2014 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship – Day 1 Update
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2014 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship
St Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco – 15 October 2014
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
Day 1 of the 2014 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship took place today on Berkeley Circle, San Francisco as the international fleet of 19 boats went to battle.
US circuit champion, Alex Roepers and his crew from Plenty took three from three bullets but the Aussies were hot on their trail with final results for Day 1 showing Transfusion in 2nd place, Estate Master in 3rd and Voodoo Chile in 4th.
Race 1 was postponed briefly until PRO, Luigi Reggio was satisfied the breeze had stabilized enough for a fair race. Plenty took the lead at the start line and held. Flash Gordon took 2nd place, followed by Transfusion in 3rd, Estate Master in 4th, Kokomo in 7th and Voodoo Chile in 9th.
Transfusion had what looked like a race winning start in Race 2, which they held for most of the race only to be passed by Plenty on the last leg. Transfusion tactician and Olympic gold medallist, Tom Slingsby was happy with the day’s results.
“In the second race we went around the bottom mark maybe half a length ahead of Plenty. It was very close the whole time. Then we just sort of lost out a bit. We went around one mark, they went around the other and they ended up crossing us in the race so unfortunately, they got passed us but a second place is still very good.”
“It was a good day. On Day 1 you just want to get some good results and check your speed with the other players. We sailed well today and to come away with three, top four places, we are very happy”.
“The strategy for tomorrow is the same as today. We need to keep getting low scores on the board and hope that Plenty have a couple of bad races. We just have to concentrate on ourselves, and in a few more days we will look at the points situation and assess how aggressive we are, but if we are in the top couple of boats coming into the last day we will be very happy”.
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s sailor of the year and Voodoo Chile Tactician, David Chapman sails with co-owners Lloyd Clark and Andrew Hunn. David and Lloyd achieved a third place at the West Coast Championships recently and Andrew Hunn is taking the helm for this regatta. Voodoo had a slow start today, however, are happy with their overall position of 4th place.
“It was pretty moderate conditions. We were on our medium headsail all day and saw from about 8-14 knots and generally about 10 knots all day. Shifting we saw 205 to 235 at stages and it was pretty consistent all day.”
“9th place in Race 2 could have been a little bit better. We probably could have tacked under Estate Master at the top mark and maybe got in the top 5 there. We were very conservative today, obviously being the first day you don’t want to do anything too risky. Maybe a little bit too conservative but we are happy.”
“We are 4th overall which is better than I thought we would be. The boat is getting better and better every day. We have a good crew and we all enjoy sailing with each other which is good”.
“Lloyd will get us on the pace tonight I’m sure. Our starts were okay. We need to be a bit more aggressive about which end we want to be at and be first to that favoured side. We got first out to the right a few times. It’s going well. We are happy.”
The husband and wife team of Martin and Lisa Hill, who have been competing in the West Coast circuit these past few months, had a great day on the water and are thrilled with their overall position of 3rd place.
Due to business commitments, Lang Walker could not participate and subsequently handed over the reins to Jim Richardson from Barking Mad. Kokomo had a 7th place in Race 1, a 15th in Race 2 and ended the day with a stunning 2nd place putting them in 8th place overall, just six points behind Voodoo Chile.
AUSTRALIAN CREW MEMBERS
ESTATE MASTER
Martin Hill (Skipper), Andrew Campbell (Tactician), Harry Bethwaite (Grinder) Marco Carpinello (Bow), James Corrie (offside trimmer), Russel Ely (Mast), Keith Glynn (Pit), Lisa Hill, Darren Jones (Main Trimmer) and Nicholas Martin (Strategy), Jason Rowed (Headsail trimmer).
KOKOMO
Jim Richardson (Skipper), Mal Page (Tactician), Richi Allanson (Main Trimmer), Bruce Clark (Headsail Trimmer), Jane Clark (Pit), John Flannery (Bowman), Alex Gough (Offside trimmer), Andrea Green (Navigator), William Phillips (Strategist), William Phillips (Strategist) and Peter Salt (Mast).
TRANSFUSION
Guido Belgiorno-Nettis (Skipper), Tom Slingsby (Tactician), Jack Hubbard (Mid Bow), Will Mackenzie (Mast), Julian Plante (Offside trimmer), Pete Sheldrick (Pit), Joe Turner (Strategist), Mitch White (Bowman), Sam Williams (Headsail trimmer) and Bob Wilmot (Main Trimmer).
VOODOO CHILE
Andrew Hunn (Skipper), David Chapman (Tactician), Phil Armstrong (Offside trimmer), Tim Burnell (Strategist), Josh Clark (Pit), Gerry Mitchell (Main Trimmer), Mal Parker (Headsail trimmer), Tim Roberts (Mast), Kirsty Skinner and Wulf Wilkens (Bow).
Link: http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=979