Farr40 Worlds, Day 2

Two races, two winners, no change at the top. Three boats held their nerve the best. Jim Richardson and Barking Mad (USA), Giovanni Maspero and Joe Fly (ITA), Massimo Mezzaroma and Nerone (ITA) kept the damage to the minimum and lead the fleet going into day three. Neither race got away cleanly. The first race required two attempts, the second three. In the first race two boats still got it wrong second time around despite the threat of a Z Flag - which adds an irredeemable three-point scoring penalty at this regatta if you are over early. In the second race eleven boats sailed the course under the shadow of the penalty flag. Those got away cleanly through luck or judgement had a relatively easy day. Both Barking Mad and Joe Fly led their races; both sailed in mid-teen westerlies, from start to finish. The Italian crew had the better day posting a fourth in the first race to keep all their scores so far in the top five. The Americans posted a sixth in the second race, but stay in first overall. These two are separated by one point, with Nerone's score line of 2, 4 sufficient to lift them into third place, seven points off the pace. Transfusion took a solid third in one race and hefty twenty in the other. Vincenzo Onorato did only slightly better, with a combined score of seventeen-points, but the Z-flag in the second race suggests a chink in the usually impregnable armour of Mascalzone Latino (ITA).

Barking Mad has been on the Farr 40 circuit longer than anyone competing here. For a long time Farr 40s were sailed with nine crew, but in recent years there has been a move to ten and more often than not the tenth member is female and the reasoning is not just weight-related. About three years ago, the class changed from fractional kites to big mast head kites and now the boats sail completely differently within the manoeuvres. It is a good combination to have a good, strong, light person such as Olympic level sailors in that tenth position.

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.

Farr40 Worlds

Representing 10 nations (AUS, DEN, FRA, GBR, GER, GRE, ITA, SUI, UKR, USA), 26 Farr 40s are ready and waiting for the start tomorrow of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS). Racing will take place from June 24-27 with a maximum of 10 races scheduled for this highly competitive class in which victory often hangs on a team’s performance in the final race of the series. The majority of the Farr 40 fleet has been in Porto Cervo for several days giving owners and teams a chance to eyeball the competition during practice sessions and making them well aware of the task ahead.

Acura Key West 2009

Opening day of Acura Key West 2009, presented by Nautica, showcased the international flavor of the event with foreign entries seizing the early lead in four of the grand prix classes. Italian entries set the pace in a pair of the premier one-design fleets while British teams surged to the front of two top tier handicap classes.

Competition in North America’s largest winter regatta got underway in ideal conditions with strong westerly winds allowing organizers to hold two races. An ominous squall put a brief damper on the proceedings, but moved through quickly and allowed the action to continue under sunny skies.

Vincenzo Onorato and his team aboard Mascalzone Latino overcame the unexpected loss of three sailors to win both races and the Nautica Watches Boat of the Day in the Farr 40 class. Two crew members took ill while another suffered an injury in practice – forcing the three-time defending world champions to scramble. One substitute was flown in from Italy while the team coach and chef filled the other vacancies onboard.

Joining Onorato on the podium for Nautica Watches Day was fellow Italian skipper Lorenzo Bressani, who steered UKA UKA Racing to a pair of bullets in Melges 24 class – largest of the regatta with 33 boats. Gabriele Benussi is calling tactics while two-time United States Olympian Jonathan McKee is serving as trimmer aboard UKA UKA Racing, the reigning world champion. McKee is taking a break from his duties in the after-guard of Puma Racing, one of the top contenders in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Both IRC classes have seen an increase in entries this year and the British showed their colors on Monday. Skipper Tim Powell steered the Reichel-Pugh-designed Ran to a pair of first place finishes in IRC 1 while owner Tony Buckingham and his team aboard Ngoni seized the early lead in IRC 2 on the strength of a 1-2 line.

Sardinia Rolex Cup

The duel between teams Spain and Italy is heating up as Spain sits in first place just one point ahead of home-team Italy after today’s distance race in the Sardinia Rolex Cup organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. The Race Committee set an Island Race today which took the 15-strong fleet (each team is composed of a Farr 40, a Swan 45 and a TP52) north up the stunning Sardinian coastline using the islands of the La Maddalena Archipelago as natural buoys and rounding the Barretinelli islands before a final long downwind run for a total of approximately 30 nautical miles. Conditions were impeccable once again with west north-westerly winds of 15 to 20 knots and blazing sunshine providing picture-perfect racing. Team Spain’s best result came from Massimo Mezzaroma’s San Miguel Telefonica Nerone which took first place among the Farr 40s ahead of Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino.