophy demonstrates
excellence on a very consistence basis against the best in the
world.”
Here’s how things look heading into the regatta:
Farr 40s
(28 boats)
Ten
of the top twelve Key West finishers will be on the line. Jim
Richardson’s Barking Mad (USA) won the January series on a
last race tie-breaker over Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino
(Italy). Erik Maris’ Twins (France) and Massimo
Mezzaroma’s Nerone (Italy) finished 3rd and 4th
respectively. Onorato is the defending World Champion.
Peter de Ridder’s Mean Machine (Monaco) and Fred and Steve
Howe’s Warpath (USA) tied for 6th place at Key
West, with de Ridder’s race 2 win breaking that tie. The Howes are
defending their 2007 Miami Farr 40 class win. De Ridder took Mumm 30
2007 class honors, and the Acura Grand Prix combined trophy.
HRH
Prince Frederik (Nanoq, Denmark) continues to move up in the
Key West standings, having finishing a respectable 11th,
just 4 points behind Taskashi Okura’s SLED (Japan). Class newcomer
William Douglas (Goombay Smash) had the thrill of finishing
ahead of Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi (Switzerland).
Bertarelli won the Farr 40 Acura Grand Prix trophy last year, but
will not be back to defend. Prince Frederik finished 3rd
last March in Miami.
Melges 32s
(21 boats)
Is
there a closer three boat rivalry around than that of Jeff Ecklund’s
Star (USA), Mike Carroll’s New Wave (USA) and Claudio
Recchi’s Let’s Roll (Italy)?
Placing 1, 2 and 4 at Acura Key West in January and 2, 3 and
1 at last year’s Acura Miami Grand Prix respectively, these
top tier crews will again be keeping tabs on one another. Last year,
Recchi was unbeatable, winning Key West and Miami and the combined
Acura Grand Prix trophy.
Seven of the top ten Key West boats will resume racing in the waters
off Miami Beach.
IRC 1 and IRC 2
(13 boats)
Dan
Meyer’s new J/V 66, Goetz built rocket Numbers is again the
scratch boat in IRC. He took IRC 1 class honors in Key West,
finishing four points clear of Colm Barrington’s J/V 52 Flash
Glove (Ireland). Close behind was John Kilroy’s IRC optimized
TP52 Samba Pa Ti.
Last
year’s Acura Miami Grand Prix witnessed a very tight contest between
Kilroy and Barrington, with Kilroy ultimately taking class and the
combined trophy. Doug DeVos’ TP52 Windquest finished just
behind Kilroy in Key West and was 3rd last March in
Miami.
Four
Swan 42s will race in the IRC 2 class. Twelve of these cruiser
racers made a spectacular one design debut in Key West last month.
The top two Swans in Key West, Andrew Fisher’s Bandit and
Mark Watson’s Tiburon (both hailing from Newport, RI) will be
a handful, though Jim Bishop’s Gold Digger (J/44) and Robin
Team’s Teamwork (J/122) had podium finishes in Key West last
month.
Acura Grand Prix Standings after Acura Key West 2008, presented by
Nautica
Top
Boats in each Class
Farr
40
1.
Barking Mad,
Jim
Richardson – 29 points
2.
Mascalzone Latino,
Vincenzo Onorato –
29 points
3.
Twins,
Erik Maris – 37 points
4.
Nerone,
Massimo Mezzaroma - 42 points
5.
Mean Machine,
Peter de Ridder – 61 points
6.
Warpath-MedImpact,
Fred & Steve Howe –
61 points
Melges 32
1.
Star,
Jeff Ecklund – 25 points
2.
New
Wave,
Mike Carroll and Marty Kullman – 27 points
3.
Let’s Roll,
Claudio Recchi – 34 points
4.
Arkle,
John Sherlock – 41 points
5.
Pinta,
Michael Illbruck – 47 points
IRC
Combined
1.
Numbers,
Dan Meyers – 10 points
2.
Flash Glove,
Colm Barrington – 14 points
3.
Samba Pa Ti,
John Kilroy Jr. – 16 points
4.
Gold Digger,
Jim Bishop – 20 points
5.
Teamwork,
Robin Team – 24 points
Acura
has been the proud title sponsor and Official Vehicle of the Miami
Grand Prix,
Miami Race Week and the SORC for the previous 8 years. They are joined by
supporting sponsors Mount Gay Rum (Official Rum) and
SLAM
(Official Technical Gear and Retailer).
The
Miami Beach Marina is the Official Site for this 2008 grand
prix event. The Avalon and South Seas Hotels are the Official
Host Hotels.
The
first entry deadline
(for no late fee) is February 8.
Event
details,
entries and past results are available at
www.Premiere-Racing.com
Shake-A-Leg Miami is the official charity of
both the Acura Miami Grand Prix and Acura Key West. For information
about them please visit:
www.ShakeALegMiami.org
Acura Key West 2008
and the 2008 Acura Miami Grand Prix are
US Sailing sanctioned events and
are included in the
US-IRC Gulf Stream Series.
Thirty-five Industry Partners
bring their support through a program that is now in its 7th
year.
Learn more about
the Industry Partners and the Program on the event web site.
About Acura
Acura
offers a full line of technologically advanced luxury performance
vehicles through a nationwide network of more than 260 dealers
throughout the United States. The 2008 Acura lineup features five
distinctive models, the
RL luxury performance sedan,
the
TL premium performance sedan,
the
TSX premium sport sedan,
the turbo-charged
RDX premium sport
CUV
and
the award-winning
MDX premium performance CUV.
For more information about Acura vehicles, please visit
www.acura.com.
For media inquiries, please go to
www.acuranews.com.
Event
details,
entries and past results are available at
www.Premiere-Racing.com
For
more information on Premiere Racing, 2008 Acura Grand Prix, and its
Sponsors and Partners:
Premiere Racing, Inc.
67B Front Street, Marblehead, MA, 01945
Tel: (781) 639-9545 Fax: (781) 639-9171
Email:
Info@Premiere-Racing.com
Web
Site:
www.Premiere-Racing.com
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