Miami Beach, Florida, USA.

After a day of struggling with light and very shifty winds, the leader of the 33-boat fleet at the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds remains Vincenzo Onorato's Italian entry, Mascalzone Latino. Joe Fly (ITA) remains in second place and Alinghi (SUI) has moved up into the third-place slot.

Races 7 and 8 were held today and two races remain to be sailed tomorrow in the 10-race series. There are no throwouts or discard races in the ultra-competitive Farr 40 Class. No one knows this better than the defending champion Onorato and his team that a one-point lead is not a cushion.

"It was tough racing out there," said John Kostecki, tactician onboard Mascalzone Latino. "To try and stay ahead of the pack in quite shifty winds, it was tricky. Joe Fly sailed well to beat us in two races. We sailed well; not as good as they did, but still did well."

The Latin Rascals scored a 6-3, compared to Joe Fly's 5-2 scores. "We didn't want to separate from them too much since we're so close on points," said Kostecki. "We definitely wanted to go into tomorrow being close instead of them being in the lead. We're happy with today."

For Joe Fly's helmsman Giovanni Maspero, who has kept a low profile so as not to jinx his team, tomorrow is a chance to reach for the champion's title.

Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi (SUI) is now one step closer to the top. "We are a little bit better today than yesterday," said Bertarelli, the current America's Cup champion. "Yesterday we had a bad race, which is very expensive in this regatta, so today we came back a little bit. We didn't make any changes to our game other than working harder. I haven't had much practice on these boats this year, so I guess every race we get a little better."

"Tomorrow will be a chance to improve again. Anything can happen tomorrow with two races to go, we have to continue to do well," said Bertarelli. He will count on tactician Brad Butterworth and mainsail trimmer Warwick Fleury for any further improvements to today’s result.

The Swiss sailor has participated in the Farr 40 Class for quite a long time and is the 2001 Farr 40 world champion. "I like the world championship," he said. "That's almost the only regatta I do and maybe just one other during the year. It's more for fun. I enjoy the fact that it is very competitive and I have a lot of friends here too."

For Barking Mad (USA), Jim Richardson's Newport-based boat came second in the race 7 and saw its chances of moving up the leader board improve. The increase however was not to continue in race 8 where Barking Mad found itself on the wrong side of the race course. The resulting score of 24 caused them to drop out of the top three into fourth overall.

Race 7 saw a brief delay in getting the fleet underway on time with a wind shift that forcing the race committee to re-set the course. With one minute to go before the starting signal, Erik Maris's Twins (FRA) and Lang and Sue Walker's Kokomo (AUS) found themselves on the line near the pin-boat end. They had nowhere to go but across the line, and their position seemingly dragged the rest of the fleet over the line with them.

Another general recall was signaled with the 'Z flag' (a 10% scoring penalty) in place. Twins again was the most aggressive starter and paid the price, having to return to the line, incurring a penalty.

By the first mark rounding, Lisa & Martin Hill's Estate Master (AUS) led the fleet, followed by Flash Gordon (USA) and Silver Bullet (DEN). Mascalzone Latino picked the shifts correctly and passed a number of boats downwind to finish 6th and hold onto the overall lead.

Joe Fly (ITA) and Barking Mad (yesterday's second and third overall) came around in fourth and fifth, respectively, giving Joe Fly the overall lead at that moment over Mascalzone Latino who rounded the mark in ninth.

On the run to the finish line, Estate Master (AUS) found itself on the correct side of the course benefiting from a sizeable left-hand shift and captured the race victory.

"I understand in the Farr 40s that if you win one, one day you're chicken, the next day you're feathers" said owner/helmsman Martin Hill.