Alec Cutler, the Bermuda sailor, put another feather in his cap after sailing away with a maiden Melges 32 Miami Winter Series title in Florida at the weekend.

He did so in style, saving the best for last to capture line honours in the deciding seventh and final race of the Miami Spring Challenge, to earn his team, Hedgehog Sailing, the overall title. As many as five teams had a shot at capturing the overall championship heading into the final race, contested for in 10-14 knot breezes and choppy seas.

But on this particular day Cutler was not to be denied. The skipper made his intentions known from the outset, winning the all-important start and sailing all the right angles on the first beat to round the top marker with a five-second lead over the second-placed boat.

“Everyone wanted to go right and we just decided we were going to win the [boat end of the start line] and go right. We did that and were the first ones out and had good boat speed,” Cutler said.

Any thoughts Cutler had of further distancing himself from the chasing pack were dashed on the first run after relinquishing the lead to John Kilroy, the former world champion, in Samba Pa Ti.

However, Cutler and crew redeemed themselves after reeling in Kilroy, sailing upwind on the next leg and protecting their lead the rest of the way to cross the finish line first, three boatlengths ahead of their nearest rival.

“We caught them back up on the second beat and then just covered going into the finish,” Cutler said. “It was a good battle and a good way to finish.”

Cutler and his well-drilled crew, which included tactician Richard Clarke, posted three top-five finishes in Miami that left the team just shy of a place on the podium for the regatta.

Kilroy won the event by a comfortable margin, while Dalton DeVos, with Delta, and Jason Carroll, the Melges 32 world champion on Argo, rounded off the podium finishers. Hedgehog’s latest feat has done the team’s confidence the world of good before this year’s World Championships, which will be held in Miami.

“We are really building up for the World Championships and it is important to get the experience, crew work and equipment all ready for that,” Cutler said. “This win is very important for the team because it is a positive feeling and good momentum.”

Last weekend’s Miami Spring Challenge regatta was hosted by Miami Beach Marina and supported by Coconut Grove Sailing Club.