Day 4

Samba Pa Ti (J. Kilroy/J. Kostecki)wrapped up first place for the Farr 40 class at the Acura Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC) by one quarter of a point. Kilroy led the class on points for three days of the four-day regatta but came under increasing pressure from the steadily improving Barking Mad, skippered by Jim Richardson, from Boston, MA. Kilroy was the 1999 World Champion of the class while Richardson was the '98 Champion. Barking Mad finished second overall, while Australian skipper John Calvert-Jones, the current World Champion, sailed his Southern Star to a third place overall. The Farr 50 Esmeralda, campaigned by Ken Read and owner Makoto Uematsu, locked up the seven-boat IMS Class with seven victories in 3 days of racing and elected not to sail the final day. On the French side, Krazy K-Yote 2, always handicaped by her appendixes, end fifth.

Day 3

Conditions off Miami were superb with sunshine and a south-westerly breeze of 15-18 knots with enough shifts in the wind to make it interesting. The Melges 24 wrapped up their three days of racing. All other classes will sail one more race tomorrow. Steering Jeff Jones' Melges 24 'Kilroy', Harry Melges posted a string of bullets over the three days of competition in the class, broken only by a third and a fifth place. Relishing the surfing conditions, Melges blasted to three successive wins in Saturday's fresh breezes. Samba Pa Ti (J. Kilroy/ J. Kostecki) showed similar domination over the international array of talent in the Farr 40 Class, as he sailed his boat to two victories and a sixth place. Kilroy, who was the series leader after the opening day of racing, dropped to second place yesterday when he logged a 19th place finish. "John is doing a terrific job," said Kostecki.. "There were tough conditions at times out there. There were some big waves. He's hanging tough and doing great, especially considering that he hasn't raced since the Big Boat Series in San Francisco last September." Esmeralda, campaigned by Ken Read and owner M. Uematsu, continued their total dominance of the 7 boat IMS Class for the third day in a row. Undefeated, they have a perfect record of seven victories. "I felt the boat was going well and that let me sail fast," said Read. "When you sail fast, you sail smart."

Day 2

Racing was delayed for the 138 boats on the three courses off Miami Beach, as the race committee waited for the sea breeze to establish itself. Competition got under way in a 10 to 12-knot southerly that built to 12 to 16-knots by the second race in the afternoon. In the Farr 40 class, Calvert Jones (a 64-year-old Australian) had the top score of the day and his Farr 40 Southern Star was the overall leader in the highly-competitive. Samba Pa Ti (J. Kilroy/ J. Kostecki)took a second place in the first race of the day but, afetr a traffic jam at the second mark, she was the 19th boat to finish that race and dropped to second place overall, six points behind the Australians. The Farr 50 Esmeralda, campaigned by sailmaker Ken Read and owner Makoto Uematsu, dominated the seven-boat IMS Class for the second day, boosting their record to four bullets. In the Melges 24 Class, going into the final day Harry Melges leads Morgan Reeser with Brian Porter in third and Keith Musto in fourth. With only 8 points between the top four boats yet again the Melges 24 result will go down to the final race.

Day 1

An almost total lack of wind caused a considerable delay for all eight classes racing today, but the longest wait of three and a half hours happened on the Acura Circle, where the Farr 40s and 1D35 one-designs were only able to sail one race. There were two races for IMS and PHRF boats and Melges 24s on the Omega Watch Circle, and for multihulls on the Ocean Drive Magazine Circle. When the south easter finally filled in, conditions were ideal, with the breeze starting at eight knots and building to 14 knots before the last boat surfed over the finish line. John Kilroy showed winning form in the opening race of the Farr 40 Class at the 60th anniversary of the Acura Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC) regatta. Aided by ace tactician John Kostecki, Kilroy and his Samba Pa Ti turned in a performance worthy of the 1999 world champion. Kilroy's closest competition came from Coconut Grove, FL, skipper George Andreadis who took second place with Atalanti X. Andreadis, one of the top skippers in the highly competitive Farr 40s, won the class last month at Yachting Key West Race Week. In the other classes racing off Miami Beach, Ken Read and Makoto Vermatsu campaigned the latter's new Farr 50 Esmeralda to two first places in the seven-boat IMS Class. The french Team, skippered by Luc Gellusseau (who has announced its candidacy to the America's Cup 2003) will be surrounded by most of the Le Défi Français team which will be in Auckland : Sébastien Destremeau, Fabrice Blondel, Benoît Briand, Christophe Lassègue, Pierre Duchein, Ortwin Kandler, Peter Warren, Bruno Dubois, Philippe Proust, Murray Goodsell, Bruno Jeanjean. In the Melges 24 class, Harry Melges goes into today's racing leading by 1 point from Morgan Reeser. Henri Samuel lies in 3rd with Keith Musto, Brian Porter, Argyle Campbell and Paula Zubrzyck all tied in 4th just 7 points behind the leader (no news about Dennis Conner).