Paul Cayard has been chasing the Bacardi Cup for almost half a century. Now the 66-year-old American and his co-skipper Frithjof Kleen have won one of the most famous trophies in sailing. The duo thus crowned an outstanding year together. The long-awaited success came 46 years after Cayard's first participation in the Bacardi Cup.
Bacardi Cup: Champions duel for victory
Off Miami, the seven-time America's Cup participant and Ocean Race winner and his German coxswain prevailed over another of sailing's greats in the battle for the Bacardi Cup. Cayard/Kleen relegated double Olympic champions Robert Scheidt and Austin Sperry to silver in the final ranking according to all the rules of the art of match racing. Third place went to the Polish Starboat Olympic champion Mateusz Kusznierewicz with Bruno Prada. Click here for the final results.
Neither the participants nor the observers will forget the final race of this championship in a hurry. Cayard and Kleen had previously produced an impressive series with three daily victories, a second and a sixth place. However, Scheidt and Sperry were hardly inferior with 3, 3, 4 and two daily victories. Cayard/Kleen led by 5:8 points before the showdown. With this intermediate score after five races, it was clear that only one of these two teams could lift the Bacardi Cup.
I'll still be playing through this race when I'm dead." Paul Cayard
The task for Cayard and Kleen was also clear before the sixth and final race: 175 days after their joint World Championship triumph, they had to ensure that Scheidt/Sperry did not finish first or second in the final. In the final, Cayard then shone with the match race tactics that Robert Scheidt probably also remembers with mixed feelings from his great Olympic Laser battles with Ben Ainslie.
The attack came ten minutes before the start
In 1996, Scheidt had prevailed against Ainslie in the battle for gold when the Brazilian involved the Brit in a false start. The disqualification of both sailors brought Scheidt gold. Four years later, Ainslie returned the favour by covering Scheidt and sailing him back to the back of the fleet. Although both were able to cancel the worst result of their series, it was precisely this that brought Ainslie the first of his four gold medals.
Scheidt must have remembered these Olympic chapters at the Bacardi Cup. This time he was targeted again. Cayard and Kleen launched their attack ten minutes before the starting signal. For five minutes, the two duos engaged in a thrilling match race before the start sequence had even begun. Due to the aggressive tactics, both boats were far behind the fleet when the starting signal was given.
"Robert and Austin had some difficulties handling their boat. We both passed the start line well behind the fleet, about 100 metres behind," said Cayard, describing the opening situation for the final race. "So I would say that 90 per cent of my work was done right there."
Furious Scheidt comeback ensures high tension
Cayard and Kleen then chose the right-hand side of the course, while the rest of the fleet travelled to the left. They kept a close eye on their rivals Scheidt and Sperry. Cayard and Kleen passed the first mark in 26th place, Scheidt and Sperry in 30th. For the American-German duo, it was exactly the position they wanted. Scheidt and Sperry fought like lions to get further ahead and eventually managed to break away. Then they stormed through the fleet with a remarkable comeback.
Cayard and Kleen were unable to prevent the unleashed run and had to hope that it would not be enough for Scheidt and Prada to win the race or finish second. Scheidt gave everything, showed his complete repertoire as the star boat helmsman and overtook dozens of boats with Austin Sperry. But at the finish line, his formidable tenth place was not enough for a last-minute leap to the top. It was Paul Cayard and Frithjof Kleen who lifted the Bacardi Cup into the sky above Miami together for the first time.
"This means a lot to me," said Cayard. "I've been frustrated for so many years. Eddie Cutillas from Bacardi keeps telling me, 'Next year will be your year.' The pressure kept mounting. I'm grateful that we've made it now. A 200-pound weight has fallen off my shoulders."
What makes a dominant team is chemistry. If we play our best, we're pretty hard to beat." Frithjof Kleen
For both Cayard and Kleen, the victory has a significance that goes far beyond the Bacardi Cup as a single regatta. "The Star class is the most important unity class in the world," Kleen emphasised his perspective. "It's the boat, it's the community, it's the camaraderie, it's the tradition." With the victory, Kleen also cemented his role as mastermaker in the Star boat.
Frithjof Kleen is the master craftsman in the Starboot
Kleen has filled this role since his first World Championship gold medal with Robert Stanjek in 2014. with the Italian helmsman Diego Negri off Kiel to the second world championship title. In September last year, Frithjof Kleen helped Paul Cayard to his second Starboat gold at the World Championships 37 years after his first World Championship triumph in 1988.
Sailing journalist and America's Cup book author Magnus Wheatley said after the Bacardi Cup victory about the German born in Berlin and living on Lake Garda with the well-known nickname "Frida" in the sailing world: "Frida also deserves great praise, who is exactly the type of person you need on a Star. He is impressive in many ways, but downwind he is as graceful as a prima ballerina and as focussed as a chess grandmaster. That's almost unusual, but he's a great crew member and definitely the type of guy you want as a bouncer at the after-party."
Wheatley added a personal note to his bow, saying: "Frida, you are the undisputed sailing legend, I can tell you that! You change the skipper and win, you change the boat and win, you change the sails and win, you change the hemisphere and win. Frida, you're the greatest!"
I've been waiting 46 years for this moment. Let the rum flow!" Paul Cayard
The 100th Bacardi Cup will be held in 2027. The regatta is therefore also considered an outstanding example of one of the longest commercial partnerships in sailing. "Just think if you can think of another event where the partner has been on board for 99 years," said Paul Cayard at the award ceremony. Paul Cayard, another well-known but first-time winner, has now been added to the list of winners. It will be interesting to see who can win the 2027 anniversary summit in the Starboat.
Bacardi Cup: 47 different star boat winners
Ding Schoonmaker holds the record in the Bacardi Cup with eight victories between 1951 and 1977 - seven as helmsman and one as foresailor. Double Olympic champion Mark Reynolds came very close to the best with seven wins between 1984 and 2002. Since 1927, 47 different helmsmen have now won the coveted trophy. Nick Heuwinkel and Marcel Vocke were the best all-German crew to sail to twelfth place as an U30 crew before Miami.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
