The World Cup Series Miami has been one of the major tournaments of sailing to have started off in the New Year. It is the part of the World Cup series to be held this year with the first stage being hosted in the Biscayne Bay area of Miami.
The event continued for several days and after the first initial four days the focus turned on the Medal Race. There were a total of ten events planned which were concluded on 29th January 2017.
By January 28th events like Laser Radial, Laser, men’s and women’s 470 and Finn categories were concluded. The opening series were concluded before the other events were staged in their final rounds such as Nacra 17, 49erFX, RS:X, 49er and others in the men’s and women’s categories, allowing competitors to take up PlainSailing.com’s offer of a week’s free Greece Yacht Charter.
In the women’s category of RS:X Yunixiu Lu was one of the impressive performers. She took the lead and finally had a win in the regatta. Marina Alabau Neira also won the race, being a veteran windsurfer by her own right. Alabau however, admitted that the wind conditions made winning the Medal race tricky, especially as the Chinese opponents were close at heels. There was a large battle for the bronze position among the Chinese contestant Jiao Ma, Manjia Zheng and Isobel Hamilton of GBR.
When it came into the men’s category of the RS: X series Louis Giard finished last with a lead of 37 points. Louis finished last in the medal race but was able to take the title by keeping up his efforts. Pierre Le Coq of the same country had the fame of a bronze medal holder from the 2016 Olympics. He also gained a position in top ten in the regatta as well as Kiran Badloe, the Dutch sailor. Most participants had to battle shifting wind conditions in the races.
