Cork-Belfast duo Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne continue their march back up the 97th Bacardi Cup in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday after Monday's low opening result.
The sole Irish pair, sailing IRL 8118, 'The Iron Lotus,' finished 39th in the opening race. With a ninth scored in race two and a 33rd on Wednesday, they are in 18th overall in the 66-boat fleet.
As regular Afloat readers know, O'Leary and Milne, who placed sixth in the 2023 world championships are regular top five performers on the world stage and led the fleet mid-Bacardi Cup regatta last year, finishing fourth overall.
Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise won race 3 on Biscayne Bay to claim the overall lead in the Bacardi Cup, pushing overnight leaders Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada into second place.
The conditions were challenging, with 10-12 knot southerly breeze and chop making downwind particularly difficult.
Despite that, Doyle/Infelise made their move and won the race. John Dane III/Dave Martin finished second. Diaz/Boening claimed fifth place and climbed to third overall on the leaderboard.
Provisional Results – Top 10 after Race 3
1. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise (USA 8580) - 7 pts
2. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Bruno Prada (POL 8559) - 11 pts
3. Augie Diaz / Henry Boening (USA 8509) - 19 pts
4. Lars Grael / Ubiratan Matos (BRA 8392) - 24 pts
5. Jørgen Schönherr / Markus Koy (DEN 8532) - 27 pts
6. John MacCausland / Peter Sangmeister (USA 8448) - 34 pts
7. John Dane III / Dave Martin (USA 8230) - 36 pts
8. Johann Spitzauer / Christian Nehammer (AUT 8529) - 38 pts
9. Piet Eckert / Frederico Melo (SUI 8575) - 38 pts
10. Will Stout / Parker Mitchell (USA 8538) - 41 pts.