Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, su il sipario

Rolex Farr 40 World Championship – Porto Cervo – Saranno solo 25 le barche che scenderanno in acqua alle 11.00 di oggi per la prima delle quattro giornate previste per la tredicesima edizione del Mondiale Farr 40.

Mancherà all’appello Facila Mare, il team tedesco che pur essendo regolarmente iscritto, non ha ritirato numeri e non era presente al briefing tecnico di ieri pomeriggio nella sede dello Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.

Tre le novità dell’ultima ora è stato reso disponibile il sistema di tracciabilità che, messo a bordo di ogni imbarcazione, permetterà di seguire in tempo reale sul sito dello Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, le barche in regata ed avere così andamenti e posizioni.

In mattinata si saprà anche se le prossime due giornate saranno considerate valide per la terza prova dell’European Circuit che non è stato possibile disputare durante l’Audi Invitational a causa del maltempo. La classifica del circuito europeo è molto aperta perchè vede al comando Mascalzone Latino (17 pt.), seguito da un nutrito gruppo di equipaggi radunato in pochissimi punti: Nerone (26 pt.), TWT (28 pt.) e Calvi Network (29 pt.).

Il clima in banchina è teso, tipico dei momenti che anticipano i grandi eventi. A rendere ancor più “calda” la situazione ci pensa il meteo: Porto Cervo è lambita da una perturbazione e sono previsti 10-12 nodi di Maestrale, che in serata, stando alle previsioni, dovrebbero aumentare.

L’appuntamento in banchina è alle 9.15 per l’ultimo briefing meteo, mentre il segnale di partenza è previsto per le 11.00.

ROLEX FARR 40 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SET TO START AT YACHT CLUB COSTA SMERALDA
[Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Press Release] Representing 10 nations (AUS, DEN, FRA, GBR, GER, GRE, ITA, SUI, UKR, USA), 26 Farr 40s are ready and waiting for the start today 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.

Vincenzo Onorato, winner of the last three Farr 40 World Championships, will certainly be a frontrunner in the fleet. Onorato fields a long-standing team on Mascalzone Latino (ITA), which includes veteran America’s Cup sailor Adrian Stead (GBR) on tactics, 2007 match race champion Matteo Savelli (ITA) and Whitbread sailor Gerry Mitchell (GBR). The Italian contingent also includes Giovanni Maspero’s Joe Fly with two-time America’s Cup veteran Francesco Bruni (ITA) calling tactics. Maspero came second at the 2008 world championship in Miami but did not compete in the European Circuit events in Porto Rotondo and Capri. Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone, winner of the world championship in 2003 and the European title in 2007, both held at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, is also a strong contender and has Vasco Vascotto as tactician. Mascalzone Latino and Nerone lead the current European Circuit classification followed by Alessandro Barnaba’s Fiamma (ITA) which has Olympian Tommaso Chieffi calling tactics.

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. “We are very determined, we hope to do well,” affirmed Giovanni Maspero, owner of Joe Fly. “Obviously we are here to win. The strong teams to watch are Mascalzone Latino and Nerone, who won here in 2003, as well as Barking Mad, a well known American team which does very well. Goombay Smash with Morgan Larson (Santa Cruz, Calif.) on tactics should also do well.”

Reigning champion Onorato was cautious: “The statistics are against us: we have won three world titles in a row, this never happened before and we know that it can’t last forever! This will be an interesting worlds for us, a very competitive world championship, but if we have a Mistral wind, tactically it will be simple and this means that a lot of boats can come through. On the water in these past few days I have seen that the Australians are very good, also the new team, Transfusion: they are very fast.”

Aside from Transfusion, which has 2008 Laser World Champion Tom Slingsby (AUS) calling tactics, a number of strong international participants will be vying for victory. Australian entries Estate Master, owned by Lisa and Martin Hill, and Lang Walker’s Kokomo both have strong teams. Estate Master boasts 2008 49er World Champion Nathan Outteridge (Wangi Wangi, AUS) and 2008 470 Men’s Olympic Gold Medalist Malcolm Page (Sydney, AUS), while Kokomo can call on the expertise of tactician Colin Beashel (Sydney, AUS), 1983 America’s Cup winner with Australia II and 1998 Star World Champion. Jim Richardson (Newport, R.I.), President of the Farr 40 class and two-time winner (1998, 2004) of the Farr 40 World Championship, is competing aboard his Barking Mad (USA) with tactician Terry Hutchinson (Annapolis, Md.), the 2008 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.

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