BOMBARDA WINS THE BACARDI CUP

Expertise And Design Provide The Perfect Platform For Success

With eight races and one discard, It all came down to the final race to determine the winner of the Melges 24 fleet and the 2019 Bacardi Cup, and it was going to be close. Andrea Pozzi’s Bombarda came out clean, one point ahead of the fleet after a consistent scoreline. North Sails Expert, Giulio Desiderato is the coach for Melges 24 Bombarda, winner of the 2019 Bacardi Cup. Giulio campaigned with Bombarda for several years, and was tactician in 2017 when they held the number one spot on the class world rankings. He was also onboard when they took second place at the European Championship in 2016 held in Hyeres. This winter the Melges 24 specialist Matteo Ivaldi became the Tactician and he began coaching the team and has seen his teammate's performance progress as well as the North sail designs. Through practice and fine-tuning, the team is where they want to be and ready to take on the next challenge. “As their coach, I’d like to say thank you to my team for such a great week. They sailed very well, and it’s been an honor to be by their side. Big congratulations to Andrea, Matteo, Ciampa, Carlo e Nicholas, they really have been the protagonists of this success.” Sailors showed up ready to battle, and Miami served up pristine racing conditions that made it possible to get great races in the Melges 24 fleet. The level of competition remained high all week, and off the water, sailors enjoyed the camaraderie and making new connections. Team Bombarda has worked hard in the lead up to the World Championships in Sardinia, Italy later this Spring. Beginning the season on a high note is not a bad start, but Giulio says there is still work to be done. “Our journey to the Worlds has just started, and we are happy about the results, but we know that we still have many things to improve. What’s been clear is the step forward that we have taken from the previous event we sailed in January. The biggest change that we’ve made was to our sail inventory, which has made a big impact on our performance.”

"Big congratulations to Andrea, Matteo, Ciampa, Carlo e Nicholas, they really have been the protagonists of this success.The biggest change that we’ve made was to our sail inventory, which has made a big impact on our performance.”

Since the very first day of training for team Bombarda, the team was fast and consistent. During the practice races before the regatta, they realized that they had all the ingredients to create the perfect, winning recipe that could get them a podium finish. Andrea Pozzi, owner and skipper of Bombarda, commented; “Sailing in the Melges 24 class is always a tough feat. I'm happy to be back in action with my team with the goal to prepare in the best way possible for the World Championship in Spain.” “Winning the Bacardi Cup in Miami was a great experience. The venue is beautiful, and our results have given us even more motivation to improve. The relationship between Bombarda and North Sails is almost historical. We’ve been together in different campaigns over the course of several seasons. Especially with our win last week at the Bacardi Cup, I want to give thanks to North for the support and the services they have provided my team.” “From the first moment we hoisted our new set of 3Di sails,” said Giulio, “we could easily adapt our old tuning to the new set up. Our goal was to be consistent, manage the risks, and try to stay in the front so we could avoid a large discard. We pulled it off!” “Since the introduction of 3Di technology into the Melges 24 class two years ago North's designers Per Andersson and Mike Marshall have done a great job and made a ton of progress in class development”, said Giulio.

“Since the introduction of 3Di technology into the Melges 24 class two years ago North's designers Per Andersson and Mike Marshall have done a great job and made a ton of progress in class development”, said Giulio. The starting point of 3DL paneled sails was a benchmark in the Melges 24 fleet, but we now have advanced as far as delivering the best existing product into the class that has so far, made a huge difference in performance across the range for clients worldwide.”

“They’ve constantly been working on the shape and layout of the sails to improve the design since the very beginning. The starting point of 3DL paneled sails was a benchmark in the Melges 24 fleet, but we now have advanced as far as delivering the best existing product into the class that has so far, made a huge difference in performance across the range for clients worldwide.”