Farr40 Worlds

Porto Cervo put on one of the feasts for which it is famous in the sailing world: A cobalt blue sky, solid warm breeze, decent waves and three excellent races. All on day one of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship 2009. Barking Mad (USA) sits atop the heap this evening, with a narrow three-point lead over the 2008 Worlds sparring partners Mascalzone Latino (ITA) and Joe Fly (ITA). Today was all about keeping clean and trying to stay mean. Some got it right, others did not. The three race winners were Barking Mad, Nerone (ITA) and Transfusion (AUS). All three sit in the top five and will be happy to have held it together on a day when only four boats posted results inside the top ten in each race. Current World Champion, Vincenzo Onorato on Mascalzone, sits in second place after quietly going about his business to score a 2, 10, 2. All three races were held in a breeze that varied between 16 and 22 knots over the day, but stayed pretty consistently from the west. All three races were won from the front and clearly getting of the line cleanly, in good position was key. The second key to a successful day was minimising the points spread. According to Vasco Vascotto, tactician on Nerone the left hand side of the course looked the best, certainly for the first two races where their tactic of winning the pin worked well. In the third race, Nerone went hard left again and was more than a little disappointed to find itself the wrong side of a shift, which bumped the crew hard down the rankings to mid-fleet.

World Sailor of the Year

ISAF and Rolex are proud to announce that the female and male winners of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2008 are: Alessandra Sensini (ITA) and Ben Ainslie (GBR).

Ben Ainslie made history once again this evening as the first person ever to have won the Award three times in his career.

"It's so difficult to describe my feelings in this moment," said Sensini upon being named the female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. "It's an honour to stand on the same stage as the best sailors in the world and receive this recognition. I remember seeing the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and dreaming of being on the podium with my country's flag. I've now completed 5 Olympics, that's 20 years of adapting to new technologies and changes and to be here now, tonight, is so important and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart."

"Like Alessandra I would like to give a big thank you from my heart to everyone who made this happen," Ainslie said, gesturing to his parents and his sister who joined him at the Award ceremony. When asked what his plans are for the future Ainslie's ambitions were clear: "The next goal for Britain is to try for the America's Cup- we have a great British team. There are a lot of America's Cup heroes in this room and we hope to see you on the water in the near future," he added with a smile.

World Sailor of the Year

Nominations are now invited for the 2008 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, the most prestigious award of recognition in the sport of sailing. The list of nominees and winners since the first presentation in 1994 is an exceptional roll call of the world's top sailors from all disciplines of the sport.

There is only one male and one female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, who will not only win the coveted Rolex timepiece and trophy, but receive true recognition of their achievement from their peers across the world.

Nominations can be made by anyone and the only criteria are that sailors must have performed an "outstanding achievement in the sport" during the qualifying period of 1 September 2007 to 31 August 2008. Nominations should be sent in to ISAF by 10.00hrs (UTC) on Friday 5 September 2008 on the official form which can be found via www.sailing.org/worldsailor

A shortlist will be drawn up by ISAF from all of the nominations received at the ISAF Secretariat by the deadline and those sailors will go on to become the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year 2008 Nominees. The 126 ISAF Member National Authorities will then vote for one male and one female sailor who they believe merit the Awards.

Giraglia Record Smashed!

Neville Crichton has smashed his own course record in the Giraglia Race, after steering Alfa Romeo across the finish line at Genoa at 0803 hours this morning. This means the 100-footer completed the 243-mile course in just over 18 hours, a massive improvement on the record set by Crichton's previous Alfa Romeo, a 90-footer which set a time of just over 22 hours back in 2003.

The New Zealand skipper said they had a good run all the way up to Giraglia Rock, off the northern tip of Corsica, before 'parking up' for three hours. Then the wind filled in again close to the Italian coast and the supremely efficient Alfa Romeo finished off the job.

This is the 56th edition of the Giraglia Race, a 243-mile marathon starting from St Tropez via the Giraglia Rock at the northern tip of Corsica to the finish in the Italian port of Genoa.

Image: New Zealand 2008 Giraglia Rolex Cup © ROLEX/Kurt Arrigo.

Giraglia Offshore

Alfa Romeo led a fleet of 170 boats out of the Gulf of St Tropez this afternoon as the fleet set out on the 243-mile Giraglia Race. After winning two of the three inshore races of the Giraglia Rolex Cup, Alfa Romeo's skipper Neville Crichton has high hopes of notching up a handicap victory in the offshore race to Genoa. The other big target is a shot at the course record, a time of 22 hours, 13 minutes, 48 seconds which Crichton and his team set in 2003 with the previous Alfa Romeo, a fixed-keel 90-footer. The current Alfa Romeo is a 100-footer with canting keel and powered winches, an altogether more potent beast. And yet the Giraglia record has eluded the newer boat.

The fleet bobbed around on a windless Gulf of St Tropez for two hours until the race committee was satisfied the wind had settled down enough for a fair start. The big boats came off the line at 2pm in 5 knots of wind, although as they made their way to the first Rolex mark about 1.5 miles from the start, the breeze dropped away again to almost zero.

Rolex Commodores' Cup

Close of Challenges for the 2008 Rolex Commodores' Cup was on Monday 26th May. The result: 6 nations and 15 teams, two up from 2006. With the weeklong competition commencing on 29th June, team managers are putting final touches to some of the combinations and continuing the process of honing skills.

Event Organisers, the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), are understandably delighted with the increase in interest. The participation of Spain and Hong Kong is extremely positive and, along side the strong, multiple challenges from Ireland, France, The Netherlands and the UK, bodes well for some intense action on the water.

Following a review of the 2006 event, RORC has instituted some changes to the racing format, introducing a round the Isle of Wight course as part of the offshore component and making a double-points inshore course the last race of the series. RORC Commodore David Aisher was quick to express the club's deep satisfaction with the level of Challenges and anticipates a tight contest that will be decided on the last race, "with Challenges received from 6 countries for a total of 45 boats we are delighted that the Rolex Commodores' Cup has once again proved itself attractive to top level amateur sailors. The number of entries is a solid endorsement of the revised format event. With the last race being inshore and carrying double points it should take the competition right to the wire!"

Rolex Capri

Today was a good day. A good day to be sailing and an extremely good day to be sailing at Rolex Capri Sailing Week. Added to the mix of blue skies, sun and wind was a scenic backdrop that has the potential to defy imagination. For the competing crews there was little time, except between races, to truly enjoy the sight of Capri bathed in sunshine with Ischia and Vesuvius looming in the distance, but frankly they were probably having too much fun to care. For those with more time on their hands, watching yacht racing in these conditions, in this location is a privilege.

Back to the action. All classes took on two windward/leeward courses set into a freshening breeze from the south-east. The big boys raced over 8.1 miles and then 9.3 miles, whilst the two smaller boat classes raced twice over a 6.6 mile course. Wind was generally in the 8-12 knot range, but occasionally hit fifteen. The courses were laid with the windward mark in the Bocca Piccolo,! the narrow channel between Capri and the mainland. This gave rise to the odd shift, and plenty of lifts and headers, helping to ensure the tacticians justified their positions in deciding which side of the course was favoured.

Rolex Capri Sailing Week

Rolex Capri Sailing Week returned to some sense of normality today with blue skies, warm breeze and sunshine. On the racecourse the scene was a little different as the heat of the day seemingly affected one or two judgments. The breeze was 10 -13 knots for the early racing, but dropped during the day to sub-10 knots and, with plenty of shifts, gains and losses were there for the witting and unwitting.

At the end of racing the Maxi Class added two 9.5 mile windward/leewards to its scoreline and the Swan 601 Spirit of Jethou heads the standings following an unfortunate error on Alfa Romeo that has dropped her to third. In the Comets, racing twice over seven miles, Agorà Patrimoni Immobiliare put in two solid seconds to maintain her one point advantage over Libertine. The Swan 45s, meantime, had three good races that were not as straightforward as they could have been.

In the first race of the day the blue touch paper was lit on Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo, as expected, and she smoked away from the start unchallenged. Hardly surprising given her crew features a number of the Alinghi America's Cup team, including Grant Simmer. To put a bit of perspective on her impeccable performance, Alfa was on her second top mark rounding before the Comet fleet had made its first and then went on to finish the race before any of the others in her division had reached the second upwind mark.

Rolex Capri Sailing Week

Rolex Capri Sailing Week 2008 opened with a 33.4 mile coastal course that took all classes on a short beat to windward, followed by a fetch across the Golfo di Napoli from Capri to a mark off the equally glamorous island of Ischia and back again in a fresh south-south westerly, that at times was gusting upwards of twenty knots. The initial beat and subsequent fetch were fairly straightforward. For the tightly bunched Swan 45s and the Comets, though, the trip back offered more options as witnessed by the variety of headsails used on different yachts. To change or not to change that was undoubtedly the question. For the yachts out front the risk was clear, make the wrong choice and risk being overtaken. For those at the back, take a look at what was going on up front and guess accordingly.

Sardinia Rolex Cup 2008

The Sardinia Rolex Cup 2008, valid as the ISAF Offshore Team World Championship, will take place in Porto Cervo from 14^th to 21^st June. Organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS), the regatta has taken place biennially since its inauguration in 1972 and this year reaches it 16^th edition.

With racing due to start in just over four weeks the first official entries to have been accepted include national teams from Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia while a further two team entries are currently being finalized. As always, each team will be comprised of three yachts: a Farr 40, a Swan 45 and a Transpac 52. After four days of windward-leeward racing, with the possibility of an islands race midweek, each boat’s score will be combined to make up the team total. Victory, along with the Sardinia Cup Challenge Trophy and the Rolex Offshore Team World Championship Trophy, will go to the team with the lowest series points score.

The Sardinia Rolex Cup consistently attracts top international owners and crews and this year will be no exception: Vincenzo Onorato, who claimed the Sardinia Rolex Cup as part of Team Sardegna in 2006, has already signed up for Team Italy aboard his Farr 40. He will be joined by Riccardo Simoneschi aboard the TP52 Audi Q8 and Danilo Salsi on his Swan 45 DSK making for an all - YCCS team.

Team Italy is certainly one to watch with Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino recently having achieved the unique feat of winning three Farr 40 World Championships back-to- back. Germany and Spain, however, are also past winners of the Sardinia Rolex Cup. Team Russia, on the other hand, is a newcomer to the event and with everything boiling down to skill, tactics and teamwork, may just provide some surprises.

Farr40 Worlds

Vincenzo Onorato and his Mascalzone Latino are the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Champions, achieving a first in the sailing world - three back-to-back victories in this ultra-competitive one design class. This evening in addition to the World Cup, Onorato was presented with a commemorative Rolex timepiece at the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship Awards party. The day initially lined up as an all-Italian battle pitting defending champion Mascalzone Latino (ITA), the leader of the series since the first race, against Joe Fly (ITA), the second-place, well-sailed boat. In reality Barking Mad (USA) became part of the winner's fate when it was fouled by Joe Fly during the first mark rounding of race nine (Saturday's first race). Mascalzone rounded in the same group and filed a protest against Joe Fly. Next year, the Class will travel to Europe to Porto Cervo, Sardinia for the 2009 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.

1. Mascalzone (ITA), Vincenzo Onorato
2. Joe Fly (ITA), Giovanni Maspero
3. Mean Machine (MON), Peter de Ridder
4. Nanoq (DEN), HRH Crown Prince Frederik
5. Calvi Network (ITA), Carlo Alberni
6. Alinghi (SUI), Ernesto Bertarelli
7. Ramrod (USA), ), Rodrick Jabin
8. Barking Mad (USA), Jim Richardson
9. Opus One (GER), Wolfgang Stolz
10. Nerone (ITA), Massimo Mezzaroma/ Antonio Sodo Migliori

Farr 40 Worlds

In a stark contrast to yesterday's 18-knot winds and lumpy seas, today's light-air conditions gave the international fleet competing in the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship a new challenge. With a total of six races completed so far in the 10-race series, Italian teams hold the top two spots -- Mascalzone Latino in first, with a three point lead, over Joe Fly in second. Two-time world champion Barking Mad (USA) climbed up from seventh place into third overall. America's Cup champion Ernesto Bertarelli and his Alinghi slipped from third and finished the day in fifth overall. The Greek team Atalanti also managed to climb from 8th to 6th overall.

Farr40 Worlds Start

Current World Champion Mascalzone Latino charged to the head of the 33-boat fleet on the first day of racing during the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. With three races completed in the 10-race series, there are at least a dozen boats that can win the overall title, however today belongs to the Italians. "It's a long time left to sail and we just have to enjoy ourselves on the water," said Onorato moments after returning to the dock. "The others feel the pressure; we are two-time world champions and we are here to enjoy ourselves."

Despite a last minute change of tactician with American Morgan Larson arriving this morning on the red eye from the West Coast to fill in for Adrian Stead who returned home for the birth of his first child, Onorato had nothing but praise for Larson's ability to jump in and assist with a 3-12-1 scoreline. "Of course he (Larson) did a very nice job and we dedicate this victory to the new Lucas Stead, born yesterday. If you look, we are sailing with a blue stripe on the back of the boat for him."

Rolex Farr 40 Worlds

Sometimes the days can seem endless when you're spending time in a tropical paradise such as Miami Beach, Florida, but not so for the 33 international teams making last-minute preparations for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. The regatta - scheduled for April 16-19 and the 11th in the Class's history - has brought together the top names in professional sailing that will be found alongside some of the best amateur sailors in one design racing.

After sailing in the Rolex Farr 40 Pre-Worlds, April 11-12, followed by two days of further sail measurement, crew weigh-in and boat tuning, no one can be accused of slacking off before the big event. Most teams put in full days of training and tuning, and today many can be seen out on the Atlantic Ocean lining up in practice starts and mark rounding maneuvers as boat-handling consistency is one main ingredient for obtaining the top-10 scores needed in each race to assure a victory in this cut-throat fleet.

Antigua Sailing Week

An impressive fleet of Swans is once again poised to impart a significant presence on Stanford Antigua Sailing Week, the 41st edition of which is set for April 27-May 3. With just over two weeks to go before the action commences in the blue seas of the Caribbean, a solid roster of 16 Swans are among the 122 entrants registered thus far.

The collective Swan fleet is both interesting and eclectic. Representing five different nations, it ranges in size from British sailor Barry Sampson's brand new Club Swan 42, Long Echo, to his countryman's well-campaigned Swan 70, Stuart Robinson's Stay Calm. Robinson, an extremely active competitor known for his success on the racecourse with a TP 52 of the same name, is currently on a roll. With his 70-foot Swan and a veritable platoon of crewmen, Robinson's fresh from a well-earned victory in his Performance Cruising class at the recent, windy BVI Spring Regatta.

However, Stay Calm is just one of many Swans with the wherewithal to wreak havoc on its competition. The wildcard of them all may be U.S. sailor Frank Savage's Swan 56, Lolita, which won the Lord Nelson Trophy as the overall winner of Antigua Sailing Week in 2003. Savage, who named his boat after his wife, not the novel, has reunited his crew for a return to Antigua after a brief hiatus from ocean racing. It will be interesting to see if Savage and his team will manage to quickly ramp up to speed and recapture the magic of the 2003 event.

One boat very well aware of Lolita's potential is Clay Deutsch's Swan 68, Chippewa (pictured at right); the two stateside entries have enjoyed many a memorable duel. Deutsch, a Pittsburgh native who races out of the British Virgin Islands, returned to yacht racing after a 20-year absence, and did so with a vengeance. Chippewa's many recent victories include class triumphs at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, the Swan Caribbean Cup, and Key West Race Week. Chippewa is also a defending champion at Stanford Antigua Sailing Week, having won its class in 2007. Like Lolita, Chippewa's tight, cohesive crew - none of whom are professional sailors - will be hoping to revisit past glories in 2008.

Rolex Farr 40 World Championship

Among the 33 entered teams, 10 countries are represented, with the bulk of the fleet (18) consisting of American and Italian entries. At the top of the list for favorites is Mascalzone Latino, Onorato's entry. He will have his work cut out for him as there are three past world champions among the fleet - Barking Mad (USA), Jim Richardson's two-time winner (2004/1998); Nerone (ITA, 2003), co-owned by Antonio Sodo Migliori and Massimo Mezzaroma; and Alinghi (SUI, 2001), owned by Ernesto Bertarelli and the 2007 runner-up - and about a dozen other teams capable of winning the coveted title. The sentimental favorite of the group may be Richardson, who won the Class's first world championship, also held in Miami in 1998. Barking Mad has retained a core group of professional and amateur crew since the 2004 world championship win, with tactician Terry Hutchinson alongside Richardson. Earlier this year they collected back-to-back first place finishes at Key West Race Week and Acura Miami Grand Prix, which many see as an early predictor to the Worlds.

As always, the fleet is home to notable professional sailors from America's Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and one-design fame. In addition to Barking Mad, some of the stellar names are Adrian Stead on Mascalzone Latino; Paul Cayard on Steve & Fred Howe's Warpath (USA); Gavin Brady on Rod Jabin's Ramrod (USA); Brad Butterworth on Alinghi; Ian Walker on Doug Douglass's Goombay Smash (USA); Ray Davies onboard Peter de Ridder's Mean Machine (MON); Vasco Vascotto on Nerone (ITA); and Bouwe Bekking serving as tactician aboard HRH Crown Prince Frederik's Nanoq (DEN).

Rolex Farr 40 World Championship

With European boats making up over half of the fleet - 18 out of 33 boats - currently registered for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship due to be held in Miami Florida from 16^th April and close to forty members now registered, the Farr 40 European Fleet is gearing up for an exciting 2008 season. A series of regattas are scheduled to be held throughout the Mediterranean and Northern Europe using a new formula introduced this year which will allow owners to choose between two separate circuits: Circuit Med, with four events to be held in Italy and France; and Circuit North, with four events to be held in Denmark, Germany and Norway. The European Championship will be held as part of the Rolex Baltic Week 2008 in Travemeunde, Germany from 26^th to 31^st August.

The fleet includes two-time Farr 40 World Champion Vincenzo Onorato with his Mascalzone Latino (ITA) and current European Champion Massimo Mezzaroma with his Nerone (ITA). With thirteen nations competing in the European fleet this year however, (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Ukraine) the recent Italian domination of the class could be under threat.

The first event of the calendar, the Rolex Capri Sailing Week from 21^st to 24^th May, is part of the European Circuit Med and will be followed by the Audi Farr 40 Cup in Porto Cervo from 12^th to 14^th June. The action then moves to France for the French Farr 40 Challenge in Le Lavandou from 3^rd to 6^th July before returning to Italy for the fourth and final series of the circuit in the Settimana Velica dell’Argentario in Cala Galera from 19^th to 21^st September.

Meanwhile, the European Circuit North sets off from Larvik in Norway with the Larvik Race Weekend from 24^th to 25^th May. The second leg of the circuit will be held during Kiel Week in Kiel, Germany from 26^th to 29^th June and the third will be the Farr 40 Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark from 24^th to 27^th July. The fourth and final series of the circuit North will take place together with the European Championships in Travemeunde.

The decision to create two separate circuits was taken following consultation with European Farr 40 owners at a meeting held at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda during last year’s European Championship and is intended to allow maximum flexibility for the entire fleet. Each competing craft must enrol in their chosen circuit at the beginning of the season and may compete in up to two events of the other circuit. Final scoring will be based on 4 regattas so that should a competitor participate in six regattas, which is theoretically possible, he would have two discards. The overall winner of each circuit will be awarded an identical European Circuit Trophy.

International Rolex Regatta

After completing a single distance race today, yesterday's eight class leaders nailed down overall victories at the 35th annual International Rolex Regatta, which began Friday. The trade winds that made the prior two days so exciting delivered once again as sailors on 90 boats completed the Pillsbury Sound course, set between the east end of St. Thomas, where host St. Thomas Yacht Club is located, and its smaller sister island of St. John. The two IRC classes, as well as two of four CSA classes (Spinnaker Racing 1 and Spinnaker Racing/Cruising) and Beach Cats sailed a longer version of the race (13 nm with several windward-leeward laps included) while the remaining two CSA classes (Spinnaker Racing 2 and Non-Spinnaker Racing) stuck to the more straightforward shorter course (13 nm). In all cases, however, the key to victory lay in playing the second windward leg of the course correctly. Three Harkoms won the Non-Spinnaker division last year, so this was quite a step up for them, said Lloyd.

The International Rolex Regatta is part of the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series 2008. There were a total of eight classes: two in IRC division, four in CSA Division (two for spinnaker racing, one for non-spinnaker racing and one for Spinnaker Racing/Cruising), Beach Cats and IC24 One-Designs.

Rolex China Sea Race

Last night the land-sea breeze off the Philippine coast made and lost fortunes for the potential handicap winners in this 565-nautical mile offshore Asian classic.

At the Philippines finish of the Rolex China Sea Race, the local enthusiasm and passion for sailing is evident, so it seemed fitting that the overall handicap winner was the Philippines entry, Subic Centennial, co-skippered by Judes Echauz and Vince Perez and their crew of young Filipino sailors.

Echauz and Perez won the China Sea Race in 1998 with the same boat, and ten years later decided it was time to try again. Echauz is President of the Philippines Sailing Association and head of the Philippines sailing team and was involved in the ASEAN Games in Manila. Subic Centennial, a Sydney 46 from the Manila Yacht Club, is mostly composed of young kids who are part of the Philippines Team, with Australian Jamie Wilmot as the senior coach.

Rolex Miami OCR

The Greek Olympic gold-medallist, Sofia Bekatorou has spent the past month sailing out of Coconut Grove, FL, training on Biscayne Bay (Miami). Bekatorou is competing in the upcoming 2008 Yngling Women's World Championship from 8 - 16 February, and is taking advantage of training on-site in the local conditions.

These World Championships will include some of the world's best women sailors with 27 teams from 18 countries and four Olympic gold medallists entered so far. Although ten countries plus China have already qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (the Sailing Competition will be held in Qingdao), there are still four places to be decided and the competition among the eight remaining countries represented will be fierce. Bekatorou and her crews' aim is to clinch one of the four remaining spots and to continue training and preparing for China.

As part of their preparations in Miami, Bekatorou competed in last month's Rolex Miami OCR, so that the team could race against a serious fleet that will also be competing at the Worlds - and which will take place on the same race course on Biscayne Bay, considered one of the world's best sailing venues.

In the end at the Rolex Miami OCR, Sofia Bekatorou, Sofia Papadopoulou, and Christina Charamountani finished in 17th place overall. Bekatorou doesn't let herself lose focus on the ultimate goal. Bekatorou, a Rolex Testimonee since 2006, is a four-time 470-class World Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003), and a gold medallist in the 470 at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. With these past successes, she was also the winner of the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards in 2002 and 2004 (with Emilia Tsoulfa).

After over eight years dedicating her career to 470 class competition at the highest levels, and with a much-needed break for back surgery due to the rigors of the 470 dinghy, Sofia moved to the Yngling class in which she has been campaigning since 2006. As time permits, in between her campaign duties, Sofia has been sailing in offshore and big boat regattas in the Farr 40 and TP52 classes. In addition, she is dedicated to promoting sailing among youngsters in Greece and organizing match racing, such as The Dream Race, in Mykonos, Greece in 2005.