The Tribune

IT was a “death from behind” year for the 2014 Miami-Nassau Cup Race, with slower boats riding new breeze right up to the leaders on the final leg to Nassau Harbour, the entire fleet finishing within two and a half hours of each other on Friday evening.

First across the line was Frank Atkinson’s new J 125 Raisin’ Cane in the IRC Class while line honours for the PHRF Class went to Eamonn DeLisser and Jim Bill’s new Farr 395 Senara.

But a day of light downwind work brought the leaders slowly to Nassau and their big leads evaporated. It meant that the IRC Class - and the Nassau Cup - went to Russell Dunn’s Beneteau 36.7 Rim Shot, which beat Robin Team’s J 122 Teamwork by more than an hour on corrected time. Wilfredo Paredes’ Beneteau 43 Sunquest took the PHRF Class by more than 45 minutes over the defending Nassau Cup champion, Mirage.

This year’s race, the 81st, hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club, Nassau Yacht Club, Lauderdale Yacht Club and Storm Trysail Club, attracted talented IRC and PHRF fleets. The race record - 13 hours and 31 minutes set by Ron O’Hanley’s Privateer in 2012 - was never threatened with light northerly winds for the trip from the start in south Florida up around Great Isaac Light and Great Stirrup Light and down to Nassau.

Since 1934, some of the best offshore sailors in the world have battled for the prestigious Miami to Nassau Cup, including Ted Turner, Dennis Conner, Dick Bertram and Ted Hood, aboard legendary boats like Running Tide, Windward Passage, Tenacious and Boomerang. The race is run under the Southern Ocean Racing Conference by a group of race-veteran race managers.

Next up for the 2014-2015 SORC season is the 2015 Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race on January 14 and the Pineapple Cup, Fort Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica, Race on February 6.

RESULTS: IRC division: 1 Rim Shot (Russell Dunn), 2 Teamwork (Robin Team), 3 Thin Ice (Stuart Webb/John Vincent), 4 Hot Ticket (Jim Hightower), 5 Raisin Cane (Frank Atkinson), 6 Ocean Warrior (Lenjohn van der Wel).

PHRF division: 1 Sunquest (Wilfredo Paredes), 2 Mirage (Christian Schaumloffel), 3 Pushing Tin (Alex Sastre), 4 24 Heures (Anson Mulder), 5 Senara (Eamonn deLisser/Jim Ball), 6 Carinthia (Frank Kern), 7 Tampa Girl (William Terry), 8 Java Knight (Fu Liem). Did not finish: Sweet Spot (Carlos Mena).