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Estate Master gets early jump in Rolex Trophy One-Design series In
some close racing on The Sound at the entrance to Sydney Heads, Martin and Lisa Hill and their Estate Master crew from Middle
Harbour Yacht Club have come out on top after three races on Day 1 of the Rolex Trophy One-Design series.
Sailing on
windward/leeward courses, five of Australia's top Farr 40s are contesting the series organised by the Cruising Yacht Club
of Australia (CYCA). Estate Master's crew by no means had it all their own way today; the top three results across the board
were mixed.
Hill and his crew notched up 3-1-2 results to lead on countback from Lang Walker's Kokomo, from the CYCA
and to be named 'Boat of the Day'. Walker and his crew were the equal of Hill, scoring 1-2-3. Guido Belgiorno-Nettis (MHYC)
and his Transfusion crew are third overall after finishing their day with a fifth, third and a win.
'The wind was from
every which way and up and down in pressure, just to add spice to an already spicy day, Martin Hill said this afternoon.
'It was a tough day, you had to grind for your money's worth. Although the breeze was going left throughout the day, there
were plenty of right hand shifts,' he said.
Hill agreed the regatta is not over yet, with two days and six races remaining.
'We'll have to stay very focused,' he said.
Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson described today's racing as 'really
good - the racing was mostly quite close - especially Race 3, as the yachts kept crossing each other and there was a great
gybing duel going on throughout the race.'
Racing started in a south-easterly with big variations in strength - from
5-20 knots, in fact, but mostly in the 12-15 knot range.
'The breeze kept going left all day, and by the time we waited
for a ship to pass us going into the Harbour, the breeze had gone to the east, so we moved the marks to reflect that,' Thompson
said.
Race 3 and the breeze was more north of east in the 15-18 knot range. 'It was a weird day breeze-wise,' said Thompson
who plans to race the yachts offshore tomorrow in what is expected to be a typical summer north-easterly breeze.
Racing
resumes tomorrow morning from 11.00am, weather permitting. The Farr 40s will be joined by the Sydney 38 One Designs which
will be contesting the first races of their two day series.
Nine races will decide the Farr 40 series, while the Sydney
38 One Design series will consist of six races.
Flash Gordon 5 Wins 2009 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship from
Heartbreaker and Convexity
Chicago, Illinois, USA (September 29, 2009) – Flash Gordon
5, the Farr 40 owned by Helmut Jahn won the 2009 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship, held September 24-27 in Chicago,
Ill. Nine teams representing the best in North American one-design racing battled on Lake Michigan beneath the skyline that
Jahn’s architecture firm Murphy/Jahn has helped to define over the past three decades. Racing was hosted at the
Chicago Yacht Club (CYC), which provided race committee assistance under the leadership of Principal Race Officer Sue Reilly.
At the awards ceremony held at the CYC, Jahn was presented with a specially engraved Rolex timepiece by Farr 40 Class Secretary
Bunny Wayt.
“This title means a lot to the team because it is the culmination of a lot of hard work,”
said Evan Jahn, Helmut Jahn’s son and co-helm of Flash Gordon 5. “With the achievement there now is the
added responsibility of defending it and that requires continued effort so that we can stay at the front of the fleet.
This victory solidifies us as one of the top Farr 40 teams in the country, and world, and we will use the upcoming winter
events to prepare for the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds at Casa de Campo.” The younger Jahn, who is pursuing a Masters Degree
in environmental management and sustainability, alternates helm responsibilities with his father, driving the boat at the
race start, upwind to the mark and then trading off for the downwind legs.
Personally, Evan Jahn was thrilled
with the victory. “This is my first National and North American championship,” he said. “I know Helmut and
a couple of the other crew members have won some world championships in other classes, but for me this is a big achievement.
It is really reinvigorating to win something big, finally, as a testament to how much time, hard work, and energy our team
has put in over the past three years towards not only this class, but the sport as well.
Conditions ranged
from light to moderate wind over the four days of racing. Amazingly consistent, Flash Gordon 5 won five races in the 10-race
series. “On day 2, in the first race, it became apparent that the ability to go to the left was very powerful, and in
the first race Heartbreaker proved that by winning the pin end and eventually winning the race,” explained Evan Jahn.
“We told ourselves that we needed the pin after that, and succeed in executing that plan in the following two races.
Also that day was the first time during the regatta that the RC decided to put in a gate and identifying that allowed us to
gain a slight advantage as it seemed we were one of the few boats to recognize that. The other races that we won were
not due to great starts, but they were not bad starts either. Day 3 was really light and shifty so those victories came
down to (tactician) Bill Hardesty's patience and our boat speed. Our starts were not decisive that day, but we ducked
some boats when we had to and were able to get in phase and arrive at the windward mark in contention, and then used good
downwind speed and excellent crew work at mark roundings to pick our way to the front.”
Understandably
the second day of competition, on Friday, stands out for the team aboard Flash Gordon 5. “Day 2 was nerve racking!”
continued Jahn. “We put up our heavy, medium, and light (sails, in that order) and the result was a condition that we
were never fully set-up for until the last race when conditions had stabilized. The light air combined with the chop
and little feel with the wheel required a lot of attention from everyone. Weight placement was always changing, as was
constant trimming on both the main and the jib. It was one of those conditions where you could lose a couple of boat
lengths in a minute if you hit a bad set of waves or were not able accelerate out of a tack. After that day was over
the whole team breathed a sigh of relief because they were conditions that anything could have happened with no real fault
of our own, and to come out as well as we did was a big stress relief.”
Crew member David Gerber explained
the feeling on board going into the final day of racing on Sunday. “Honestly, we felt very much in control of the regatta
on Saturday evening,” he said. “I believe we had an 11-point lead. We knew there was wind in the forecast
for Sunday and there would be no light air ‘stress.’”
On Sunday, in honor of the late sailor
Tom Neill (Chicago), who campaigned many race boats including the Farr 40 Nitemare, the Flash Gordon 5 team donned red shirts
with the initials ‘TN’ embroidered on the back.
“The last day of racing was fantastic”
said Gerber. “It was a true Chicago pleasure – sailing in a strong, firm southwest breeze. We knew
when we left the dock we had to sail clean, keep the crew and boat safe. There was no need to run any huge risks.
Our first two starts were very conservative and we kept ourselves clean. I don't think this worked well for us. We never
have sailed from a spot in the lead and Race 9 was our worst race. We didn't sail well and our crew work wasn't polished.
I think the team was too reserved. Fortunately, Helmut wanted to stay out for Race 10 and the crew wanted to go out
with a win. I feel Race 10 was one of our better, if not, best races of the regatta. We were slightly behind,
sailed fast, sailed smart and survived.
Gerber went on to explain that the goal for Flash Gordon 5 was the North
American title. “Not always an easy thing to do -- say you want to win and do it,” he said. “These guys
were awesome. We stayed positive, pushed hard and sailed well. Two other team members that deserve recognition
are Kyle Kandt, the boat captain and Ed Adams, our coach. These two men did everything they could to help us go faster
and sail smarter. Kyle had the boat in fantastic shape, the best boat in the fleet. And, Ed was his usual self
of picking up strengths of the other teams and blending them into our strengths. There is no detail either one of these
two miss. For Helmut and Evan -- the fastest Father/Son tandem in the Farr 40 Class -- I think this is awesome.
For our team, I think this is awesome. For many months the North Americans was our bull’s eye and we hit it.”
Bob Hughes Heartbreaker (Ada, Mich.), with tactician Steve Hunt and Trimmer Darren Jones on board finished in
second place, with Don Wilson’s Convexity (Chicago), in third.
Prior to the North Americans, the fleet
participated in the Windy City Match Race, hosted at the CYC, where Flash Gordon 5 won the two-day match racing regatta after
a tie-break with Heartbreaker.
Title sponsor of the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship is Rolex Watch
U.S.A.
The Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship joins other prestigious Rolex 2009 events including
the Rolex Miami OCR, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Rolex Swan Cup, Rolex Big Boat Series, Rolex Farr 40 World Championship and the
Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
2009 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship
Results (9 boats, 10
races)
Position, Farr 40 Name, Owner/ Helmsman, Hometown, Race1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, Total Points
1. Flash Gordon 5, Helmut Jahn, Chicago, Ill., 2-3-1-1-2-1-1-4-2-1, 18 points
2. Heartbreaker, Bob Hughes, Ada, Mich.,
3-1-3-5-3-5-2-3-3-3, 31
3. Convexity, Don Wilson, Chicago, Ill., 1-2-4-2-5-2-7-6-2-2, 33
4. Defiant, Grant Wood,
Toronto, Ontario, CAN, 4-6-2-6-1-6-3-1-1-10/DNF*, 40
5. Inferno, Phil Dowd, Chicago, Ill., 8-4-7-3-6-3-4-5-5-4, 49
6. Hot Lips, Chris Whitford, Chicago, Ill., 7-5-5-7-4-4-6-8-8-7, 61
7. Spaceman Spiff, Rob Ruhlman, Cleveland, Ohio,
6-7-8-8-7-7-5-4-6-6, 64
8. Virago, Stuart Townsend, Chicago, Ill., 5-8-9-9-8-9-8-7-7-5, 75
9. Pendragon, Brian Jackman,
Chicago, Ill., 9-9-6-4-9-8-9-9-10/DNF, 10/DNC**
"Heartbreaker" 2009 North Amercans - Chicago
Sailors push there skills to the "Limit"
in the Audi Drive Challange
It’s D-Day here at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week; a mixture of nerves, reticence and resolve written on
the faces of the chosen representatives of each yacht as they pit themselves against each other for their biggest test yet
– the Audi Drive Challenge – the opportunity of driving away in an Audi A4 Avant, courtesy of German luxury car
manufacturer Audi on the line.
Brad Jones, the Audi Motorsport ambassador who designed the course at Hamilton
Island airport, explained the Challenge to competitors. “It’s about skill, precision and consistency. The most
consistent driver after two rounds will win,” he said before giving each a test round in the Audi RS 6 sedan. Obviously
speed comes into the picture too.
However, it is not just the Audi Drive Challenge that will deliver the vehicle
to one lucky boat owner. The victor will first have to win his or her division at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week – and
there are 11 divisions.
Jones went on to say: “The great thing about the way we do this exercise is that
we never know who is going to win. It’s an event anyone can win and the lucky person won’t know until the prize
giving at the end of Race Week.” Joerg Hofmann, Audi Australia’s Managing Director, will divulge the lucky winner
at the prize giving on Saturday evening.
A surprise first driver was English adventurer, Ben Southall, famed for
winning the Greatest Job in the World at Hamilton Island, after a world-wide search to find one enterprising individual from
over 34,000 applicants, who was given the ultimate experience of working in the islands surrounding the Barrier Reef for a
six month period just over two months ago.
The gregarious Southall, 34, who lives in a three bedroom beach home
overlooking the Barrier Reef, far from his home in Hampshire, was keen to take the Challenge: “Great. I get to drive
the RS 6 and the TTS. I’m extremely interested in Audis – I’m stoked.
“This was my day
off work, but when I got this invitation, I said ‘no way! I want to drive those Audis.’”
Southall, who is making the most out of his time on Hamilton Island, enthused after his drive: “I’m
getting to do amazing things. This is a real experience; it gets the adrenalin going! Getting to drive the RS 6 around the
course comes close to England winning the Ashes!
One of the early sailors to take the Challenge was yachtsman
of renown, Iain Murray, representing Hamilton Island owner, Bob Oatley and the Wild Oats X crew.
Before taking his chances, Murray, of America’s Cup, Olympic and 18ft skiff sailing fame, admitted:
“I haven’t done this before. I’m just going to watch the guys before me and take it from
there.”
After the drive, Murray conceded: “Everything’s easy until you’ve
got to do it. It was good fun. Pity it was over in 30 seconds, I’d love to do it again…”
Comments were flying thick and fast from the sidelines, with a lot of laughter, as some drove like maniacs,
missed some of the course, burnt up rubber and came to a screeching halt at the finish.
“I
think some of those guys got a big shot of testosterone before they got behind the wheel,” commented Darren Jones who
drove for Limit, owned by Alan Brierty. It sure appeared that way.
Brady Pushes the "Limit" After finishing almost bottom of the pile in yesterday’s opening race, Alan Brierty’s
RP63 Limit displayed some threatening form today, New Zealand America’s Cup import Gavin Brady showing plenty of grit
on the wheel at the start of the second windward/leeward as he shaved the pin end smack bang on the starting signal and backed
it up with the all important handicap win.
However in the pre-start Limit tangled with the pin mark, crewman Darren
‘Twirler’ Jones diving overboard to try and free the mark to the delight of the other race crews who cheered as
they watched the spectacle unfold. Eventually the anchor rope was cut and the boat freed, the crew’s embarrassment left
in the wake of Brady’s sizzling on-water form.
“After hooking the mark it was good to get
off the start line in great shape,” admitted AC sailor Rodney Keenan, who is part of Limit’s impressive
afterguard.
Black Jack’s blistering regatta debut yesterday was a distant memory in this morning’s
first race with the Queensland RP66 finishing second last over the line after being caught short in a local glass-out on approach
to the finish. Skipper Mark Bradford made amends in the second race, finishing ahead of the pack and second on the progressive
pointscore in front of Ray Roberts’ Cookson 50 Evolution Racing.
In the first race this morning Bob Oatley’s
Reichel Pugh 66 Wild Oats X packed its first regatta punch, scoring a runaway line and overall handicap honours win in the
8 knot northerly breeze.
Wild Oats led the fleet around the track to even the line honours tally with Peter Harburg’s
Black Jack then in the second race were again out-classed by Black Jack and Limit from Sydney after their spinnaker tack blew
out.
Second on handicap in the first race was Graeme Wood’s JV52 Wot Now with Rob Date’s new Victorian
RP52 Scarlet Runner, helmed by Graeme ‘GT’ Taylor with Will Oxley navigating, claiming the final podium
place.
These results are provisional as Wild Joe's crew has just lodged a protest against Wot Now for a port/starboard
incident in today's first race.
The IRC grand prix fleets enjoyed fairly consistent breeze with a single
postponement between races while the race committee moved the course further south to the breeze line, and while rendering
the pin start mark Limit-less.
In IRC grand prix division 2 Jim Farmer’s Auckland registered Farr 43 Georgia
One followed the All Blacks’ lead in last night’s Bledisloe Cup, relegating Phil Coombs’ DK46 Dekadence
from Victoria to second in the opening race.
The Aussies fought back in the next race, Andrew Saies’
brand new South Australian Beneteau First 40 Two True Evolution, with Michael Spies calling tactics, scoring its
first win in what was only the owner’s third time on the boat.
The Cruising and Performance Racing
boats weren’t as lucky, wallowing in no breeze in the Southern start area until regatta director Denis Thompson moved
more than 150 boats to the northern end of Dent Passage and sent them on an alternate 15 nautical mile island hopping course
starting at 1330hrs, three hours after their scheduled race start.
Due to the ongoing light air forecast tomorrow’s
Club Marine Classic Long Race will be replaced with a short round-the-islands race with the IRC grand prix divisions first
off at 11am from Southern start line. The long race may be rescheduled later in the week when the breeze is forecast to freshen.
Nice day for a swim as Twirler take a dive to clear the tangled mark.
2009 Hamilton Island Race Week. RP 63 "Limit"
Hamilton Island Race Week Results.. 1 LIVING DOLL Farr 55
Michael Hiatt 19.0 2.0 2.0
1.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 7.0
[8.0] 1.0
2 EVOLUTION RACING Cookson 50 Ray Roberts
25.0 1.0 4.0 6.0
1.0 4.0 2.0 3.0
4.0 [7.0]
3 WOT NOW
TP 52 Graeme Wood 31.0 3.0
5.0 2.0 5.0 1.0 [8.0]
5.0 7.0A 3.0
4 LIMIT
RP 63
Alan Brierty 33.0 5.0
1.0 4.0 7.0 3.0
9.0 1.0 3.0 [9.0]
5 SCARLET RUNNER Farr 52 RobertDate
35.0 4.0 8.0 7.0
4.0 5.0 [10.0] 4.0 1.0
2.0
6 WILD JOE RP
60 Steven David 48.0 6.0
7.0 [10.0] 8.0 6.0 5.0
6.0 5.0 5.0
7 SHOGUN
Cookson 50 Robert Hanna 50.0
10.0 6.0 3.0 2.0 8.0
3.0 9.0 9.0 [10.0]
8
LOKI RP 63
Stephen Ainsworth 50.0 8.0 3.0 [9.0]
6.0 7.0 6.0 8.0 6.0
6.0
9 BLACK JACK RP 66
Peter Harburg 54.0 7.0 9.0
5.0 10.0 10.0 7.0 2.0
[10.0] 4.0
10 WILD OATS X RP 66
Bob Oatley 59.0 9.0
10.0 8.0 9.0 9.0 4.0
[10.0] 2.0 8.0 2009 Farr 40 World Championship Tremendous racing conditions with a building Mistral and
a lumpy sea, made worse by the constant attention of the spectator fleet. Porto Cervo laid it on thick and the Rolex Farr
40 Worlds 2009 delivered. None more so than the new World Champions Barking Mad (USA) and runners up, Nerone (ITA).
Two races were sailed in winds from the northwest that gusted to the mid-twenties and stretched the already tired crews
on the last day of competition. The scene was fit for a Championship finale and the two leading contenders made sure the curtain
did not fall on the regatta without a flourish from those on stage. Nerone put her marker down to win the first race of the
day and set up a winner takes all, second and final race - the tenth in this intensely fought series. Mascalzone Latino, the
three times World Champions won the race, but the all-too significant result was Jim Richardson and Barking Mad crossing the
line ahead of Massimo Mezzaroma's Nerone to secure the title for a third time. The first time an American boat has won outside
of their home waters.
The day was all about who would cope best with the pressure. Without question both the two
leading teams wanted the win desperately. Even Joe Fly (ITA) - runners-up in 2008 - could not be discounted. A sixteen-point
gap to the front could easily be bridged if those ahead failed to keep their heads to the end.
Nerone went out
all guns blazing. Once again she took the left side of the course popping out from the pin; tactician Vasco Vascotto relying
on his vast experience in these waters to take the initiative early, “I've sailed here for twenty years and usually
with these kind of conditions you need to go left.” He could not have been more right. First to the windward mark, Nerone
led around the track to win from Giovanni Maspero's Joe Fly and Helmut Jahn's Flash Gordon (USA). Barking Mad, meanwhile,
had opted for the centre and according to Richardson, things did not go as well as intended, “the first race today we
probably started a little too conservatively and got in a bad spot, in too close to another boat. We had to do a clearing
tack, and then got tacked on a few times, and we were deep for a while.”
These are the moments that championships
are won and lost. Rounding the top mark mid-fleet, the American crew may have briefly wondered if this was the regatta slipping
away from them.
But Richardson and crew had a game plan and were not about to give up on it just yet, as Hutchinson
chips in, “without question we felt we could win going into the start of the week. But feeling it and doing it are two
completely different things. When we lined up on the first day we had a mode that we have not had in a while. We had a game
plan of being safe and the mantra all week on the boat was that we just want to get on base, we didn't want to hit any home
runs, just keep getting on base and advancing the runners.” To get back 'on base' in this race was going to take some
effort.
If doubts were creeping-in none were shown. “We showed a lot of fortitude to sail back through the
fleet to finish sixth which kept us one point in the lead,” said a relieved Richardson.
The minds of both
crews must have been buzzing heading to the start of the final deciding race and Mezzaroma takes up the story, “for
the last race we were one point behind and the game was who came home in front would win the Worlds. It rarely happens in
sailing and after nine races with 250 points that you could gain or lose, just one point between us was very exciting.”
Again, it was all down to keeping one's head and applying the game plan. Nerone headed left once more. Mezzaroma
confirmed their strategy did not change because of their relative position to the leader, “we were one point behind
and were not in a position to control them. So we had to make our own race.” On Barking Mad, the lure of the left was
not so strong. This was a conservative crew after all…
According to Richardson, immediately before the
start, “we just looked at each other and said this is why we're here. We're here for an opportunity to win the regatta
on the last race. What more could you want.” Any self-doubts were kept private, though post-race Richardson confessed
to some troubled thoughts, “I never doubted my team's capability. But leading wire-to-wire puts a little bit of extra
pressure on each and every race. In 1999, we led going into the last race and ended up third, so that was in the back of my
mind. I felt pretty comfortable that we were going to be able to get a good start in the race and get around the course in
good shape. We certainly weren't giving up. We knew we had our hands full, but we knew we had to sail well and that is what
we did.”
As the initial beat unwound, the crew of Barking Mad found themselves in second place, hot on the
heels of Alessandro Barnaba's Fiamma (ITA) and overtaking them at the offset mark with a textbook spinnaker hoist. Those watching
the racing started counting back to Nerone. The left had clearly not paid. In fact, it had bitten the Italian crew hard. The
miraculous recovery of the previous day that kept them in the hunt was going to have to be repeated. That was a Herculian
task. Barking Mad were not sailing as though their lives depended on it, they did not need to. They just needed to keep between
Nerone and the finish, as Hutchinson explained, “the team responded brilliantly. We got a great start. We got a little
break from Plenty, who let us tack across them. From there it was into a good lead and extend. Fortunately Nerone was back.
They gained on us on the second beat, but we were safe down at the bottom mark. At that point it was about minimising damage
and sailing a good clean race through to the finish.”
With Barking Mad home and dry in second, the finish
of Nerone was immaterial, although eighth was good enough to hold onto the runner's-up position overall.
A feature
of the Farr 40 fleet is the friendly rivalry between crews on and off the water. Vascotto and Hutchinson have been adversaries
for many years, but they found time to speak this morning before heading onto the course, as Hutchinson remarks, “I
saw Vasco this morning and we chatted for a couple of minutes. Nobody was around and it was a nice time to talk.” And,
it is evident that the competitors hold each other in a regard rarely seen in other sports. “Sailing against somebody
like Vasco makes you a better sailor and we hold the highest respect for that team,” he adds.
Both Hutchinson
and Richardson knew they had been engaged in a battle royal. When they last won in San Francisco it was by 40-points. Mezzaroma
echoed the quality of the contest, “it was a great competition sailing against all these good crews, these good boats.
It is the key of the Farr 40. The level is always so high, it becomes higher and higher every year.” Vascotto, too,
was gracious in defeat, “I think we did a fantastic championship: three firsts, two seconds, two eighths - usually you
win with these kind of results! This time we found in front of us Barking Mad, sailed in a perfect way. We tried our best,
but this is sport.”
For Richardson, it is a dream come true, “We're very, very happy. Coming to Italy
and winning this World Championship in Porto Cervo is an amazing feeling for us. There are so many good teams out there, particularly
the Italians and to be able to win in their home waters is a great thrill for us.
We tried to stay calm all week.
It's easy to get too wound up and too hyped up. Our basic philosophy throughout the regatta was not to take chances, or take
risks. If necessary we ducked boats rather than try to force an issue. Our point-score is a tribute to how well we sailed
the boat, without taking any risks. Our worst race was a sixth and that is pretty good.” He is not kidding, no previous
winner of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds has averaged less than four points for the Championship. As Vascotto pointed out, even
Nerone's score would have won in all previous years.
For Vincenzo Onorato, the outgoing, three-time (in a row)
World Champion, who laughingly remarked that his last race this year was the first race of his 2010 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds campaign,
this was “a wonderful story for the Class.”
After four days of competition, played out in an exceptional
venue, we'll allow the winners to sum it up: “there's nothing better than this, that's for sure!”
1st - BARKING MAD - Jim Richardson - USA 2nd -
NERONE - Massimo Mezzaroma - ITALY 3rd - JOE FLY - Giovanni Maspero - ITALY
4th - MASCALZONE LATINO - Vincenzo Onorato - ITALY 5th
- FLASH GORDON - Helmut Jahn - USA 6th - PLENTY - Alex Roepers - USA
7th - TWINS - Erik Maris - FRANCE 8th - TRANSFUSION - Guido
Belgiorno-Nettis - AUSTRALIA 9th - ESTATE MASTER - Lisa & Martin Hil -
AUSTRALIA 10th - TWT - Marco Rodolfi - ITALY 11th - MONICK - David Holm -
DENMARK 12th - CALVI NETWORK - Carlo Alberini - ITALY 13th - FIAMMA - Alessandro
Barnaba - ITALY 14th - GOOMBAY SMASH - William Douglass - USA 15th - NANOQ
- HRH Crown Prince Frederik - DENMARK 16th - KOKOMO - Lang Walker - AUSTRALIA 17th
- ENFANT TERRIBLE - Alberto Rossi - ITALY 18th - STRUNTJE LIGHT - Wolfgang Schaeffer - GERMANY 19th - GOOD FELLAS - Ettore Morace - ITALY 20th - ATALANTI - Stratis Andreadis - GREECE
21st - ALEPH - Hughes Lepic - GBR 22nd - MANGUSTA RISK - Andrea Canavesio
- ITALY 23rd - ARCTUR - Vasyl Guryev - UKRAINE 24th - VANITAS CUBE - Martin
Strobel - SWITZERLAND 25th - HOOLIGAN VI - Edward Broadway - GBR Optimum Cleans up Farr 30 Australian
Championship with 8 Wins and a race to spare Guy Stening and his team including Tom Slingsby, Darren "twirler" Jones, Paul Wyatt, Tristran
Eldershaw, Abby Ehler and Curtis Florence have claimed the 2009 Farr 30 Australian Championship title for the second consecutive
year.
The current world champion had the regatta won before the final race of the series and headed back to shore
early to begin the celebration.
The regatta was held on the waters of Moreton and Waterloo Bays east of Brisbane
at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (RQYS) based at Manly.
'The standard of racing has been very competitive,
close and fast which always makes for a great regatta,' said Stening.
'Thanks must go RQYS’s team of volunteers
and Denis Thompson for running doing a sterling job out on the water.
'I’ve sailed all over the world and
the facilities and infrastructure at RQYS are state-of-the-art. Having a motel on location certainly made logistics easy and
the regatta less stressful. We will definitely be back racing here again in the future,' continued Stening.
This
was the first time the Australian Championship has been held outside of Victoria and New South Wales with the Queensland sailors
securing third, forth and fifth overall.
Three times Australian Champion Bruce Eddington (K2) finished second
just one point behind Optimum due to the series having all 10 races count towards the overall result. This is the second year
in a row Eddington has finished behind Stening and Optimum.
'This has been a fantastic regatta and the race committee
need to be congratulated for hosting a great regatta. Like Guy, we certainly want to race on these waters again soon,' said
Eddington.
Today’s forecast was an increase on the previous days with gusts of 26 knots hitting the fleet.
The crew work was at a premium for the short sharp courses the race committee set to finish off the regatta.
Over
the three day regatta the conditions were considered 'perfect' by the sailors. Consistent wind angles and pressure ensured
racing was about skill and determination and not cast by the hand of Hughie’s whim.
'There were dicing moves
by some of the boats with plenty happening on board at each mark rounding. The wind and swell made for some great spectator
highlights,' said PRO Denis Thompson.
Third overall was RQYS sailor Colin Loel and his Asterix crew.
'I’m puffed!' said Loel. 'I’m stoked with our result, but am really glad it’s done.'
While
Optimum, K2, Rumbo, Don’t Tell Mumm and GOA pack their boats, Asterix, Immigrant and Synergy are preparing for the Queensland
IRC Championships which are being held at RQYS next weekend the 28/29 March.
Total R10
R9 R8 R7 R6
R5 R4 R3 R2
R1
1 Optimum Guy Stening
19.00 9.00S 1.00 1.00 1.00
1.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 1.00
1.00
2 K2 Bruce Eddington
20.00 1.00 2.00 4.00 2.00
2.00 2.00 2.00 1.00 2.00
2.00
3 Asterix Colin Loel
36.00 3.00 4.00 2.00 3.00
5.00 5.00 3.00 4.00 4.00
3.00
4 Synergy Alex Douglas 43.00
2.00 3.00 7.00 5.00 4.00
4.00 6.00 5.00 3.00 4.00
5 GOA Chris Tyquin 46.00
7.00 5.00 3.00 4.00 3.00
3.00 4.00 3.00 9.00F 5.00
6 Rumbo Clark Holbert 60.00
5.00 7.00 5.00 8.00 6.00
6.00 5.00 6.00 6.00 6.00
7 Don't Tell Gary Hobson 65.00 4.00
6.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 8.00
7.00 7.00 5.00 7.00
8
Immigrant Jeffery Paul 73.00 6.00
8.00 8.00 6.00 7.00 7.00
8.00 8.00 7.00 8.00
Optimum leads Farr
30 Nationals
Current World
and Australian Champion Guy Stenning and his crew onboard Optimum are set to become the 2009 Farr 30 Australian Champions
after the final two races of the regatta sail today on the inside course of Waterloo Bay.
With a crew including
World Etchells Champion Paul Wyatt, former Olympian Tom Slingsby and world class mainsheet trimmer Darren 'Twirler' Jones,
Optimum has secured the bullet position is all bar one race so far. Bruce Eddington and his K2 crew have
locked in their second place position with chances high of them staying in the zone.
Local sailor Colin Loel (Asterix)
is comfortably sitting in third position after a photo finish in Race 8. We were leading the race
and held our right up until the finish. Optimum just managed to sneak ahead of us and pipped us at the line. They beat us
by one second. It was definitely the race of the day, especially for us,' said Loel.
'Col and crew on Asterix
had us worried, we didn’t know which way it was going to go. Great crew work got us over the line in a spectacular finish,'
said Stenning.
'The racing here in Brisbane is fantastic. Great water, great courses, professional race management.
It’s definitely been worth the trip from Sydney to be here for the regatta,' continued Stenning.
After a
solid day of racing the crews gathered at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron bar to enjoy a social evening of beer and banter.
The Queensland spirit is prevailing in terms of enjoyment of the whole regatta,' said Loel.
'I think
we are showing the visitors from down south that we have some true racing talent here in Queensland amongst the Farr 30 fleet.
'The Brisbane boats are now sitting third, forth and fifth. Our training seems to have paid off!' said Loel.
Racing continues today with the final two races set to race in 15/20 knots from the south-east. Series
Results [Championship Results] for D1 up to Race 8 (Drops = 0)
Place Sail No Boat
Name Skipper From Sers Score R 8
R 7 R 6 R 5 R 4 R 3 R
2 R 1
1 AUS7151 Optimum
Guy Stening 9.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
1.00 1.00 2.00 1.00 1.00
2
AUS6101 K2
Bruce Eddingto 17.00 4.00 2.00 2.00 2.00
2.00 1.00 2.00 2.00
3 AUS3093
Asterix Colin Loel
29.00 2.00 3.00 5.00 5.00
3.00 4.00 4.00 3.00
4 AUS523
GOA Chris
Tyquin 34.00 3.00 4.00 3.00 3.00
4.00 3.00 9.00F 5.00
5 AUS150
Synergy Alex Douglas
38.00 7.00 5.00 4.00 4.00 6.00
5.00 3.00 4.00
6 AUS6135 Rumbo
Clark Holbert
48.00 5.00 8.00 6.00 6.00 5.00
6.00 6.00 6.00
7 6696
Don't Tell Mumm Gary Hobson 55.00 6.00
7.00 8.00 8.00 7.00 7.00 5.00
7.00
8 PC6 Immigrant
Jeffery Paul 59.00 8.00 6.00 7.00
7.00 8.00 8.00 7.00 8.00 Sputnik cleans up in Farr 40 Sprint Series After two days and eight races in wet and cold conditions on Sydney Harbour Ivan Wheen’s Sputnik
has won the annual Farr 40 Sprint Series. Both days of racing were intense with soggy and shifty conditions being served
up on the iconic Sydney Harbour. The swell just inside Sydney Heads made for tough tactical decisions on Saturday and
the swinging breezes on Sunday created headaches for the race committee.
“I wasn’t really
sure how we would go this weekend but this win is because of my crew. They did a fantastic job over two days of tough
racing with every race close and hard work in the shifty and wet conditions,” said Wheen after racing.
After Saturdays four races it was extremely tight at the top of the leader board with Sputnik and Graeme Wood’s Wot
For tied in first on 14 points and Lang Walker Kokomo and Guido Belgiorno Nettis’s Transfusion tied in second on 15
points. Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master in finished day one in third place and Jeff Carter’s Edake was in
fourth.
Winning their first race in the Farr 40 class in race three of the series was
Chris Way and Ian Burns' Easy Tiger II. Easy Tiger II joined the Australian Farr 40 fleet in 2008 having a very successful
track record in one design class racing in the Mumm 30 and Sydney 38 classes.
The nine teams from New South
Wales, Tasmania and New Zealand displayed fantastic crew work as they raced on a shortened race track for day two with the
course being set amongst the busy harbour traffic on Sydney Harbour.
Wot For took the gun for
the first race of day two and New Zealander Brett Neill’s White Cloud sailed their best race for the series in race
six to take the gun. Estate Master pulled it all together for the final two races to win both as the breeze built and
swung through forty degrees on the compass.
After six regattas in the 2008-09 Australian Farr 40 Circuit
Guido Belgiorno Nettis has moved into the lead on a count back from Lisa and Martin Hill. All nine teams will be lining
up again this weekend for the final event in the 2008-09 Australian circuit, the 2009 Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship
which will be held February 20-22 and will be hosted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.
Results 1st Sputnik
Ivan Wheen
1 6 2 5 3 2 3 3 25
2nd Transfusion Guido
Belgiorno Nettis 4 2 8 1 2 3 5 2 27
3rd
Estate Master Lisa & Martin Hill 7
8 3 2 5 6 1 1 33
4th Wot For
Graeme Wood 2 5
4 3 1 8 6 4 33
5th Easy Tiger II Chris Way/Ian Burns
6 7 1 8 8 5 2 6 43 6th Kokomo Lang Walker
5 1 5 4 4 7 10 10 46
7th White Cloud Brett Neill
9 9 6 6 7 1 4 5 47
8th Edake
Jeff Carter
3 4 7 7 6 9 7 7 50
9th VooDoo Chile Lloyd Clark/Andrew
Hunn 8 3 9 9 9 4 8 8 58
Goombay Smash wins 2008 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship Doug Douglass’s Goombay Smash has won the 2008
Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship. This was Douglass’ regatta to lose as he led former world Champions Nerone
and Barking Mad by four and five points respectively going into the final day pf racing. He finished today’s races
with scores of 2, 3 & 2 to clinch the championship and be named boat of the day for the second day in a row. Douglass
also won the Rolex Farr 40 Pre-Worlds in Miami Beach in April, but this was his first win with new tactician Morgan Larson,
who was a last minute substitute for the first day of the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship for winner Vincenzo Onorato.
"Fortis Mandrake" 2nd in China Coast Regatta.
8:43 AM Sun 5 Oct 2008 After finishing the M30 Worlds I came home via Hong Kong after I was asked to join
a local team on an IRC 51 owned by Fred Kinmonth and Nick Burns. Although
I was only there for 4 days it is a spectacular place and the sailing is surperb. The wind ranged from 9 to 14 knots on Day 1 and then steadly built through to Day 3 where we sailed in 18 to
25 knots. There were some spectacular pictures that you can check out
via the links below. Optimum
Holds on to win 2008 M30 Worlds 8:43 AM Sun 5 Oct 2008 Australia has a new sailing world champion as of two hours ago here in Newport.
Sydney’s Guy
Stening and his team, consisting of Darren Jones (Mainsheet), Steve Maconaghy (Tactician), Tristram Eldershaw (Pitman), Curtis
Florence (Bow), Steve Quigly (trim and strategy) and Tim Davis (trimmer), sailing aboard Optimum, won the event by four points
from Jim Richardson’s talented team aboard Barking Mad.
Optimum went into the last day with a nine point
advantage over Barking Mad, with Farr 40 legend Vincenzo Onarato in third place overall. Optimum’s advantage was due
to some very steady and fast sailing over the previous three days of moderate to (very) fresh conditions.
For
the three races on the last day, the race committee opted to race in the waters of Narraganset Bay, citing concerns over a
left-over sea state from yesterday’s 30 knot winds. The racing too place in winds from the west quarter at 7-14 knots.
Barking Mad, being a local boat exploited this oppurtunity to impressively claim three wins today, which saw them win the
final four heats of the regatta. Optimum had a ten point day over the three races, which was enough to secure a very solid
victory. It was a hard earnt win, with the difference in wind direction between max right and max left being eighty degrees
over the course of the racing.
Asked of his expectations for the event, Stening commented 'We came here to win,
no doubt about it. Our team has put a heap of work in since the last worlds, where we placed fourth. We are a very close team
and we are absolutely over the moon at the moment. This is huge!'
Tactician Stephen McCongahy told Sail-World
a few minutes ago 'We sailed conservatively today, We had really good starts and we did what we had to do. A few more grey
hairs, but a great day and a great regatta. '
A
Wild Day 3 at M30 Worlds Race committees
are often criticized for not running races in big breezes. PRO Peter Reggio sent the fleet up the bay today and managed to
deliver two additional races in this World Championship.
The big breeze delivered a wild ride today in Newport
as the fleet of M 30s battled to keep upright in steady 23 to 27 knot west-southwest winds. Reports of 30 knot gusts were
affirmed throughout the day and boats that chose their fractional kites kept the most control. Teams choosing their masthead
spinnakers were faster, but the speed was often costly resulting in multiple wipeouts on every downwind leg.
Jim
Richardson’s Barking Mad proved once again they know how to handle the big breeze, posting finishes of 4th and 1st to
take Boat of the Day honors.
Due to a collision which resulted in damage to Australian Lewis Perrin’s Superfly
at the start of today’s second race, Mascalzone Latino retired from Race 8 and would appear to be out of the running
for the title of this no throw-out event. The regatta now seems to be Australian Guy Stening’s to lose. Stening is sure
to be covering Richardson and Barking Mad tomorrow.
Optimum Still Leads after Day 2 at M30 Worlds
After
six races, Optimum still holds the lead, but Mascalzone Latino took two bullets today to stay within 2 points of the
leader. A number of Red flags were flying at the finish, and some may affect the leaders so the daily prizegiving could
be delayed. Depending on whether protests are filed and their outcome(s), things could change at the top of the leaderboard. Optimum Leads after Day 1 at M30 Worlds
With
13-14 knots of breeze from the south and heading southwest, reigning Australian M 30 Champion Guy Stening (Sydney, AUS) sailing
Optimum won the first two races and finished third in Race three to take Boat of the Day Honors on Day 1. Stening won the
2008 Coastal Living Sail Newport Regatta in July, so he is no stranger to the waters off Newport, RI.
2008 ISAF
Rolex sailor of the year nominee, as well as current and three time Farr 40 World Champion Italian Vincenzo Onorato(Milano,
ITA) in Mascalzone Latino finished third in Race one, and dropped to 10th in race two, but came out on top of Race three to
end day one in second with 14 points.
Hometown favorite Jim Richardson's Barking Mad finished Race 1 in seventh
place, was second in Race two and sixth in race three to finish the day in third place overall, one point back from Mascalzone
Latino.
As in the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds, there are two Groovederci's sailing this week. Deneen Demourkas sailing
Groovederci 706 finished day one in fourth overall with 15 points (tied with Barking Mad) and husband John sailing Groovederci
35 is in fifth overall with 21 points.
Canadian Geoff Brown (Toronto, ONT) sailing Mummy is lying sixth and is
currently tied on points with Groovederci 35.
Ladies' shoe designer Norm Dean (Pleasant Valley, NY) sailing Just
Plain Nutz with son J. Cameron Dean posted finishes of 4, 4 & 19 with a protest pending.
Chicago's John Podmajersky
sailing Illusion is in 9th place overall. Illusion's tactician is local Paul Cronin's (Jamestown, RI).
Jeff Maludy's
(Toledo, OH) Adrenalin rounded out the top ten, with finishes of 12, 3 and 14 for a total of 29 on the day.
Racing
for the twenty one boat fleet continues Thursday on Rhode Island Sound. Rolex Swan Cup
2008 concludes in Porto Cervo
Date: 14/09/2008 Porto Cervo, Italy. 14th September
2008. After a week which saw almost every imaginable weather condition, from light breezes to gusts of over 40 knots and from
blazing sunshine to thunder storms and pouring rain, the 100 competing owners and crews were delighted to be able to race
in almost perfect conditions on the last day of the Rolex swan Cup 2008. Winners of the event, organized by the Yacht Club
Costa Smeralda, are Enrico Scerni’s Kora 4 (ITA) in the Club Swan 42 division, Roel Pieper’s Favonius (BVI) in
the Maxi division, John Bainbridge’s Zen (GBR) in the Classic division and Earlybird (GER), owned by Christian Nagel
and Hendrik Brandis in the Swan 45 division. With the event hosting the 2008 Swan Gold Cup, Nagel and Brandis now hold the
title of World Champions in the Swan 45 class. The Maxi and Classic divisions set off on coastal courses through the
islands of the La Maddalena archipelago in approximately 15 knots of south easterly breeze while the Swan 45 and Swan 42 classes
raced windward-leewards on the waters off Porto Cervo. The Maxi class followed a 25 mile course which brought them west to
round the Secca Tre Monti rock before heading north, around the southerly tip of the Islands of Caprera and rounding the Monaci
island. The 29 Nautor’s Swan yachts over 18 metres long then headed south of Porto Cervo to round the tiny island of
Mortoriotto before finishing just off Porto Cervo. The Classic division completed a 17 nautical mile course which took them
along the same route as far as Monaci and then to the finish off Porto Cervo. Dutch-crewed Highland Breeze, with America’s
Cup veteran Dee Smith on board, took her second victory in the Maxi division today but two average results at the beginning
of the week meant she finished fourth overall. Second place in today’s race was more than enough to secure overall victory
for the Swan 80 Favonius. Third place went to Rainer Wilhelm’s Astro (AUT), which finished fourth overall. Second place
behind Favonius in the overall classification went to Britain’s Peter Ogden with his Swan 601 Spirit of Jethou ahead
of Australian Leslie Green on Ginger, another Swan 601. Roel Pieper, owner of Favonius, was suitably pleased with his
1-1-2-2 score line: “This is the first time we’ve won here, but the team has been working for this for many years.
We’ve had many, many thirds in Porto Cervo and in the USA. In previous years we’ve sailed a series of perfect
races, but so often have had two others in front of us sailing perfectly too.” The Classic division saw Heinz-Gerd
Stein’s Crilia (GER) take first place over Jochen Oplaender’s Katima (GER) and Alvise Zanetti’s Vanish II
(USA), competing here in her first ever regatta. Crilia, a Swan 53, finished second overall behind the Swan 48 Zen and ahead
of third-placed Vanish, a Swan 56. In the Swan 45 class Klaus Diedrich’s Fever (GBR) took her first victory of
the event in the first race of the day, race seven.Yukihiro Ishida’s Yasha (JPN) came in second ahead of Glynn Williams
on WISC (GBR). Yasha went on to win the second race of the day, also her first win of the event, ahead of Carlo Perrone’s
Atlantica Racing and 2007 Gold Cup winner Alex Roepers on Plenty (USA). With a discard coming into play after seven races,
the fourth place gained in today’s first race was enough to assure overall victory for Earlybird. Fever took second
place with Atlantica Racing in third. “I feel great, absolutely great, you can’t feel better.” enthused
Nagel, co-owner of Earlybird. “Actually I think everyone was a bit nervous this morning but when we went out everything
was fine because we felt good with the weather, we like strong winds, so once being out there everything was fine. It
was interesting this week because we have seen everything from light winds to very strong winds, very interesting. The team
did a very good job, adapting very well to all these different changes.” In the Club Swan 42 class, which completed
one windward-leeward today, Kora 4 continued her almost total domination with another first in today’s race, bringing
her to a total of four bullets and two seconds in the six races run. Nautor’s Swan CEO Leonardo Ferragamo took second
place with his Courdileone (ITA) ahead of Ludovic de Saint Jean’s Kuujjuaq (FRA). Kora took overall victory by seven
points ahead of Cuordileone and Austin Fragomen’s Interlodge (USA). Rolex timepieces were presented to each of
the four overall winners and a special award was presented in memory of historic Swan designer Olin Stephens who passed away
yesterday at the age of 100. Francesco Perios’s Swan 47 Dream took the prize for the highest placed Sparkman and Stephens
designed Swan. The Rolex Swan Cup closes the YCCS sporting season in Porto Cervo but racing continues in November and
December when Club will organize the Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Cup. The second edition if the event open to sailing yachts
over 18 metres long will set off from Tenerife in the canary Islands on 24th November, set for St Maarten in the Dutch Antibes.
Optimum
Captures the Victory at the 2008 Coastal Living Newport Regatta
In a thrilling conclusion to the 2008 Coastal Living Newport Regatta that saw the top three boats
all converge together on the finish of the last race with the title in the balance, Guy Stening's Optimum from Australia edged
out john Podmajersky's Illusion and Jim Richardson's Barking Mad to take the gun in the final race and the victory in the
regatta.
Barking Mad, with America's Cup veteran Terry Hutchinson on tactics, lead after day 1 with a strong 3,1,1 scoreline
and looked poised to run away with the event until Illusion came with strong finishes on the second day to move into the overall
lead.
Stening's team began the final day in third place, but still well within striking distance of the leaders.
After two bullets to start the day, the team from Sydney found itself tied with Illusion for first and three points ahead
of Barking Mad with only one race remaining. Podmajersky's team took an early lead in the final race and seemed to be
cruising to a victory until gear failures and the speed of the Australians leveled the playing field and set up an exiting
duel to the finish. At the line, Stening's team barely edged out the competition to claim the overall victory.
The
teams in Newport experienced a fantastic opportunity to train for the upcoming North American and World Championships, which
will also be held in Newport.
Regatta results saved: Sunday, July 13, 2008 3:31:11 PM EDT
Division: Mumm30 1 7151 Optimum
Stening, Guy
Sydney, NSW, AUS 2 2 4 3 1
3 1 1 1 18.00 1
2
55 Illusion Podmajersky, John
Chicago, IL 1 4
3 1 2 1 3 2 3
20.00 2
3 65 Barking Mad Richardson, James
Boston, MA 3 1
1 2 3 5 2 3 2
22.00 3
4 27 Kaizen
Scott Baker, Moise Solomon Chelmsford, MA 4
3 2 5 5 2 5 5
5 36.00 4
5 691 Adrenalin
Maludy, Jeff
Toledo, OH 5 5
5 4 4 4 4 4 4
39.00 5
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