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| On the Water - Rolex Farr 40 Worlds Day 1 - Presidents' Race Day | | Print | |
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Reported from the main race committee boat by Ian Burman of Stagg Yachts 1620 - All boats have now finished and are on their way back to the Miami Beach Marina. Struntje light hailed the race committee to report a two-turns penalty taken for an incident that happened at the gate. For some reason, the leader after two races, Atalanti, finished the race with its main down. Complete results from Presidents' Race Day han be found here: http://www.farr40worlds.com/content/view/70/1/. 2006 and 2007 World Champion Mascalzone Latino is atop the leaderboard at the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship yet again. 1610 - Mascalzone crossed the finish line first in Race #3, followed by Nerone, Barking Mad, Plenty, and Alinghi. Of that group, Plenty is the only boat in that group to have never one a Farr 40 World Championship. Alexader Roepers of New York had the boat built late last year and in competing in his first Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. If his early performance is any indication, the sharp looking grey boat with the dark blue stripes will become a fixture near the top of the Farr 40 class. 1605 - As the fleet beats to the finish of Race #3, Masclazone Latino has taken the lead away from Nerone. The two boats have tacked onto the starboard layline to the finish and Mascalzone has a clear shot at victory here. Morgan Larson, alternate tactician, has served Vincenzo Onorato and his team well today. 1555 - Today is titled Presidents' Race Day to honor the four Farr 40 class Presidents. Jim Richardson, owner of Barking Mad, is the current class president. He took the reins a few years back from John Calvert-Jones of Australia. John won the World Championship in 2000, the year before Rolex became the title sponsor of the event and he has been extremely jealous of the time pieces that those who won after him wear ever since. In a complete surprise to John two nights ago at the Owners' dinner sponsored by Casa de Campo Marina, the class presented John with an engraved Rolex watch in honor of his years of service to the class. Geoff Stagg proclaimed that it was the first time he had seen Mr. Calvert-Jones close to speechless. Peter "Luigi" Reggio calls John Calvert-Jones the nicest man he has ever met. Thank you, John for helping to make the class what it is today.
1340 - The complete order of the fleet at the weather mark has been posted here: http://www.farr40worlds.com/content/view/72/38/. Nerone still leads at the gate.
1525 - At the first mark, past world champions lead the fleet. 2003 champion Nerone made it around overlapped and just ahead of 1998 and 2004 champion Barking Mad. 2006 and 2007 world champion Mascalzone Latino made it around in third. Barking Mad and Mascalzone are the only teams to win multiple Farr 40 World Championships. 1515 - Nimbus got its spinnaker wrapped around the headstay after the finish of Race #2 and ended up sailing so far downwind that they couldn't get back for the start of Race #3. They just hailed the committee with their intention to head in for the day. Nimbus is owned by Hunt Lawrence of New York and sailed by a team of students from the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY. While they're not alway up at the front of the fleet, they show many moments of brilliance and the Farr 40 class is very happy to have them here.
1505 - The fleet is racing into the wind towards the first mark of race #3. Estate Master, Sled, Flash Gordon and Nanoq were over early and restarted.
1450 - The results have been updated to reflect the first two races - http://www.farr40worlds.com/content/view/70/1/. Atalanti has the overall lead, followed by Joe Fly and Sled. The breeze is still up and it looks as if it could rain any minute. The third and final race of the day is scheduled to start shortly. It will be course 3, so the boats finish closer to the harbor. 1445 - Joe Fly has taken the victory in Race #2 of the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. Atalanti was second, followed by Mean Machine, Groovederci 127 and Barking Mad. Complete results will be available shortly. Infinity has hailed in a protest against DSK and Nanoq has hailed its intention to protest Opus One. 1430 - As the boats approach the finish line, Joe Fly has increased its lead even further. Clouds have covered the race course and the find has increased in the sqalls. The boats are now screaming into the finish.
1410 - At the gate, Joe Fly has extended out to a pretty healthy lead. Stratis Andreadis' Atalanti remained in second, just ahead of the two Groovedercis, with John in third and Deneen in fourth. The wind has now shifted pretty far left and the main committee boat is on the move to square up the course for the last run. 1400 - On this shifty day, the RC has its hands full, but PRO Peter "Luigi" Reggio and Dave Brennan's team from the Storm Trysail Club are up to the task. They've signaled another course change as the boats approach the gate.
1355 - Giovanni Maspero's Joe Fly leads the fleet around the first mark of race # 2 of the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, followed by Atalanti and John Demourkas' Groovederci. The entire fleet is on it's way back downwind and we should have complete rounding orders available shortly.
1330 - On the second try, race #2 is now underway. Ramrod, Struntje light, Fiamma, Backbone, Wapath, and Sled were over early and all came back and cleared themselves. The breeze is still 10 to 12 knots and shifty. The sky is getting a little cloudier, but it's still a beautiful Miami Beach day. 1325 - The fleet is in sequence for the second try of the start of race #2. The Race Committee plan is 3 races today/tomorrow with 2 planned for Friday and Saturday. 1320 - The RC has signaled General Recall at the start of Race #2. The boats were stacked up on the line and a few got shut out at the boat. Calvi barely made it around without hitting the committee boat. 1310 - Due to the constantly shifting winds, the race committee has been forced to reposition the course yet again. The new bearing to the first mark is now 25 degrees. The wind has decreased a little further and is now 10 to 12 knots. 1305 - 2006 and 2007 world champion Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino had a solid third place finish in Race #1, sailing with alternate tactician Morgan Larson, who just arrived this morning on the red eye from the west coast. Their usual tactician is Adrian Stead, but Adrian had to leave at the last minute for family reasons. Morgan is scheduled to sail with Mascalzone today and be replaced tomorrow with John Kostecki. For this team, the backups are definitely not too shabby. 1300 - The Race Committee has posted course 4 at 2.2 nm with a bearing of 015 degrees to mark one. The breeze has lightened up slightly and the puffs over 15 knots are becoming more rare. Where the course is positioned, the wind is still slightly off shore and still very shifty.
1235 - Results from Race #1 have been posted at http://www.farr40worlds.com/content/view/70/38/. The committee is now on station in its new location and is setting the course for race #2 of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. 1225 - After all of the boats finished, the race committee has picked up anchor and moved closer to shore. During the course of the last race, the wind shifted about 30 degrees right and decreased a few knots. We now have about 15 to 16 knots of breeze under bright sunny skies and on top of beautiful bright blue water. 1215 - And Heartbreaker has officially taken the victory in Race #1. As a testament to the depth of the fleet, pre-worlds winner Goombay Smash sailed across the finish line in the mid 20s. Mean Machine has reported that they did 2 penalty turns. One was for an incident in the pre-start and another for hitting one of the marks.
1210 - It's great to see the Heartbreaker team doing so well in the first race. For the past few years they've been sailing mostly events on the Great Lakes before coming down to south Florida for the latter part of this year's winter circuit. Bob Hughes and his team captured victory in the Canada's Cup, a match race on Farr 40s at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club this past summer 1205 - Heartbreaker still leads after the second weather mark of Race #1. The team from Chicago holds on with a big lead over Takashi Okura's Sled as the fleet approaches the finish. Mr. Okura is actually held up with business today and Kan Yamada is serving as the substitute helmsman for today until Mr Okura arrives tomorrow.
1155 – Mark Rounding orders for the weather mark and gate have been posted here: http://www.farr40worlds.com/content/view/69/38/. Some of the boats are not listed because the race committee was very busy changing the course quickly and didn’t have a chance to record all of the boats. Heartbreaker still leads the fleet. 1140 – A the first mark, Bob Hughes’ Heartbreaker leads the fleet just ahead of Sled and Silverbullet. In these shifty conditions, sailing up the middle and playing hte shifts correctly were every bit as important as boat speed.
1105 – And they’re off!! It doesn’t get any better than this. The fleet is on its way upwind to the first mark in a strong breeze that’s just barely offshore enough to keep the water relatively calm. Under a cloudless sky and on top of crystal blue water, the greatest one design fleet in the world is officially now contesting its championship. 1055 – 18 knots of breeze and a bright sunny sky greet the competitors on the racecourse. The race committee has set the course at 345 degrees and a distance of 2.2 nm. The first warning is scheduled for 1100. 1000 - Good Morning from the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2008. The race committee is now on station and the competitors are out practicing. The wind is out of the North / Northwest at 345 to 350 degrees at 15 to 18 knots. It should be wet and wild today with numerous shifts and lead changes. Throughout the day, I will be posting information from the race course, including mark rounding orders, live results, and start and finish times as well as commentary from the racecourse with photos taken from committee boat. At the end of the day, the really good photos taken by the best yachting photographers in the world will be available at www.regattanews.com. |
1250 - There are two Groovederci's here racing at the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. John Demourkas is a longtime Farr 40 owner and has raced hull # 57 for years. Recently, John purchased hull #127 from Matt Allen of Australia and placed his old boat for sale. John's wife Deneen, who is a very successful M 30 racer in her own right, decided to make use of the not yet sold #57 and enter her own team in the regatta. All of the Grrovederci's have been known for their signature lip spinnakers, but to differentiate between the two boats the team came up with a new idea for John's Spinnaker (right) 
