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Charisma and Nerone. Image copyright Francesco Nonnoi/YCPR.
by Jill Campbell
With five races completed in the series Italy’s Nerone, owned by Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio Sodo-Migliori and with America’s Cup veteran Vasco Vascotto calling tactics, now sits in first place overall. Three-time Farr 40 World Champion Jim Richardson has slipped from the top spot he gained yesterday to second place overall with his Barking Mad (USA) while fellow American Alex Roepers is in third with Plenty, on equal points with Richardson. Over the course of today’s three races, each approximately six miles long, the fleet saw winds increase from a tranquil 10 knots from west north-west at the start of racing to 22 knots with gusts of 26 for the final legs of the third race. Bullets today went to Charisma (MON), owned by Nico Poons, Wolfgang Schaefer’s Struntje Light (GER) and Alessandro Barnaba’s Fiamma (ITA) showing that nothing can be taken for granted in this fleet.
Racing in the Farr 40 European Championship 2010, organized by the Yacht Club Porto Rotondo in conjunction with the Farr 40 Class Association and the Farr 40 European Fleet, commenced yesterday, 30th September and continues through Sunday 3rd October.
The ten competing one-design yachts started racing proper at 1 p.m. (CET) after a first attempt at completing a windward-leeward race was abandoned as the majority of the fleet got stuck in a windless hole at the start of the first downwind leg. The first race of the day, Race Three of the series, hosted a hard-fought duel between Nerone and Charisma that eventually saw Charisma steal into the lead on the second upwind leg, a position she would hold for the duration. Struntje Light finished third.
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Plenty and Monick. Image copyright Francesco Nonnoi/YCPR.
The Mistral had picked up to approximately 18 knots for the start of Race Four. Nerone won the pin end but the Italians found themselves over early and relegated to the back of the fleet after completing their penalty turn. The current Farr 40 World Champions recovered well however to round the windward mark in third place behind Struntje Light and Charisma. All three held their positions to the finish.
The presence of veteran Kiwi sailors Ray Davies and Tony Rae aboard Alessandro Barnaba’s Fiamma (ITA) shone through in the final race of the day as they stormed around the course well clear of the rest of the pack. Plenty, with Chris Larson on tactics, moved up to claim second place on the first downwind run leaving Struntje Light, Charisma, Barking Mad and Nerone tightly packed behind to fight it out for third place, a battle which Nerone won.
Vascotto of Nerone was quietly confident about the next two days racing: “Unfortunately we go over early in at least one race per day! We are sailing well though and now we are leading by three points so we recover well each time. I am very happy with the performance of the entire crew and how we are sailing with these winds. Tomorrow we want to continue to perform well, like we have been so far. Obviously Barking Mad, Plenty, Struntje and also Charisma are sailing well, but we are happy with what we are doing.”
Racing is scheduled to continue tomorrow, Saturday 2nd October, at 11 am. Eight to ten knots of south easterly breeze are predicted.
Provisional results 1st Oct 2010
Pos. Sail no. Name, Owner (Bow No.) Overall Score R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
1 ITA 1972 NERONE Massimo Mezzaroma, (8) 15.0 3 4 2 3 3
2 USA 50455 BARKING MAD James Richardson, (1) 18.0 2 1 4 7 4
3 USA 60059 PLENTY Alex Roepers, (9) 18.0 1 6 5 4 2
4 MON 69 CHARISMA Nico Poons, (2) 22.0 6 8 1 2 5
5 GER 40 STRUNTJE LIGHT Wolfgang Schaefer, (10) 24.0 8 5 3 1 7
6 ITA 252 FIAMMA Alessandro Barnaba, (4) 29.0 5 7 7 9 1
7 DEN 2007 MONICK David Holm, (7) 32.0 4 10 6 6 6
8 ITA 40091 ENFANT TERRIBLE Alberto Rossi, (6) 34.0 9 3 8 5 9
9 ITA 4003 MANGUSTA RISK Andrea Canavesio, (3) 37.0 10 2 9 8 8
10 GBR 7400 HOOLIGAN 6 Edward Broadway, (5) 46.0 7 9 10 10 10
Farr 40
