The Fabulous 40s

The Fabulous 40s

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The Fabulous 40sA history of the Farr 40 Class 1996 - 2011

T h e FA bu l ous 4 0 s

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“The Farr 40 is a unique class. Unique in being One Design with the approved owner steering; unique in providing the thrill of exceptionally close world-class racing and unparalleled comradeship in spectacular

locations around the world.”


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Cowes

Copenhagen

Porto Cervo (2)

Nassau

Casa de Campo

Newport (2)

Miami (2)

San Francisco (2)

Sydney (2)

WOrlD champiOnship lOcaTiOns

Chicago (2012)St-Tropez TBC(2013)

The Fabulous 40s

WOrlD champiOnship lOcaTiOns


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contents

This first edition published in 2011©2011 south atlantic publishing and Farr 40 class association

south atlantic publishing. The studio, Booker’s Yard, The street, Walberton, arundel, West sussex. Bn18 0pF, Englandwww.southatlanticpublishing.com

all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the publisher.

library of congress cataloging-in-publication Data

Bob FisherThe Fabulous 40sFarr 40 class associationisBn 978-0-9531044-2-0 hbk 1. The Fabulous 40s, rolex Farr 40 class, etc 1. Title

Designed by Greg Filip and Kayleigh reynolds/pplTypeset centennial lT std by pplillustrations by Farr Yacht Design and Greg Filip/ppl

printed and bound by printo Trento s.r.l, Italy

Con T e n T s

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contentsForeword .................................................................................................................. 11

Concept and Genesis ................................................................................................ 12

Designer’s description of the Farr 40 ....................................................................... 16

Construction ............................................................................................................. 19

Farr 40 one-Design specifications ........................................................................... 24

stagg’s leap of faith .................................................................................................. 33

World Championships.......................................................................................................... 44

The Trophy ............................................................................................................... 46

1998 Miami............................................................................................................................. 49

1999 san Francisco............................................................................................................... 52

2000 newport ........................................................................................................... 59

2001 Cowes ............................................................................................................... 64

2002 nassau ............................................................................................................ 73

2003 Porto Cervo ...................................................................................................... 82

2004 san Francisco .................................................................................................. 94

2005 sydney .......................................................................................................... 109

2006 newport ......................................................................................................... 124

2007 Copenhagen ................................................................................................... 135

2008 Miami ............................................................................................................ 146

2009 Porto Cervo ................................................................................................... 159

2010 Casa de Campo .............................................................................................. 171

2011 sydney ........................................................................................................... 185

2010 european Championship ............................................................................... 196

2010 north American Championship ..................................................................... 206

2011 Australian Championship .............................................................................. 212

Canada’s Cup .......................................................................................................... 216

The tacticians have their say ................................................................................. 218

FARR 40 one Design - Register .............................................................................. 228

Roll of honour ........................................................................................................ 234

Acknowledgments .................................................................................................. 240


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Con T e n T s

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The fierce loyalty to the Class is reflected in the yacht’s

design - fast, responsive, user-friendly, honest for

competition - and in the personalities of its owners -

entrepreneurial, competitive, value-driven, fun-loving,

challenge seekers on land and sea. A winning combination

for the last 15 years!

Mascalzone Latino - Vincenzo onorato, just ahead of Barking

Mad - Jim Richardson, both three times world champions

Mascalzone Latino - Vincenzo onorato just ahead of Barking

Mad- Jim Richardson both 3 time World Champions


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Southern Star - John Calvert-Jones

FoR e WoR D

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of four professionals and usually five or six non-paid sailors

depending on overall weight of the total crew.

As the old saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. because all

the boats are identical and play by the same rules, a truly level

playing field exists. There is no question that a steady hand at the

helm is key. The exhilaration for the owner/driver and tactician

is the challenge of making responses as to sea, wind, weather,

and strategic positioning with only inches to spare between your

boat and that of a competitor.

Right from the start, the association of owners kept true to its

bottom line – to make sailing fun. To do so required managing the

Class like a business with forward planning, meticulous controls

over measurement and sound financial controls. Geoff stagg has

helped to hold a firm hand on the tiller of Class management for

which all of us are indebted.

Who wouldn’t want to join a class that prides itself on

sportsmanship and comradeship and finding venues around

the world with good weather, a challenging course, delightfully

enticing locations, and a sponsor of international repute. Rolex

has been the principal Farr 40 sponsor since 2001. There are a

lucky few of us who are proud recipients of a first-place finish

Rolex watch – a watch that operates as smoothly as does the

Farr 40 under full sail. Rolex has lent its name and many of

its photographs to this publication. For all its generosity and

support, we as a Class, are most grateful.

John Calvert-Jones

ForewordI invite you to step inside this book and experience the visual

thrill of the Farr 40 Class and its distinctive place on the platform

of world-class, one-design sailing. The fierce loyalty to this

Class is reflected in the yacht’s design - fast, responsive, user-

friendly, honed for competition- and in the personalities of its

owners - entrepreneurial, competitive, value-driven, fun-loving,

challenge seekers on land and sea. A winning combination

for the last 15 years!

The Farr 40 found its beginning in 1997, in bristol, Rhode

Island. Its designer, bruce Farr, is a master craftsman if ever

there was one. Ruskin, the 19th century british author noted

that “men who cannot enter into the mind of the sea, cannot

for the same reasons enter into the mind of ships.” bruce Farr

was able to do both and then to design a boat that kept the sea

in mind without diminishing the sleek beauty and practicality

of his design.

The boat’s international appeal was immediate. The first ten

boats were delivered to five different countries. The Class remains

robustly international with 152 boats now from 19 countries

worldwide. Why its international success? “It’s awesome to

sail,” noted Judge betsy Alison as she awarded the boat of the

Year prize in 1998 to the Farr 40. All who have sailed in this

Class agree that the boat takes the sea in its stride. It is fast,

very fast, with marvellous responsiveness and manoeuvrability

and high structural integrity.

There are few if any Classes which specify that the owner, an

amateur helmsman, must have his/her hand on the helm. The

Farr 40 sets the bar and distinguishes itself in this regard.

Amateur can imply a newcomer to the Class or someone with

finely tuned knowledge of the boat as well as years of tested

sailing experience and know-how to lead an experienced team

John Calvert-Jones, former Class

President, 2000 Farr 40 World

Champion. and first life Member

of the Class


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concept and Genesis

The question of just how the Farr 40 came into being could only

be answered by the designer, bruce Farr. he describes it as an

evolution from previous forays in the one-design arena. “It came

on the back of the success of the Mumm 36, which was designed

under IMs and later became a one-design. After that came the

Mumm 30, which was a step into what I consider, a purer boat

that needed very little attention when it came to considering

handicapping.”

The next step in this evolutionary process, in which both Geoff

stagg and barry Carroll were involved, was the Corel 45, of which

the designer said, “It was another boat that was trying to be

both a one-design and a successful handicap boat, but we tackled

both simultaneously, rather than bolting on the one-design

to an IMs boat.”

only after the Corel 45 was on the water did the process of the

40-footer begin to take shape. Farr International had previously

bypassed the 40-foot zone because there were so many other

boats of this size in the market. bruce had promoted the idea

to Geoff, and while they both considered other ideas of slightly

lesser overall length, or even slightly bigger, reason kept pointing

to 40. In britain, Peter Morton was interested in a boat close

to this size and had been talking to the Annapolis offices

of both bruce and Geoff.

ConCeP T A n D Ge n esIs

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We had to have a boat that was reasonably

easy to handle, but at the same time quite high

performance.

Two time World Championship Nerone - Massimo

Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori at speed


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The experience of bruce, Geoff and barry in this business was

sufficient for them to have the confidence to proceed and to do

it without the need for it to be influenced by IMs. “We believed,”

said bruce, “that we should just design the boat we wanted and

we did not need to have a successful IMs boat to achieve a critical

mass. so, the decision was made to do it with only a passing view

of IMs and we looked at Channel handicap too for a potential

place within those handicap systems.”

The principal concern was that it should be ‘a good honest boat.’

That decision went hand in hand with another – that it should

be an owner/driver boat. The latter decision was made early in

the concept, and so, in bruce’s words: “We had to have a boat

that was reasonably easy to handle, but at the same time quite

high performance. That meant we had a nice shaped boat,

reasonable beam so that it had some stability, deep vcg keel,

quite big rig and with Geoff’s insistence perhaps, a little bigger

rig than we would have chosen because that was always Geoff’s

mantra – ‘add sail, add sail area’. Then we developed these ideas

through the latter part of 1996 and the final lines were drawn

in november that year.”

A group of individual investors (principals, interested individuals

and prospective owners) was formed to support the building and

the initial development of the marketing, and the team began to

market aggressively what was agreed to be a good boat. bruce

added: “There was some serendipity in the thing. The 40 foot

size turned out to be good because it was a manageable size

for a lot of owners, and straightforward to sail in mechanical

terms. one of the key decisions was going with the runner-less

rig so the boat could be more or less bullet proof between a rig

which did not rely on runners and a carbon mast. It was at a

time when everybody’s boat had runners and skinny masts,

and racing a boat was a pretty expensive exercise – you went

through a lot of stuff.”

Top: Kokomo - lang Walker

Right: Endorphin at speed- erik Wulff

ConCeP T A n D Ge n esIs

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Alinghi - ernesto bertarelli


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It is light displacement but not ultra-light and it has good horse-

power upwind even though it is not of super sophisticated

construction. one of the key issues was to control costs to make

it viable for a whole range of people. You can’t have a full-on

carbon structure since that limits how light you can make the

boat. It is powerful enough upwind and light enough to plane

downwind, but it is not a downwind specialist ultra-light

displacement boat. All round attributes are probably key. It has

a big enough sail plan to be a good lively boat, even with short

footed headsails. Geoff pushed hard to make sure the boat had

enough sail area to be fast in light airs, which broadens the

horizons on where it can be sailed and be fun.

In terms of the hull shape, it is a good wholesome hull shape.

It is not extreme. It is not too big in the back. There is a nice

degree of fineness in the bow so it gets through chop nicely. It

is a boat that will do well in all conditions, enough freeboard to

keep people’s feet out of the water, and be able to tackle big sea.

Probably the most important factor when it was designed was

that it was not compromised for a rating rule or measurement

system. because of that, it is a nice boat that has stood the test

of time.

Designer of the Farr

Designer - bruce Farr

40

DesIGn eR oF T h e FA R R

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Barking Mad – Jim Richardson


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ConsT RuC T Ion

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construction

barry Carroll, who was an essential ingredient in the mix that

produced the Farr 40, describes the genesis from the very

beginning: “My involvement with the Farr 40 goes back to a us

sailing IMs meeting in Texas in the early 90’s. Tink Chambers

was there representing Farr International, and I was there for

my company, Carroll Marine. We got to talking about race boats

naturally, and that always leads to the ‘next boat’. Carroll saw a

market in the mid 30ft range, and so too did Farr. That led to the

development of the Farr IMs 36 which became the Mumm 36.

To meet Farr Yacht Design’s demanding design and engineering

standards, the boat had to be built with the materials and

techniques one would normally associate with a custom one-

off. That meant epoxy/vacuum bag/ foam core construction/oven

post cure, and extremely tight weight control. At that time, there

were no other production boats being built with those techniques

or to those standards.

“The straws that stirred the drink were Geoff stagg, Tink

Chambers, and the team at Farr International. In the first

place, they, along with Russ bowler and his team at Farr Yacht

Design, worked hard with our team in specifying materials and

techniques to build ‘production boats’ to custom boat tolerances.

Geoff gave us some very clear goals: build it light, build it strong,

build it to a consistent standard.

“The result of the first collaboration among the design group, set

the bench mark for the modern offshore one-design. That same


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troika established not just the build techniques, but the class

management system that maintained and controlled those one-

design standards against ever increasing outside pressure. The

more successful a class is, the higher the international profile,

the more pressure there is from competitors to find an edge.

“The Mumm 30 was next and came with many new facets, some

of which drew severe criticism. Virtually every sailmaker and

expert we spoke to said the boat would never work without

overlapping jibs – not enough sail area for light air, and no

runners so you couldn’t control the sail area you had. The boat

bruce drew was flat-out gorgeous, and we had a lot of early

interest. The only problem was that when we were in our last

pre-production design meeting, I got cold feet. so many people

had called and told us that a runnerless, non-overlapping jib boat

would never work, that I was reluctant to commit Carroll to the

project. During that last meeting bruce calmly pointed out two

things: first, swept spreader, runnerless rigs were nothing new.

With good design and mast engineering they were simple and

easy to use. They just weren’t fashionable at the time. second and

most importantly, the power from a boat comes from sail area,

not jib overlap. A boat with non-overlapping jibs can have as

much or more sail area as a boat with a 150% lP jib: just go taller

with the rig. he went on to explain that increased aspect ratio

and leading edge provided more drive per given area: that in fact

we would be surprised at how effective the Mumm 30 sail plan

would be. he was so calm, cogent, and assured that we all agreed

to give it a go. The Mumm 30 was a resounding success, and it

has led the way to the modern race boat rig. It was a triumph of

good design and engineering over fashion, and cold feet!

“The development model was well established. We wanted

the international one-design control that we had developed in

the Mumm 36. The Mumm 30 had conclusively demonstrated

Farr’s vision for fast easily handled modern rigs; so the new 40

would have a similar rig, sail plan, and super clean deck plan.

It would be built with proven techniques and efficiency and be

half the price of an equivalent IlC-40. Modern, fast, extremely

competitive, great value for money, and solid proven marketing

Mascalzone Latino – Vincenzo onorato

Barking Mad – Jim Richardson crosses Plenty – Alex Roepers

ConsT RuC T Ion

2 1

and Class management were the attributes of the Farr 40. In

retrospect, its success was almost inevitable.

“our in-house engineers and builders developed a great

relationship with Russ bowler’s team. over the projects, Carroll

learned a lot about race boat engineering, and Russ’ team learned

a bit about blending high end construction with efficiency and

cost effective techniques. It was a cross pollination of ideas, and

it was fun and productive.

“As a builder and engineer, one of the most interesting parts

of the Farr 40 story was the evolution of the one-design rule.

There was a technical side: what needed to be controlled? how

strictly it would be controlled: what were acceptable tolerances

versus actual changes in performance? What would be the cost to

control tolerances: the smaller the tolerance the greater the cost,

and at some point the cost / benefit doesn’t make sense. how to

measure and maintain tolerances? That means not just in the

shop when we can measure and weigh individual components

before assembly, but how do we check the completed boats after

years in service? And finally how do we do it within a strict

budget and without upsetting Class members?

“Finally, as we closed in on a possible solution to an issue we

would ask ourselves, ‘oK how do we get around that rule if we

wanted to cheat?’ someone would suggest a way around the rule

and the rest would work on it until we closed that door. I think

we came up with some pretty clever solutions to the technical

questions that have led to the strength of the Farr 40 Class.

“That led to the most important aspect of the Farr 40 Class

success: the management and leadership of Geoff stagg and

his team, first at Farr International and then at stagg Yachts.

Geoff had to be a combination cheerleader, snake oil salesman,

technical guru, holiday camp counsellor, judge, jury and

sometimes executioner.

“The owners of Farr 40s are typically over-achievers who are

not used to people telling them ‘no!’ no matter how polite, how Struntje Light – Wolfgang schaefer


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We designed the boat to be bullet-proof.

ConsT RuC T Ion

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Farr One-Design specifications

Design: Farr Yacht Design

loA 40.72 ft 12.41 m

lWl 35.27 ft 10.75 m

beam 13.22 ft 4.03 m

Draft 8.53 ft 2.60 m

Displacement 10,902 lbs 4,945 kg

ballast 4,960 lbs 2,250 kg

RMC 1,266 ft/lb 175 kg/m

40

FA R R on e-DesIGn sPeC I F IC AT Ion

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Construction: epoxy/e-glass/foam/balsa composite, Wet Pre-preg, post cured in oven.Keel: Cast iron fin, lead bulb, epoxy coated.

sail Area 1,109 sq/ft 102.8 sq/m

I: 16.20 m 53.15 ft

J: 4.71 m 15.45 ft

P: 16.70 m 54.79 ft

e: 5.90 m 19.36 ft

IsP: 18.30 m 60.04 ft

sPl: 5.20 m 17.06 ft


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Nanoq - Crown Prince Frederik

ConsT RuC T Ion

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“The owners of Farr 40s are typically over-achievers who are not used to

people telling them ‘NO!.’ No matter how polite, how diplomatic, telling

an owner that his boat or crew conflict with Class rules was never easy.

The Class exists for the benefits of its members, the owners.


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diplomatic, telling an owner that his boat or crew conflict with

class rules was never easy. The Class exists for the benefits of

its members, the owners. That principle, more than any other

has kept the Farr 40 Class in the forefront of international

sailing for so long.

“The Farr 40 is oven-baked, not like the Pillsbury Doughboy, but

cured to perfection in an accurately controlled environment to

create the most rigid and torsionally stiff hull possible.”

Russell bowler, the structural engineering partner in Farr

Yacht Design, was critical to the decision-making process

when the design was first mooted. The construction and its

ramifications were his bailiwick; his responsibility was deciding

the main criteria employed in putting together the specification

for the boat.

bowler remembered: “It was worked out in discussion with barry

Carroll who had developed certain ways of building boats in Rhode

Island. he had his techniques and they had to be incorporated in

the laminates and the way we put it together. The boat had to be

economical in order that it would work in the market place, so we

had to look at economical ways of producing it, while at the same

time providing consistency in the production. so, there was a

good exchange between barry and our guys on the construction

systems and we looked at some fairly basic items.

“For example, the aluminium frame that holds the keel on,

seemed to be a good solution because it gave consistent stiffness

to all the boats. It is a fairly robust arrangement so the boats

could be transported on trailers, dropped every now and then,

and occasionally hit the bottom, and survive those fairly well. It

is a more consistent way of producing a large number of boats, as

well as a more consistent way of getting extreme stiffness in that

area of the hull. so that, combined with a straightforward interior

framework and sandwich laminate, met the bill all around and

gave us a laminate that could be produced consistently and

relatively economically.”

left Actur – Vasyl Guryev

right Flash Gordon – helmut Jahn

opposite Calvi – Alberto Alberini

ConsT RuC T Ion

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3 0Fiamma – Alessandro barnaba

ConsT RuC T Ion

3 1

because consistency is really the keynote to the potential success

of a one-design, it was important that rules for the Class had to

be in place during the conception. The rules for the Mumm 36

had already been developed, and while these worked fairly well,

the group had some fresh ideas from that experience and these

were incorporated into the Farr 40 rules.

Consistency of manufacturing was seen to be of paramount

importance and bowler recalls: “We had a maxim that you are

going to have to be able to drive one of these out of the factory

on a Friday night and be competitive on the saturday morning,

as opposed to a lot of other one-design classes where you have

to buy the boat, take the keel off, fair it and re-arrange this and

that. so there were tolerances placed on the positioning, size and

weight of things.

It was fairly tight, particularly at that time in the production

industry, but it was all done with one goal in mind of trying

to get these boats to be purchasable and raceable. In terms of

structures, it is a fairly conservative design, but not overly so,

because in the early years, these boats still had to go out and

compete well under IMs and whatever club racing was going on

at the time, until fleets became established.”

Farr 40s are all designed and built to Abs standards, and as

they never go out into the broad oceans, they are relatively low

stressed boats in terms of panels and panel sizing. so, close

margins are not run on those. The keel and the mast step are

both tied by an aluminium frame, which provides enormous

reserves of strength.

It is possible when designing a one-design class that weight can

be placed in these areas without a performance penalty relative

to the rest of the Class. As bowler remarked: “It is not like

trying to design to a rule where you are trying to compete with

someone else and shifting weight to beneficial locations within

the framework of the rating rules.”

At the back of the minds of the team responsible for the Farr

40 was a philosophy of protecting the owners from themselves

– avoiding the sailors that would devise schemes to make the

boats quicker that were expensive and therefore contrary to

Class policy.

In bowler’s view, this was a major factor and could be achieved in

the way that the boat was built and the rule structure, and said:

“I think the success of the Farr 40 is largely due to the success

of that philosophy, although they still find ways of putting more

rig tension than the other guy, but there is not a lot you can do to

hot up your Farr 40.”

one benefit in having what is provided and allowing little else, is

that the Farr 40 is not a throw-away boat – they were designed to

remain competitive for many years – they do not get old and soft.

The design and construction has dispelled that myth. Treated

well, they will remain competitive and the designers believe they

have probably done themselves, the builders and the marketers

out of follow-up business!

Easy Tiger 11 - Chris Way and Ian burns

Close action - Mascalzone Latino - Vincezo onorato sandwiched between

Barking Mad - Jim Richardson and Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma and

Antonio sodo Migliori

sTAG G’s l e A P oF FA I T h

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The leading progenitor of the Farr 40 Class was undoubtedly

Geoff stagg. he was the marketing force with the original

ideas and ability to corral the talents to take the project from

conceptual stage to reality. Fifteen years later, he recalled the

key issues.

“The real issue was progressing what we had done before. We

developed the Mumm 30 and we were looking at the next product

to do. of course, the Mumm 36 was really the start of all our one-

design class developments. Then we did the Mumm 30 and after

that we were looking at a bigger boat. Peter Morton came up with

the suggestion of a 38-footer, but we all thought that 40 feet was

the magic size. We finally settled on 40, and along similar lines

with what we had been doing with the Mumm 30.

“First we settled the boat and then used a progression of the

Mumm 30 rules – later adding a clause that would limit steering

to an owner/driver to counter an unhealthy trend that began

with some owners getting very good group 1 helmsmen to drive

their boats. That was not what we created the Class for.

“I said to barry Carroll that this was going to be for owner/drivers

only and we set up a committee to review the eligibility of each

stagg’s leap of faith


3 4

owner. It was starting to get ugly until we ‘grandfathered’ the

previous boats - maybe four or five. The result was incredible.

We sold 35 boats in less than two weeks. suddenly, there was a

Class in which true owners, who had to go through an eligibility

committee to get that stance, driving their own boats.

“We turned down several high profile owners who did not meet

the requirements of the owner/driver rule. The rule dictated that

the owner/driver could not have competed in the Admiral’s Cup,

America’s Cup, olympic Games, or any IsAF World Championship

within the last eight years as a helmsman. It was all based

around the us sailing of Group 1 sailors, which is now the IsAF

Group 1 code, so we were the first Class to pick up and run with

that code. It has gone through a few generations since, but the

whole concept is great. I know there was a lot of dissent at the

time, because I am under group 3 of that programme, and have

a bit of an issue with that, but you can’t have your cake and your

ice cream at the same time.

“We made two exceptions to people being group 2 helmsmen

because they had accepted prize money at a previous regatta,

in another Class. one of them was Alexis Michas. he had won

a spinnaker at a Mumm 36 regatta two years before we built

the 40, and IsAF had coded him under group 2. We had built

some flexibility within the rule to allow the committee to decide

borderline cases. It has given me incredible satisfaction to see

these owners develop and become outstanding sailors. look at

Dutchman, Peter de Ridder. he went out and won the Transpac

52 Class after spending four years in the Farr 40 Class. These

guys are good!

“Putting the boat together from the very start was interesting

in all interpretations of the word. We had three people with

very strong opinions – bruce, barry and myself. I had a clear

idea of what I wanted. I got that without having anything to

do with the design of the boat. I worked on the concept and

where we wanted to place the boat in the market. This often

goes way back. I remember going down to new Zealand in

the 1990s and sailing with Kim McDell on a new trainer boat

he had built in Thailand called the Platu, (it subsequently

became the beneteau 25).

“I took it out on Auckland harbour for the Wednesday night

race. It was a cool kind of a boat, but not a training boat. she

was difficult to steer downwind, and having a cast iron keel, did

not have a lot of stability. nor did it have a carbon rig. but she

had a really gorgeous shape. I bought one and brought it back to

the states, and it became the genesis for the Mumm 30 Class. I

took all of what I perceived to be the negatives: lack of stability;

a rudder that was too small and not enough sail area, and

developed the concept of the Class from there. now, the biggest

discussions always zero around sail area, stability and whether

the rudder is big enough.

“Designers are all driven by their programmes for the IoR,

IMs and Chs; programmes that work in a perfect world. That

is, for example: ‘What size should the rudder be?’ Well, the test

is whether an average helmsman coming to the top mark can

bear away - something you could not do in the Platu if it was

Geoff stagg, the leading progenitor

within the Class.


3 5

blowing hard. With an owner at the helm you have to have a

forgiving boat that will dip under the stern of another boat with

the main still full on, without stalling out. Will it go any slower?

It does not matter when it is a one-design boat, but technically, a

larger rudder will add only a miniscule amount like a quarter of

a second a mile. normally, designers like bruce are looking for

everything they can get to have a second off here or there, but

I was calling for a more forgiving, controllable design. I didn’t

want keels to fall off for the sake of 5 kilos. strict one-design

boats have got to be bullet proof.

“We had an issue about specifying carbon rigs. barry was

convinced that boats with non-overlapping jibs would be dogs.

Two decades ago non-overlapping headsails were unheard of on

a big boat, so we put a lot of sail area into the rig to get over the

misconception that the boat would be slow in light air, and then

made sure it had truckloads of stability to be a good boat in a

breeze too. The Mumm 30, 36 and the Farr 40 are great boats.

bruce listened and did a marvellous job.”

safety was also paramount in their thinking behind the

development of the Farr 40, because of the sailors who would

be buying and racing them, but that had been the case in earlier

classes with which Geoff had been associated.

“This whole development began with the Mumm 36. At the time I

didn’t know what a one-design big boat was – I just fell into it. The

RoRC appointed me to be on the 1993 Admiral’s Cup selection

Committee. John Dare was both Commodore and Chairman of

the Committee and at the first meeting in london, said, ‘This is

what we are going to do. We must pick three boats that we can

all agree on, that will maximise the number of countries that

can come. one of these boats will be a 36 foot one-design and

it will be called the Mumm 36.’ ‘What is a one-design?,’ I asked

myself.

“At the same time Tink Chambers and barry Carroll had been

working on the lines of the Farr 36. It was an IMs boat when

IMs was in its better days – fast, had stability and sail area. I

Groovederchi

– John Demourkas


3 6 Kokomo – lang Walker


3 7

We have a + 100 kg weight tolerance and shoot for the middle. A builder will ballast a boat up to make the minimum weight, and that is it. After a year we re-weigh them, and they find ‘Wow - we can get rid of a few kgs’, Boats always get heavier; they always get all sorts of extras poured on them.

Twins – erik Maris

Nerone – Massimo Mezzaroma

and Antonio sodo Migliori


3 8

thought: ‘if we are quick about it, we can turn this boat into a

one-design. It was before they took the IMs Rule back to where

IoR had been at the end – slow, distorted pigs, with the bilges full

of lead. except for small amounts of corrector weights used to

meet the very strict hull weight limit, there was not an ounce of

internal lead ballast in the 36. It was an incredible boat.’

“Two items needed review: strengthening the rig and enlarging

the rudder. It was good for top-end guys but not the average

punter. If you did not have an excellent main trimmer on board

you were at a huge disadvantage. If you left the leeward runner

on with a few turns around the winch and you dumped the

main and the boat heeled, you were in trouble. so, getting the

rig, stability and rudder right was the biggest part I played in

the development. We were pushing the boats out into an area

where bruce Farr really wasn’t that comfortable because the

computers and the programmes were telling him ‘no.’ ‘That is

too much sail area, that is too much stability. You don’t need that

much rudder because design was so dominated by the science

of the rule at the time.’

“When we did all these boats I made sure bruce was 100% focused

on doing the lines and all that stuff. he is a genius. When you get

him committed to do something there is nobody better. To this

day, the diversity of what he has done is mind boggling really.

“They were really fascinating days. barry Carroll did an awesome

job setting up the Farr 40 production and taking it to a new level.

even today, people are still struggling to get an all-epoxy, cored

vacuum bagged boat to such strength – and one-design to such

tight tolerances. our job is such that when the owner leaves the

dock for the day he can feel that his boat is the same as the other

boats. It is up to him, his boys, his sail programme and all the

other variables - but not the boat.

“We have a + 100 kg tolerance and shoot for the middle. A builder

will ballast a boat up to make the minimum weight, and that is

it. After a year, we re-weigh them, and they find ‘Wow - we can

Kokomo – lang Walker

Backbone - Thomas Kiær


3 9

get rid of a few kgs’. boats always get heavier; they always get all

sorts of extras poured into them.

“There were always differences of opinion but everything was

open to discussion. It always got resolved and I think because we

had such a varying range of skills and mind sets it just worked.

bruce Farr always asked incredibly penetrating questions, until

we agreed on what we wanted him to deliver. That is another

amazing talent he has. Russell bowler worked with barry on the

engineering, and Jim Andersen, Russ, barry and I developed

the rules. We had these written before the first boat hit the

water, so there was no catch up. everybody knew what they

were getting into.

“It’s an owners’ class - that’s what really sets this class apart.”

says Peter ‘luigi’ Reggio, the Farr 40 Principal Race officer since

2002. “ Its strength is in having the rules established before

owners bought the boat. They did not form a class and then

decide what the rules were going to be. People bought the boats

knowing what they were getting into. The rules were there and

the boats were kept as even as possible. The owners love that

part of it.”

The Farr 40 class was instrumental in paving the way for more

acceptable racing for the owners. experience showed that an

offset mark was necessary at the end of the windward leg in

order to avoid collisions. Insurance companies were threatening

other classes but none had the initiative to implement this move.

The same was true of a ‘gate’ instead of a single leeward mark to

avoid the procession from this point.

For the benefit of the owners, the class moved to extend the

‘overlap’ at marks from a two to a three-boat length circle, three

years before the idea became accepted by IsAF. It also dispensed

with flag signals, insisting instead that every competitor listen

on an open radio circuit for instructions. on-the-water judging

was introduced with the jury members blowing a whistle when

an infringement was spotted. The jury would expect penalty



4 0

turns to be taken or a protest to be lodged. A 720o penalty turn

was mandatory for infringements within the three-boat circle

and 360° turns for all others.

The final blow to the ‘establishment’ came with the banning of

jackets and ties on all official boats including that of the Race

Committee. “This was to be an owners class, not one run by

blazered officials - that was another first.” says Geoff stagg.

“Getting the rule right was number one,” Adds stagg. “In 2005 I

tried to put masthead spinnakers on the boats but got shot down by

a number of owners. We have been very good about retaining the

one-design nature of the boat and not doing anything too stupid

or radical. but when we finally went to masthead spinnakers, the

first time they tried it, they all loved it. In fact, the Farr 40 had

always had a masthead spinnaker halyard built in. The fractional

spinnaker was the only sacrifice we made to IMs. It was very last

minute because in the beginning, we had nowhere to race other

than under IMs, which crucified sail area, and forced us to opt for

the smaller sail. I finally got the masthead kite through in 2007

and it transformed the boat. It still looks remarkably modern

for a decade-old design.”

“none of the owners has complained. In fact all of the guys

who were making noises initially, have since come up to me

and said, ‘You are right. You are right. The boat is so much

nicer.’ What they could not understand was that the masthead

spinnakers make the boat easier to gybe especially in strong

conditions. That is because the boat is up on a plane going fast,

with less load on everything, and is less prone to stop/start or

load up. They are out there carrying these mastheads in 35

knots, even though it is mandatory to carry a fractional 0.85

ounce on the boat.”

“I don’t know what bruce Farr and Russell bowler think, but I

believe they have got a lot of satisfaction from what we all did

together. bruce gets the majority of the credit because his name

is on the boat, but it was very much a total team effort.”

The Barking Mad that Jim Richardson chartered for hamilton and hayman Island

Race Week 200o


4 1

Estate Master – lisa & Martin hill – dips Mascalzone Latino –

Vincento onorato and Good Feeling – eduardo Ramos


4 2


4 3

When we finally went to masthead spinnakers, the first time

they tried it, they all loved it!

When we finally went to masthead spinnakers, the first time

they tried it, they all loved it!


4 4

WOrlD champiOnships


4 5

Mascalzone Latino –Vincenzo onorato, a 3-time world championMascalzone Latino - Vincenzo onorato

3 time World Champion at speed


4 6

The World Cup is the trophy for the winner of the World

Championship. It began life as the International Cup, the trophy

for the season-long series of the IoR 50-foot Class until the mid-

1990s. It was in the possession of Wictor Forss, one of the Class

leaders and was not being used when Geoff stagg approached

him on september 21st 1998.

Geoff, in his own admission, was: “desperate to get two appropriate

trophies for that year’s Mumm 30 and Farr 40 one-Design World

Championships.” he felt that the IoR 50 International Cup would

be perfect for the Farr 40 Class, and wrote to Forss asking if

he would consider deeding the International Cup to the Farr 40

Class for: “their World Championship for the life of the Class and

presenting the Cup at their first event in november?”

Geoff ’s offer to Forss was that he retained ownership of

the trophy but that the Class could use it for their world

championship: “for as long as it can maintain the IsAF numbers

or a period of time with which you are comfortable.” by mid-

october 1998 an agreement had been reached and the trophy

was deeded to the Farr 40 Class. It was agreed that the name

of the trophy should become “The World Cup” and that the

name of the event should be: “The Farr 40 World Championship

for the World Cup.”

The trophy was insured by the Class for $10,000 and an

annual lease fee of $700 was paid to Wictor Forss, on

agreement that should, at some later date, the Class purchase

the trophy, the accumulated fees would be deducted

from the purchase price.

The World Cup was presented by Forss to Paul henderson, the

President of IsAF, at the Annual General Meeting of the Federation

in Palma, Mallorca in november 1998, at the same time that the

Class received its International status. It was first raced for in

Miami a few days later.

Almost five years passed before the final purchase of the trophy

by the Class from Wictor Forss took place. It changed hands for

$5,000 with the following message from the original owner:

“Congratulations to the fantastic development of the Class. It

is very close to what I had once wanted to do with the 50 foot

Class. The trophy is now in the right hands and the best of

luck to you all. Wictor.”

The Farr 40 World Championship

trophy began life as the IoR 50

International Cup, that once had

similar aspirations to provide

competitive inshore racing for its

owners.

The Trophy

T h e T RoPh Y

47

The World Championship

trophy on its new base (2011)


4 8

1998 M I A M I

4 9

1998 Miami

Within days of IsAF confirming full International status for the

Farr 40 Class, a world championship was held off Miami. The

racing was held from south beach Marina, off Government Cut

and controlled with alacrity by Mike “Grizz” Thompson, whose

previous experience of dealing with the IoR-50s, made him an

instant choice. nineteen boats competed in eight races over

windward/leeward courses with two-mile legs and the scoring

gave no discard – the pattern of the Class was established.

From the outset the Class demanded that the owners should steer

their own boats and limited the number of ‘professionals’ on board

to four per boat. With the short courses, Grizz went for an offset

mark at the weather end of the course and a ‘gate’ at the leeward

mark as required by the class. “Training wheels for the amateur

drivers,” declared one case-hardened professional, but they were

essential for good racing in a fleet of one-designs.

Consistency proved to be the keynote for overall success – seven

different boats won races, while the eventual winner had nothing

lower than 7th in the score line. Generally easterly winds of 8-15

knots that backed with the effect of the sea breeze provided the

real challenge for the tacticians. The list read like a who’s who

of sailors and included Grant simmer, ed Adams, Tom Whidden,

Gary Weisman, Terry hutchinson, Dee smith, Robbie haines, Jim

brady, Dave Dellenbaugh and Adrian stead.

John Kilroy in Samba Pa-Ti slipped past John Thomson’s Solution

on the second beat of the first race and held off challenges from

Alexis Michas’ Phish Food and steve Garland’s Wired to take the

first gun. Kilroy, despite a recall, was among the leaders at the

first mark of the second race, but Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad

led from Charles Tompkins in Bandit. Finding clear air, Richardson

went on to win by almost three minutes from John Calvert-Jones’

Southern Star and George Andreadis in Atalanti XI.

A 4th place put Kilroy in the lead overall, but a 14th in the

next race took him off the top of the leaderboard. Michas

sensed the left hand swing in the breeze before the rest and

led by four boat’s length at the weather mark in the third race.

Despite a spirited chase by steve Kaminer’s Predator, Michas

hung on to win and a 3rd for Barking Mad put Richardson

into the overall lead.

Consistency proved to be the keynote for overall

success, with seven different boats winning races

during this inaugural world championship.

Dancers added colour to the post-race

celebrations aboard John Kilroy’s aptly

named yacht Samba Pa Ti.

Solution – John Thomson- leads

the f leet.


5 0

In the second race that day, bill Ziegler’s Gem, with Dee smith

calling the shots, found four wind shifts one after the other, to lead

at the end of the first beat, but the downwind speed of skip Purcell’s

Alliance was too much for Gem. A 4th for Barking Mad, behind

Solution, confirmed Richardson’s lead in the championship.

The conditions were good enough for a third race and steve

Garland’s Wired looked set for a runaway win. but as the Class

builder, barry Carroll, crewing aboard Wired explained: “We blew

ourselves away. We were ahead and to windward on the final beat

and tacked away rather than going to the starboard tack lay-line.

We could have pinned them outside us.” bill steitz’s Flyer and

edgar Cato in Hissar went past, leaving Wired 3rd. Carroll later

added: “We were in an insurmountable position – and then we

were surmounted!”

skip Purcell gave the fleet a starting lesson early on the next

day, coming to the line at the committee boat end at full speed

and leaving the f leet gasping as he sailed into a two-boat

lead in the first ten seconds. Wired was first to the windward

mark and never headed, taking the winning gun ahead of

Southern Star and Hissar.

The penultimate race was held over five legs and Hissar led

Southern Star at the first mark with Samba Pa Ti in 3rd place.

Southern Star took over the lead on the second beat, holding on

to win despite a late challenge from Kilroy. In the final race, the

next day, the Australian skipper was able to repeat his success,

finishing the regatta with an impressive 2,1,1 score, but the 4,7,7

of Richardson’s Barking Mad proved that his consistency was the

overall telling factor.

“It’s a wonderful feeling,” said Jim Richardson, “going in we felt

like we could compete, but I never imagined we’d win.” At the prize

giving, Geoff stagg remarked: “The best guys won today. For the

last two days the Aussies have been untouchable.” Calvert-Jones

smiled wryly when he explained where things had gone wrong in

typical Australian style: “on Thursday, we went walkabout!” The

10-5-11 placings that day would seem to bear out his statement.

Wired – steve Garland

Flyer – bill steitz and Wired –steve Garland

1998 M I A M I

5 1

stagg added: “but you have to say that the Barking Mad boys [and

one girl] have sailed so consistently.” he then brought the house

down by saying that the new advertising slogan for the Class was

going to be: “If Jim Richardson can win the world championship,

so can you!” Jim led the laughter.

Results:

1. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA) 6 1 3 4 7 4 7 7 39 points

2. Southern Star John Calvert-Jones (Aus) 12 2 10 5 11 2 1 1 44 points

3. Wired steve Garland (usA) 3 8 12 7 3 1 5 8 47 points

4. Hissar edgar Cato (usA) 10 10 5 12 2 3 4 3 49 points

5. Solution John Thomson (usA) 4 7 13 3 8 9 10 5 59 points

6. Alliance skip Purcell (usA) 1 4 14 19 4 15 2 13 62 points

above: Jim Richardson

top right: Barking Mad

bottom right: John Calvert-Jones and steve Garland


5 2

Carrying a Chad logo from more than 50 years earlier on the

stern, as did his father on his Kialoas, John Kilroy’s Samba Pa Ti

won the world championship after a down-to-the-wire finish in

a nine-race series on the berkeley Circle area of san Francisco

bay, beating Vincenzo onorato’s Mascalzone Latino by a single

point by edging home a length clear of him in the final race. Jim

Richardson, the defending champion, was 3rd.

Jim Richardson started as he left off in Miami a year earlier,

posting a 1st and 2nd in the two 10-mile races, but that put

him only one point clear of Kilroy – those roles were reversed

in Miami at the end of the first day. Kilroy remembered that:

“We kidded Jim about how it was then, and maybe the same will

happen this year.”

butch Tompkins in Bandit led Richardson for one round in 10-

12 knots of breeze, but on the second beat of the opening race,

he went to the front to win by 32 seconds with Samba Pa Ti

3rd. The wind was up to 15-18 for the second race and Kilroy

timed his start to perfection, just to windward of Barking

Mad. In turn, Richardson had Doug Mongeon in Flyer affecting

him to leeward – “We felt like the ham in a sandwich,” said

the Barking Mad skipper.

he had to wait for John Calvert-Jones in Southern Star to tack

before he could clear his wind. When he did so, Barking Mad

appeared to have a speed advantage and was 2nd behind Kilroy

at the weather mark, with Southern Star 3rd. With the latter two

boats engaged in a personal duel, Kilroy was free to extend his

lead and finished a little over a minute ahead.

on the second day, Richardson made his one mistake of the

championship – his tactician, Adrian stead, took the blame:

“I thought there was an opportunity to gain tidally out on the

right, and went that way early on the second beat, but as we

came to the end of the tack, the wind went further left than it

had been all day.” Vincenzo onorato with Mascalzone Latino

increased his lead on this shift to take the winner’s gun from

Kilroy and Calvert-Jones.

1999 San Francisco

We kidded Jim about how it was then, and maybe the

same will happen this year.”

1999 sA n F R A nCIsCo

5 3

With the wind up to 13-16 knots for the second race of the

day, onorato made a perfect pin-end start and benefitted

from the left hand shift to lead at the first mark from Barking

Mad. Kilroy tried to force in on port tack, acknowledged his

foul with a 360º turn and dropped back. Richardson overtook

the Italian on the second beat while Tomkins’ Bandit and

Walton logan’s Blue Chip took up the chase. These positions

remained unaltered to the finish, where Kilroy was 6th, so

that he and Richardson were tied on 12 points after four races

with onorato on 14.

The breeze was fully charged for the third race of the day and the

seas had increased too. Richardson and his crew found this to

their liking and were soon heading the fleet with Phillippe Kahn’s

Orion and Mascalzone Latino. Orion made it to the weather mark

1st and held on downwind. At the gate, stead called Richardson

to go to the right hand buoy and head right to the now favoured

side. At the top mark the second time, Barking Mad led from

Mascalzone Latino and Southern Star. on the final beat Calvert-

Jones went past onorato.

on the third day when Doug Mongeon’s Flyer was top scoring

boat, each of the top three boats had a less-than-starring finish.

It began in light airs and Mongeon emerged from the pin end and

went left. Kilroy went right and the breeze shifted 32º (according

to his tactician John Kostecki) to the left, dumping Samba Pa

Ti – she finished 15th. Mongeon led at the first mark from Jack

Woodhull’s Persephone and Tom neill’s Nitemare. Flyer’s lead

stretched and only onorato made gains to pass Persephone on

the third beat to claim 2nd place.

The wind increased to 16 knots for the next race, a seven-leg

course, and for the second time, Flyer nailed the pin end. At the

weather mark, Flyer was well clear of the pack led by helmut

Jahn’s Flash Gordon. Samba Pa Ti was clear and Barking Mad

came from the left, Richardson dipping Kilroy’s stern before

tacking for the buoy. onorato approached on port tack, fouling

David Thomson’s Peregrine and had to make a 360º penalty turn

and rejoined the race in last position.

Close at the start...

Flash Gordon - helmut Jahn ...still close on the second beat


5 4

At the end of the second beat, Mascalzone Latino was 10th and

Kilroy was challenging for the lead. At the finish Samba Pa

Ti led Peregrine with Richardson just able to hold out Richard

Marki’s Raging Bull for 3rd place while onorato snatched 6th

from Michael Condon’s Endurance.

The last day was one of strategic sailing for the leaders and

a change that the right hand side paid early in the first of the

two races. Persephone went that way and was rewarded with

the lead from Kilroy, Richardson and Calvert-Jones. onorato,

who had gone left, was 17th. Southern Star led for the whole

of the second round but was overtaken by Samba Pa Ti on the

final beat. Raging Bull was 3rd just ahead of Barking Mad.

Mascalzone Latino’s spirited recovery was rewarded with 9th.

There was 20 knots of breeze for the final race in which

onorato took the start at the committee boat and immediately

tacked out to the right, while Richardson went for the pin. A

right hand shift after ten minutes put Mascalzone Latino in

the lead at the first mark followed by Samba Pa Ti. Downwind

Peregrine went ahead and held her lead to the finish ahead of

Kilroy who closely covered onorato to take the championship

by a single point from the Italian. Richardson was five points

further away, 3rd.

Results:

1. Samba Pa Ti John Kilroy (usA) 36 points

2. Mascalzone Latino Vincenzo onorato (ITA) 37 points

3. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA) 42 points

4. Southern Star John Calvert-Jones (Aus) 50 points

5. Flyer Doug Mongeon (usA) 63 points

6. Blue Chip Walter logan (usA) 67.5 points

John Kilroy’s Samba Pa Ti - the champion by 1 point...

...from Vincenzo onorato’s Mascalzone Latino.

T h e T RoPh Y

5 5

Peregrine – David Thomson


5 6

Samba Pa Ti – John Kilroy leads at the first mark

T h e T RoPh Y

5 7

John Kilroy Samba Pa Ti (Usa) 1999 World Champion


5 8

20 0 0 n e W P oRT

5 9

2000 Newport

It was appropriate, perhaps, that newport, RI was chosen for

the third championship when 28 boats from six nations took

part. The Class was growing fast with more than 100 boats now

built. It didn’t, however, start in typical weather for that part of

new england. Classic the nor’easter may have been but 18-25

knots with gusts even stronger, accompanied by rain squalls can

hardly be described as regular in June.

These suited the defending champion, John Kilroy, with Samba

Pa Ti, who turned in back-to-back 1st places. “I grew up racing

offshore, so I am comfortable sailing in a lot of breeze,” he

commented. “I saw the forecast yesterday and I was really

looking forward to today.”

There were two general recalls before the fleet was away cleanly

and the early leader was Massimo Mezzaroma with Invicta-

Nerone. he was unable to hold this lead and Vincenzo onorato’s

Mascalzone Latino led at the first mark from Samba Pa Ti and

John Thomson’s Solution. From there the only major place change

was that of Kilroy passing onorato on the final beat.

Kilroy led at the first mark of the second race and managed

to keep the boat on its feet as a 30 knot gust came through

on the run. Further back, there were shredded spinnakers

and wipe-outs. In this Jim Richardson rolled through onorato

to take 2nd place.

The nor’easter continued to blow and with 35 knots on the

course a two-hour postponement was necessary on the second

day. After that it moderated to 12-18 knots and was noticeably

shifty, mainly from the north-west. George Andreadis’

Atalanti led at the first mark and was still ahead at the end

of the round, but Tony de Mulder’s Victric 5 took advantage

of a major left shift on the run to move into a close 2nd place.

upwind the british boat went ahead to win from Atalanti with

Dick scruggs’ Gunsmoke 3rd.

In a backing and lighter breeze, eduardo de sousa Ramos in

Phoenix led John Calvert-Jones’ Southern Star in the early stages,

but the Australian passed the brazilian on the run. Southern Star

held this lead tenaciously to the finish. Phoenix won the boat of

the Day as she had been 4th in the first race, and was the overall

leader after four races, by a single point from Phillippe Kahn’s

I grew up racing offshore, so I am comfortable sailing

in a lot of breeze,”

Invicta-Nerone – Massimo Mezzaroma

and Antonio sodo Migliori


6 0

Orion. The following day saw massive changes after three races

were held in mixed breezes. There was nothing strange in the

order at the front of the fleet in the first race of the day when

Atalanti won from Barking Mad and Southern Star, but in the

next it was George hinman and David elwell with Richard

Wardiger’s Conspiracy taking the win from Tony buckingham’s

Bit of a Coup and Massimo Mezzaroma’s Invicta-Nerone.

In race three, Richard Perini and his mixed Australian/American

crew on Corinthian Doors managed to hit a 15º right shift early

on the first beat and was never challenged. Alexis Michas’ Phish

Food was next and the fast finishing Invicta-Nerone again 3rd.

That placing together with her earlier 6th and 3rd places made

the Italian top boat for the day, but it was Australia’s Calvert-

Jones who moved into the overall lead with Southern Cross by 6

points. The skipper remarked, after finishes of 3,10,7:“This fleet

is so good that you can only go out and try your best, because it

doesn’t take much to get pushed out of the back.”

What newporters describe as a “smoky sou’wester,” greeted

the fleet for the final day. Phish Food and Mark bregman’s Total

Eclipse led at the first mark, while Southern Star and Samba

Pa Ti, her nearest rival for the championship, were deep in the

pack, as was Mascalzone latino. Calvert-Jones managed to pick

his way through by careful use of the shifts into 3rd place by the

finish but had Kilroy right behind, so it was all on in the final

race and in the Australian’s words: “If you’re not off the start line

first, you’re dead.”

Southern Star started well and was 3rd at the first mark behind

Orion and Barking Mad. Calvert-Jones covered Kilroy, four places

further back, for the rest of the race, and this rivalry allowed

Richard Marki’s Raging Bull into 3rd place. The championship

changed hands with the defending champion runner-up to the

Southern Cross team. A clearly ecstatic Calvert-Jones said: “This

regatta has been very tough as we have more boats and more

competition than ever before. our team was fantastic, and Grant

simmer did a superb job of getting us around the course.”

Results:

1. Southern Star John Calvert-Jones (Aus) 16 8 8 1 3 10 7 3 4 60 points

2. Samba Pa Ti John Kilroy (usA) 1 1 9 19 13 4 12 4 8 71 points

3. Atalanti George Andreadis (GRe) 10 20 2 10 1 8 10 17 19 88 points

4. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA) 13 2 13 16 2 14 4 26 3 93 points

5. Solution John Thomson (usA) 4 17 5 9 8 24 11 14 6 98 points

6. Mascalzone Latino

Vincenzo onorato (ITA)2 3 DsQ 3 4 5 15 19 20 99 points

Total Eclipse – Mark bregman ahead of Diana – George Carabetta

20 0 0n e W P oRT

61

Voodoo - hank Mchale leads

A Bit Of A Coup - Tony buckingham


6 2 Southern Star – John Calvert-Jones leads Samba Pa Ti – John Kilroy

20 0 0n e W P oRT

6 3

John calvert-Jones Southern Star (aus) 2000 World Champion


6 4

In 2001, a major force was added to the Farr 40 class when

the world renowned watchmaking company, Rolex, realised the

potential of the highly impressive one-design and its international

racing programme. Adding Farr 40 racing to its yachting portfolio

proved to be an outstanding benefit to both parties.

This took the Farr 40 class to a new dimension of public interest.

Rolex has been associated with yacht racing at the highest level

since the 1950s and each event displays improved perception as a

result. The charisma of the Farr 40 international championships

immediately improved.

Rarely is the world championship a one-sided contest, but in

september at Cowes, ernesto bertarelli and some of his Alinghi

America’s Cup crew defeated the defending champion, John

Calvert-Jones by 15 points in the nine-race series held in the

eastern solent. The gap was even bigger, 22 points, to the 3rd

placed Philip Tolhurst.

bertarelli had Russell Coutts, simon Daubney, Warwick Fleury and

Curtiss blewett in his crew and said of them: “I just put the bow

straight and simon and Warwick steer the boat for me.” his win

came hard on the heels of his other world championship victory

on these waters – he had also triumphed with the 12-Metre, South

Australia in the championship held during the America’s Cup

Jubilee Regatta, during which he navigated while Coutts steered.

“The 40s win is better than the 12s,’ he said, “because I was

steering and had more to do with the winning.”

Racing was under the auspices of the Royal Yacht squadron over

windward/leeward courses with legs between 1.5 and 2 miles

in predominantly westerly breezes. nine races were scheduled,

and a re-scheduling took place after the second day when winds

rose above the limit for racing after only one race had been held.

This led to three races being run on each of the last two days. A

3-minute silence was held by competitors in the 21 yachts and

many others visiting the West Cowes Marina that day, as a mark

of respect for the thousands to have perished in the attack on the

World Trade Centre the previous day.

To win three times in the series might be thought of as an

impossible task in this Class, but bertarelli managed to do that,

and added two 2nd places, two 5ths, a 6th and a 7th to average a

3rd place throughout. John Calvert-Jones, the defending champion,

who in a fleet of 28 the previous year had averaged only slightly

better than 7th, had an average of 5th as runner up and 3rd placed

Philip Tolhurst averaged 7.5.

The first race, in 16-24 knots of breeze, saw Jim Richardson with

Barking Mad win from Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone and John

Coumantaros’ Bambakou. In the second race, Tony buckingham’s

Bit of a Coup led Aleph steered by hughes lepic throughout.

buckingham said that his win was due to tactician Michael Coxon’s

choice of headsail, a code 4 with a shorter luff. “It was well done

Cocko,” he said.

I just put the bow straight and Simon and Warwick

steer the boat for me.

2001 Cowes

20 01 CoW es

6 5


6 6

20 01 CoW es

6 7


6 8

There was more wind on the second day with the breeze reaching

27 knots over the three-round course that saw several boats

lead at various marks. At the windward mark the second time,

buckingham’s Bit of a Coup was up with the angels, but when

trying to slip around the buoy on port tack, fouled Alinghi. After

taking the penalty turns, buckingham, like browning’s thrush,

‘never could recapture that first fine careless rapture.’ At the third

weather mark, Alinghi was ahead of Warlord and Barking Mad,

and there were no further place changes to the finish. That put

Alinghi on top of the points table, a point clear of Barking Mad.

on the third day there were three short races. After one lap, Tony

de Mulder’s Victric 5 led from Southern Star, but on the next beat,

Coutts found the right lanes for bertarelli to move ahead of this pair

and retained the position to the finish in the lightest wind of the

series. The next race saw Mark heeley’s GBR-25 win from David

Palmer’s Bit of a Fling with Alinghi 3rd. The breeze continued

to fluctuate for the third race of the day, but that proved to be to

Richardson’s liking and he won from oscar strugstad’s Dawn Raid

and Southern Star.

With the wind up to 18-20 knots, three races were possible on the

final day. Alinghi won the first from Victric 5 and Nerone. In the next

race there was a serious collision close to the windward mark for

the second time, when Renato Mazzeschi’s Zanzero, coming in on

port tack, ducked two boats on starboard but had not noticed Mark

Timbrell’s Forza, also on starboard. There was indecision aboard

the Italian boat and with the mainsheet hard in, Mazzeschi was

unable to duck Forza and his bow hit the british boat 3 feet in front

of her chainplates. bowman, stuart Miller, had his foot crushed and

was thrown into the water by the impact. one man from each of

the boats dived into the water to help the painfully injured man,

who was transferred to a fast motorboat and taken to hospital for

emergency surgery. Forza was in grave danger of sinking as the

gash on her port side ran from the waterline almost to the centre of

the deck. GBR-25 won this race from Victric 5.

The final race, over five legs, was held in 20 knots of wind and

Southern Star won from Alinghi with GBR-25 making late ground

for 3rd. The 2nd place was more than enough to give bertarelli

the championship, while Southern Star’s win was a consolation for

Calvert-Jones.

A week earlier, the warm-up event, the european Championship,

went to oscar strugstad’s Dawn Raid by ten points from Barking

Mad with Tolhurst’s Warlord VII 3rd.

2XL passes astern of the starboard

tacker...unlike Zzanzero with Forza.

Results:

1. Alinghi ernesto bertarelli (suI) 5 7 1 1 2 5 1 6 2 30 points


3. Warlord VII Philip Tolhurst (GbR) 11 3 2 6 16 4 6 15 4 67 points

4. Victric Tony de Mulder (GbR) 13 9 6 2 18 18 2 2 5 75 points

5. GBR25 Mark heeley (GbR) 8 15 4 23 1 4 9 1 3 78 points

6. Aleph hughes lepic (GbR) 9 2 16 14 9 6 14 10 7 87 points

20 01 CoW es

6 9

Predator – steve Kaminer crosses

the fleet at the first mark


7 0

20 01 CoW es

7 1

Ernesto Bertarelli Alinghi (sUi) 2001 World Champion


7 2

Bottadiculo - Giovanni Arrivabene and Raffaele

Mincone leads Assegai - leo Christianakis and

Chris hutt off the start line

20 02 nA ssAu

7 3

2002 Nassau

The choice of venue for the 2002 championship was not made as

a direct result of the name, but Paradise Island in the bahamas

could deliver more than that for sailors, and it did for the 25-boat

fleet that used the Atlantis Resort as a headquarters. The Class

management, together with the storm Trysail Club, organised

the racing in near-perfect conditions.

It opened with a straightforward race that rewarded speed off the

starting line. Canadian Terry Mclaughlin led the intense fleet by

20 seconds at the first windward mark and was still holding the

same lead after two laps around an eight-mile course. his Defiant

beat Giovanni Arrivabene and Raffaele Mincione’s Bottadiculo by

that margin on the line, with eivind Astrup’s Norwegian Steam

finishing 3rd.

The second race appeared to be going Defiant’s way too, with

Mclaughlin leading at the first two marks. Then a rainstorm,

which packed 20-knot breezes, rolled in like a freight train to

disrupt his performance. “We weren’t really set up for it,” said

Mclaughlin, who was the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in Canada.

“We lost two places in it and another on the last leg, but I’ll take

the 4th we ended up with.”

In driving rain, the fleet sailed on its ear to a windward mark

that could barely be seen. The last downwind leg of the course

was exhilarating for many, and disastrous for others, as huge

waves created surfing conditions. While some broached, two

boats shredded spinnakers in this mini-maelstrom.

After two races, Defiant led Nerone by two points from Antonio

sodo Migliori’s Nerone, the Farr 40 european champion, who won

the day’s second race and earlier the Mees-Pierson bahamian

championship, in which Defiant finished 2nd.

It appeared at first that the second day’s racing was going to be

another good one for Terry Mclaughlin’s team aboard Defiant, but

the evening proved tough in the protest room. Defiant had won the

first and third of three races but the two victories were threatened

by two protests involving incidents at the start. In race three, the

Race Committee protested helmut Jahn’s Flash Gordon for fouling

the anchor line of the committee boat. A resulting chain of protests

worked back to Defiant, the source of the problem. In race one,

Crocodile Rock, owned by Alex Geremia and scott harris protested

Defiant for barging at the start. both protests went against Defiant

and she was disqualified from both races.

We lost two places ... and another on the last leg, but

I’ll take the 4th we ended up with.

Solution – John Thomson leads


74

“It was unfortunate,” said Mclaughlin about the jury’s decision.

“of course I think we were correct in each case, but we either

didn’t have the right witnesses or didn’t present our case well

enough. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done anything different on

the race course.”

“The f leet is very aggressive,” said Crocodile Rock’s tactician

Robbie haines, an olympic Gold medallist, “consistency and

staying out of trouble is the key here.” With finish positions of

12-10-2, Crocodile Rock rose from 9th to 3rd overall in the ideal

20-25 knot breezes. Also making huge gains was steve Phillips’ Le

Renard, when he posted finishes of 1-7-9 to move up from 8th to

1st overall. “As much as everyone wanted to win today, you just

have to say that a 2nd is fine,” said tactician Mark Reynolds, before

the protest results were known. he explained that Le Renard had

been winning the first race on the water until the last quarter of

the last downwind leg. It was then that Defiant passed them. “I’ve

learned from experience that in this Class, you just need to be

in the top 10 every race.” under that premise, Reynolds, a Rolex

Yachtsman of the Year and three-time olympic medallist, was

satisfied with Le Renard’s two other finishes of the day. “In

both those races, we were much deeper at times and much

better at other.” The day’s second race was won by Vincenzo

onorato’s Breeze. he came straight to this championship after

being eliminated from the America’s Cup challenger races in

new Zealand. Breeze rose in the standings to 13th.

After three light-air races on the third day, Le Renard

remained the leader, with 52 points over Antonio sodo

Migliori’s Nerone. owen Kratz’ Joss was the day’s best

performer with the lowest combination of places from a 1-9-

5 scoreline. The team had been sailing together for 14 years,

but only started Farr 40 racing at the beginning of the season

when Kratz bought his boat.

he moved from 14th to 5th in the overall standings. “I think

it had to do with our learning curve, in that we finally found

“It’s anybody’s ball

game. That’s what

makes it so much fun

in this Class.”

Nitemare – Tom neill

Deneen Demourkas steers Groovederchi

20 02nA ssAu

7 5

Sled - Takashi okura


7 6

Samba Pa Ti - John Kilroy and Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori

Solution - John Thomson leads f leet into a squall line Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori lead fleet

20 02nA ssAu

7 7

Katanga - Robin Patterson crosses

Kokomo - lang Walker


7 8

Morning Glory – hasso Plattner

20 02 nA ssAu

7 9

our boat speed in light air at this regatta,” explained Kratz, who

gave credit to John Kolius for calling “brilliant” tactics.

Two other new race winners emerged as well: John Coumantaros’

Bambakou, and the regatta’s only woman skipper Deneen

Demourkas with Groovederci. Demourkas passed the leader

of the third race, Crocodile Rock, on the last leg to claim her

victory and add it to a 13th and a 2nd. It moved her to 4th place

overall behind Crocodile Rock. “It’s anybody’s ball game,” said

Demourkas, who was within striking distance of the top three.

“That’s what makes it so much fun in this Class.”

A 1st and an 8th in the last two races was more than enough

for steve Phillips to win the championship with Le Renard.

Phillips turned in single-digit finishes in all but one of ten races,

which proved the key to his success. “It was our strategy to

stay in the top ten in every race,” said Phillips, “because the

teams here are tremendous and it’s very competitive, we took a

17th in the first race, but after that we sailed consistently and

stayed out of trouble.”

Phillips, who had also won the Farr 40 east Coast championship,

credited his tactician Mark Reynolds, with keeping everyone on

track to victory. “I’d hate to play poker with that guy, he stays so

cool,” said Phillips, “he doesn’t let us get in difficult situations.”

Phillips finished with 61 points overall and a 22-point lead over

2nd placed Deneen Demourkas’ Groovederci. she and would-be

3rd place finisher Crocodile Rock, skippered by scott harris,

were over early at the start of the second race, and in their

battle to earn respectable positions, encountered problems at a

congested mark. both boats were protested by Nerone. Crocodile

Rock lost the battle in the jury room to fall from 3rd to 5th. As a

result, John Kilroy’s Samba Pa Ti moved to 3rd, with Nerone also

gaining a position to finish 4th.

but for the two protests against Terry Mclaughlin’s Defiant on

the second day, the Canadian skipper would have been an easy

winner, but this is a tough fleet in which rule observance is high.

Results:

1. Le Renard steve Phillips (usA) 17 2 1 7 9 3 4 9 1 8 61 points

2. Crocodile Rock Alex Geremia

and scott harris (usA)8 19 16 2 3 13 2 1 7 12 83 points

3. Grooverderci Deneen

and John Demourkas (usA)12 5 7 8 12 6 7 16 6 4 83 points

4. Samba Pa Ti John Kilroy (usA) 6 1 15 3 20 5 3 8 13 14 88 points

5. Nerone Massimo Mezzaroma

and Antonio Migliori (ITA)11 9 11 10 1 12 6 2 3 Dsq 91 points

6. Pegasus Philippe Kahn (usA) 19 8 19 6 5 4 12 6 10 3 92 points

Barking Mad - Jim Richardson

behind Pegasus - Phillippe Kahn

and Crocodile Rock - Alex Geremia

and scott harris


8 0

Le Renard – steve Phillips

20 02nA ssAu

81

steve phillips Le Renard (Usa) 2002 World Champion


8 2

Porto Cervo can provide perfect sailing conditions and for the

first day of the championship, that was readily evident to the

37 competing owners and crews. It was also a great day for the

defending champion, steve Phillips and the crew of Le Renard.

They led the fleet at the end of the day after two races.

There was a 45 minute delay to the first start to allow time for the

committee boat to anchor in the strong wind. once underway on

the 2-mile windward/leeward course, the leaders came from the

right side to the first mark, led by John Coumantaros’ Bambakou,

with a healthy four-boat length advantage. by the time the fleet

had reached the leeward gate, Coumantaros, assisted by tactician

Chris larson, had opened a 30-second lead, something that was

hard to break on a stable fresh day.

These fresh conditions brought broaches, loss of control when

gybing, spinnaker blowouts and even missed approaches at the

lay-lines. The next two boats, Crocodile Rock and Struntje Light,

both managing to stay clear at the front of the pack. Alexandra

Geremia’s Crocodile Rock made a late, high speed charge to the

finish but just missed out on taking the winning gun.

Then came the pack, and as with every contested mark

rounding, a different set of pretenders emerged. some exploited

opportunities to surge forwards, while others dropped back after

2003 Porto Cervo

Bambakou – John Coumantaros

Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma and


20 03 P oRT o CeRVo

8 3

spectator control


8 4

making boat-handling mistakes and this shook up the order of

the next 34 places. The skipper to extract himself best from this

was Phillips, steering Le Renard who clawed his way back to 4th

place.

In the second race, the fleet was spread evenly along the long

start line. Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad made the best start

from the committee boat end. Just to weather and slightly behind

was the morning’s winner, Bambakou. This pair set the pace for

the first lap of the course, with Coumantaros making all the

running, demonstrating enough extra boat speed to draw level

by the second weather mark. A slight boat-handling error by the

Bamabakou crew resulted in what had been planned as a close

port tack dip astern of Barking Mad with a stalled rudder and

an emergency tack to leeward of the leader. having committed

a foul in the process, Bambakou exonerated herself with a 3600

penalty turn. That kind of mistake costs places and as a result,

five boats sailed past.

one of the boats to slip through and eventually pass the leader

too, was Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone which added a win to a

13th place in the first race. Another was Phillips’ ever present Le

Renard, finishing 3rd, to post the best results of the day.

The second day was blessed with ideal sailing conditions. Three

full races in 19-23 knot winds were possible and the action was

again as tight as it can get in yacht racing. For the third race, legs

of 2.2 miles were set and while the course was further offshore

than the previous day, the left was still favoured.

The start saw the f leet bunched at the pin end with Nerone

moving out from the middle of the bunch half way up the beat to

round the mark in the lead, followed closely by steve and Fred

howes’ Warpath. These two dominated the front of the fleet for

the rest of the race battling all the way down the last run with

final honours went to Warpath.

The second race of the day started almost as soon as the last

boat had finished and ernesto bertarrelli’s Alinghi and Warpath

which had won the first race, were both recalled for premature

starts. The fleet was spread much more evenly along the line

this time although once again, the left seemed to be popular,

with Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad rounding the first mark in

the lead. The first run favoured those who found and worked the

puffs best, with most boats getting up to planing speed in the

stronger gusts. Michael Illbruck’s Nela moved into the lead and

proved impossible to catch for the rest of the race. The chasing

pack was led again by Mezzaroma’s Nerone, being guided around

a consistent day by tactician Vasco Vascotto. Nerone picked up

another 2nd place and moved into the lead overall.

Race five started into a building breeze, topping 24 knots in the

gusts at the top of the course. Most of the fleet opted for their

small no 4 jibs. Michael Illbruck placed his Nela at the leeward

end of the line for a perfect pin-end start, and kept the extreme

left hand side of the fleet for most of the beat. Two thirds of the

way up the leg, Kostecki called the tack that saw the German

Rrose La Vie - Riccardo bonadeo leads

the f leet at the top mark

opposite: Cacharaza - Marcus Vivian

20 03 P oRT o CeRVo

8 5


8 6

20 03 P oRT o CeRVo

8 7

boat slip across the bows of three starboard tackers, the closest

being John Calvert-Jones Southern Star, to round the weather

mark with a four boat length lead.

Barking Mad had started well in the middle of the line and after

a long leg up the left hand side of the course, rounded in 2nd

place behind Illbruck. These two then sailed away into their own

private match race, swapping the lead on the first run and before

choosing the opposite sides at the leeward gate for the second

upwind leg. Illbruck again chose the left, Terry hutchinson

guiding Richardson on Barking Mad, felt the right was going to

finally come good. sailing away to the right for several minutes,

Barking Mad dropped back on to starboard to stay in touch with

Illbruck. At the end, the long awaited right hand shift of just a

few degrees came good, allowing Barking Mad to round the last

mark 1st but with a much diminished advantage. The final run in

the strongest winds of the day when the seas were running a one

metre swell, was a thriller. both boats planing and surfing down

the waves were locked in a battle to see who would make the

first mistake. Just yards before the finish, the advantage seemed

to have swung back to the German boat, but a last minute surf

saw the boats cross the line overlapped with the American just

ahead. Nerone with three top 4 places on the day consolidated

her overall lead.

With 25 knots blowing across the course by late morning and

more forecast for the afternoon, the fleet was sent to a more

sheltered part of the Costa smeralda coastline for the third day’s

racing. The course, with 1.9-mile legs, was set inside Caprera

Island with shoal water on one side and the physical extremities

of the landlocked bay on the other. The best option seemed to be

on the right hand side of the course, due to the shelter offered

from the current by the southern tip of Caprera Island. The same

piece of land also meant a tack back onto starboard below the

final weather mark lay-line, so the beat was indeed complex.

There was congestion at the committee boat end and Nerone

misjudged the approach and was blocked to weather of the line

at the gun, eventually crossing the start last. The left hand side

looked best, but half way up the leg those who had chosen the

right side started to feel the benefits of the sheltered current.

starting last proved to be far from fatal, for Nerone moved swiftly

through the fleet and back into contention.

Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad, consistently a leader at the first

mark throughout this regatta, rounded the top mark in the lead

again. next came Crocodile Rock and ernesto bertarelli’s Alinghi.

The run was fast with flat water and strong gusts propelling the

fleet straight downwind, gybing was difficult for some and many

broached out one way or the other.

by the first leeward gate, Tony DeMulder’s Victric VII had passed

Alinghi and then opted for the starboard hand leeward mark,

leaving Barking Mad and Crocodile Rock to head for the right

hand side of the course for the second weather leg. by now the

top ten had broken away from the following pack,

At the last weather mark, and with the wind building all

the time, Crocodile Rock and Barking Mad were effectively

Atalanti 11- George Andreadis ducks

Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma and



8 8

The port tack lay-line near the weather mark is always a

dangerous place to be. now firmly in the pack on the approach

to the top mark, Barking Mad on port, just crossed the bow of

Crocodile Rock before throwing in a hasty tack to windward.

Crocodile Rock promptly came upright in the wind shadow, the

crew on the weather rail could just watch as the mainsheet

trimmer on Barking Mad eased the sheet to accelerate, letting

the boom run along the side of the leeward boat, removing all

the stanchions and lifelines to the mast. Co-owner Alex Geremia,

the last crew member in the line sitting out to windward, also

collected the boom in her face. Crocodile Rock retired, Barking

Mad flew an ‘I’ flag accepting a 20% penalty, but the incident was

to cost Richardson dearly. When he ended up in the protest room

later, the subsequent disqualification lost him any remaining

chances of winning the championship.

back at the front of the fleet, onorato’s Breeze led all the way

down the run and opted for the port rounding of the gate and

the right hand side of the second beat. Breeze lost one place

on the second beat to eivind Astrup’s Norwegian Steam before

overlapped, with Barking Mad to weather. Jim Richardson

with a bit more speed on the spreader leg, rolled up beside the

leader who then luffed to keep the him behind. Victric VII, just

behind the two, used the opportunity to drive in to leeward and

hoist the spinnaker before the others. The three-way race for

the lead lasted all the way down the high speed run, the boats

reaching speeds of 18 knots at times in the puffs. Calling the

moment for the final gybe was key and boat-handling decided

the outcome. At the finish Crocodile Rock had escaped from

Barking Mad’s clutches and was concentrating on Victric VII,

which by now was up to 2nd.

Three races were run on the last day of the event, and

Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori’s team

on Nerone, which included tactician Vasco Vascotto, had

effectively won the regatta with a race to spare after posting

a 2nd and a 1st in the first two races. Wind conditions were

again near the top of the range although sunshine and

warm waters meant that spectacular action and enjoyment

was again to the fore.

starting an hour earlier than originally scheduled to get three

races in, the 37-boat fleet opted mostly for the left hand side of

the course, although the first two boats at the top mark, Crocodile

Rock and Michael Illbruck’s Nela found the right to be the side to

be on, rounding the first mark in the top two slots, with Nerone

following in 3rd place. The order remained the same for the next

lap until Mezzaroma’s boat again found overdrive on the last run

to collect a handy 2nd place.

At the second start, Barking Mad won the start at the committee

boat end and stormed off upwind. The points leader Nerone

starting further down the line, and Mark heeley’s GBR-25

all came together near the starboard tack layline for a long

stretch to the mark on port. With heeley to windward and

Nerone to leeward, Barking Mad was eventually squeezed

back into the pack, the former two rounding the mark in

good order behind Vincenzo onorato’s Breeze and Michael

Illbruck’s consistent Nela.

hasso Plattner at the helm of

Morning Glory

20 03 P oRT o CeRVo

8 9

Norwegian Steam – eivand Astrup


9 0

the second weather mark and then lost another four when the

spinnaker sheet became disconnected from the sail in the set.

Mezzaroma’s Nerone, along with Wolfgang schaefer’s Struntje

Light, pounced at this point and moved through to finish 1st and

2nd with Nela 3rd.

by now the battle was for 2nd place overall with Nerone having

only to finish outside the last three to collect overall honours.

Nela, with John Kostecki calling the shots, had started the regatta

slowly but had nothing but a string of single digit results from

the second day. ultimately it was John Coumantaris’ Bambakou

that collected 3rd overall, followed by ernesto bertarelli’s

Alinghi in 4th.

Results:

1. Nerone Massimo Mezzaroma and

Antonio sodo Migliori (ITA)14 1 2 2 4 7 2 1 18 51 points

2. Nela Michael Illbruck (GeR) 19 16 18 1 2 4 3 4 7 74 points

3. Bambakou John Coumantaros (usA) 1 7 6 12 8 26 9 17 6 92 points

4. Alinghi ernesto bertarelli (suI) 10.5 12 7 15 13 6 4 8 24 99.5 points


6. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA) 14.5 2 14 4 1 3 10 11 38 101.5 points

7. Morning Glory hasso Plattner (GeR) 13 20 3 7 3 17 8 22 9 102 points

Nela – Michael Illbruck

20 03 P oRT o CeRVo

9 1


9 2

20 03 P oRT o CeRVo

9 3

Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori Nerone (ITA) 2003 World Champions

right: Massimo Mezzaroma & Antonio sodo

Migliori with a temporary trophy after the

World Cup had been held hostage in Customs

right: Massimo Mezzaroma & Antonio sodo

Migliori with a temporary trophy after the

World Cup had been held hostage in Customs


9 4

After five years, the Farr 40s were back on san Francisco bay

for the world championship and on the opening day, produced

a leader of the 31-boat fleet without professional crew, two-boat

programme or even a coach boat.

Norwegian Steam led after two races. In the first race Marco

Rodolfi’s TWT rounded the weather mark 1st ahead of Peter de

Ridder’s Mean Machine and eivind Astrup’s Norwegian Steam, but

at the leeward mark Norwegian Steam slipped ahead, a position

she clung to for the remaining three legs of the race. “We were

lucky in our choice of where we went on the course. We did more

right than wrong,” explained Astrup, “At the start we were on the

right side near the committee boat. We tacked over immediately

and had a good run out to the right. We had a small wind shift at

the end, so we overstood, but it was worth it. Then downwind, we

were catching the wind shifts and jibing on them well.”

Finishing 45 seconds after Norwegian Steam was TWT and

Takashi okura’s Sled. Mean Machine was close behind until

colliding with TWT at the weather mark. “We were coming

alongside TWT and tried to pass them at the top mark by forcing

them a little past it,” recounted Mean Machine’s tactician Ray

Davies, “The current was sweeping us up and when we tacked,

we had overlaid the mark and had to come back down. We

were having trouble getting the bow down and we hit TWT.”

Acknowledging their mistake the team performed a 720º penalty

turn, losing four places.

by the start of race two the westerly sea breeze had filled in

and was blowing 20 knots. Mean Machine had one of the best

starts, in the middle of the line. “There was a lot of sag in the

line and we had nearly a boat length on everyone around us,”

explained Davies. They continued to the left, the only occasion

today when this tactic paid, and rounded the top mark 1st ahead

of two Class favourites – Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad and

defending World Champions Antonio sodo Migliori and Massimo

Mezzaroma’s Nerone. Mean Machine extended her lead on the

run to approximately 200 yards ahead of all competitors as the

boats flew downwind in 25 knots of wind and an increasingly

choppy sea. From here de Ridder was untouchable, finishing one

minute ahead of Barking Mad.

The second race was one of mixed fortunes for the Norwegian

Steam team. After a poor start and picking the wrong side of the

first run, the team was down to around 25th place. They then

staged a remarkable recovery, getting to the right side of the

course on the second run, then hitting the left side aggressively

on the final beat to the finish 5th and take the overall lead.

The second day was one of sun, big breeze and a short lumpy

sea on san Francisco bay, conditions that were to prove ideal

We were lucky in our choice of where we went on the

course. We did more right than wrong.

2004 San Francisco

Riot – Marc ewing

20 04 sA n F R A nCIsCo

9 5Peregrine – David Thompson leads Nerone Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio

sodo Migliori, and Struntje Light - Wolfgang schaeffer to the top mark


9 6

for Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad. Richardson and his crew

set the tone by winning the first of three races and become

the only boat after two days to have a score line comprising

single-digit results.

The first race began in lighter conditions with the sea breeze

kicking in and building during the afternoon to more than 25

knots. Massimo Mezzaroma and Alberto sodo Miglori’s Nerone

finished 2nd followed by Mean Machine 3rd.

Peter stoneberg’s Shadow won the second race. “It was a perfect

race,” said tactician Peter Isler, “The right was favoured and we

were fast. We started in the upper third of the line, punched on

all the boats around us, and upped the speed. It was a classic

good start, our first of the regatta. We pushed for two minutes

and tacked over and I said to the boys ‘we could win this race.’

Then it all fell into place.” Richard Perini’s Evolution, then brand

new, won the third race. “We got a great start at the pin end and

were able to tack across pretty much straight after the start,”

described tactician hamish Pepper. “We had a good lead right

from the beginning. We jumped out at the start and had a good

lane across, then the breeze shifted to the left and gave us a nice

50-yard lead at the top mark. They don’t often come like that, but

when they do, it is fantastic.”

Three more solid results in the third day’s racing put Jim

Richardson‘s Barking Mad team into a nearly unbeatable position

going into the final day of the championship. With scores of 8-7-5,

Richardson‘s team had 38 points, leading Massimo Mezzaroma

and Antonio sodo Migliori’s Nerone by 35 points.

Barking Mad almost lost her comfortable lead at the start of

the second race when she was forced out to the left-hand side

of the course. When he tacked back, Richardson lost further

ground by ducking several right-of-way boats coming through

on starboard “We got around the buoy in 26th place while Nerone

was 3rd.” said Richardson. “We gybed right around the offset

mark and caught a great puff, so we gained probably 10-12

places on the run.”

Astra - Mary Coleman leads the fleet


9 7

Mistress– Alan Field, crosses



9 8Nitemare – Tom neill ahead of Flash Gordon – helmut Jahn


9 9

Barking Mad followed this with a better second beat and another

good run to finish 7th to Nerone’s 11th. “We saw the potential to

lose a lot of our lead to Nerone in that race, but the crew worked

really, really hard. We were sweating bullets trying to make the

boat go faster and make every manoeuvre as good as we could,”

added Richardson.

Despite a slow start in this regatta, onorato’s team had the day’s

best results, with a 2-1-6. ‘A good day at the office,’ as tactician

Adrian stead put it. In the first race Mascalzone Latino started

at the pin end and prospered from a shift and the tide up the left

side. At the top mark they led but were being chased hard by

Chuck Parish’s Slingshot and steve Phillips’s Le Renard. While

Slingshot pulled ahead to win the race, onorato’s team hung in

by winning a final dash to the finish line against Le Renard and

was 2nd.

Mascalzone Latino won the second race. she rounded the weather

mark in the top group and made gains on the run. “The key is

to get away fast at the top mark and put some distance on the

fleet,” said stead. “It takes so little to be at the back in this fleet.

We learned some pretty harsh lessons at the Pre-Worlds when

we wrapped ourselves around the windward mark twice. so we

did some work on short tacks – ducking and stuff like that – and

it has all helped.”

Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori


10 0Samba Pa Ti - John Kilroy


101

The familiar logo of

Groovederchi – Deneen

Demourkas at the head of

the fleet


10 2

on John and Deneen Demourkas’ Groovederci, Deneen drove to

victory in the day’s final race. “We started where we wanted

to, at the committee boat, and immediately tacked right,” she

said. “It was the time of day to do that and we just kept going.

At the weather mark, Heartbreaker was to leeward of us and

came up underneath us.” Groovederci overtook Heartbreaker on

the run to take the lead, holding this until the end of the long

final beat to the finish.

The fourth day’s racing began with a shock for Jim Richardson

when Barking Mad was involved in a right-of-way incident

with Norwegian Steam at the end of the first beat. Tactician

Terry hutchinson took the wrap: “I screwed up on what I was

thinking.” Despite this setback that dropped Barking Mad into

the middle of the fleet, Richardson was able to recover to 7th

in a race won by stuart and Mary Gwen Townsend’s Virago

from scott harris and Alex Geremia’s Crocodile Rock with

John Kilroy’s Samba Pa Ti 3rd.

In the second race, Barking Mad was 5th round the first mark.

on the long final beat, with the san Francisco bay fog shrouding

the race course, the team lost the charge to be 1st to the finish

line by just 5-seconds. This did not matter to Richardson. “It

was close going up that last leg,” he said, “but it doesn‘t matter

whether you win by one point or one hundred.”

Richardson and his Barking Mad team became the first team in

the history of the Class to win the coveted world championship

title for a second time. “I’m very proud,” said a beaming

Richardson, clutching a glass of champagne minutes after his

boat reached the dock. “We’ve been working at this since the first

Worlds I won in 1998. It is hard to win this regatta and everything

came together perfectly for us. I had a teacher at school who said

‘you learn from doing and being done.’ We’ve been done enough

that we’ve started to learn some things from our competitors and

figured out ways to improve and it all worked out.”

With 47 points total and an exceptional single digit scoreline –

counting a 9th place in the first race was their worst finish – Warpath - steve and Fred howe cross behind Struntje Light - Wolfgang schaeffer


10 3

optical illusion: Sotto Voce - Arien Van Vemde and

Peregrine – David Thomson, share a transom in close

quarter competition around the windward mark


10 4

Slingshot – Chuck Parrish the Barking Mad crew finished 40 points ahead of the defending

world champions Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo

Migliori’s Nerone.

Samba Pa Ti, top boat on the final day with a 3-1 score, was one

of the favourites before the championship, but early results in

this regatta were disappointing, including five uncharacteristic

finishes in the 20s. “We spent the week trying to get the tune

of the boat right,” explained tactician Paul Cayard. “We used a

brand new mainsail and it wasn’t what we thought it was, so it

took us a while to get things sorted out.”

Results:

1. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA) 9 2 1 4 2 8 7 5 7 2 47 points


Antonio sodo Migliori (ITA)10 3 3 8 6 10 11 22 4 10 87 points

3. Warpath steve and Fred

howe (usA)15 5 2 11 17 5 18 8 11 11 103 points

4. Le Renard steve Phillips (usA) 17 10 2 26 9 3 6 14 6 12 104 points

5. TWT Marco Rodolfi (ITA) 2 16 20 23 3 4 3 10 20 8 109 points

6. Slingshot Chuck Parrish (usA) 16 9 15 5 7 1 13 3 10 6 110 points


10 5

Mean Machine – Peter de Ridder


10 6


10 7

Jim Richardson Barking Mad (usA)

2004 World Champion


10 8

We worked the committee boat end at the start and

went to the right in both races. The weather off Sydney

Heads does sometimes do the same thing twice, and

we thought going right could be a good move.


20 05 s Y Dn e Y

10 9

2005 Sydney

A move Down-under had a degree of inevitability about it – the

f leet on Australia’s east coast had grown considerably after

building of the Farr 40s had been established in Malaysia.

Appropriately, the Australian entry Ichi Ban skippered by Matt

Allen, tore up the race course outside sydney heads to win both

races on the first day and post a perfect score at the front of the

28-boat fleet.

having displayed awesome speed in the Rolex Farr 40 Pre-Worlds

the previous week, Allen decided to stay with his tried and tested

mainsail in preference to hoisting the brand new replacement.

“From last week we knew that our upwind speed had taken a step

forward, so we went with an old main and new jibs,” he said.

Tactician Roger hickman said they had a hunch that the right

side of the course might pay off in the building north-easterly

breeze. “We worked the committee boat end at the start and went

to the right in both races. The weather off sydney heads does

sometimes do the same thing twice, and we thought going right

could be a good move.”

Ichi Ban took the first race, a two-lap, eight-mile windward/

leeward course, in comfortable fashion. The second finish –

when the wind had lifted to 16 knots – was a real nail biter as the

leader went gybe for gybe with Marco Rodolfi’s TWT. An error

with the spinnaker pole on TWT prevented her crew from having

the kite pulling properly out of the final gybe, and Ichi Ban won

by half a pulpit’s length. “but half a pulpit’s all you need isn’t it?”

commented Allen.

lying 2nd after two races was Richard Perini’s Evolution. Perini

held his nerve to finish 2nd in the opening race, but was shut out

at the committee boat end in the next, though still found a lane

out to the favoured right hand side, which pulled him back into

the competition to finish a useful 7th.

That morning, Paul Cayard’s advice for his skipper on steve and

Fred howe’s Warpath was: “Don’t hit any boats, don’t hit any

marks, and don’t get any alphabet.” by alphabet he meant to

avoid notching up any of those nasty three-letter acronyms on

the scoreboard, such as the dreaded DsQ for disqualification.

steve howe duly listened to his tactician’s advice and steered

Warpath to scores of 10-3, and place the boat 3rd overall. Cayard

was a recent signing for the Warpath team, and howe praised

him for his calm approach. “I’ve sailed with different tacticians

Don’t hit any boats, don’t hit any marks...and don’t get

any alphabet.

Shockwave – neville Crichton


110

Prince Frederik lost in a wave

Morning Glory - hasno Plattner Pegasus - Philippe Kahn crosses Norwegian Steam - Ivan Astrup

20 05s Y Dn e Y

111

Sputnik - Ivan Wheen


11 2

and everyone brings something different, but he is very thorough,

organised, and conservative. he doesn’t want to take high risks,

and it seems to work.” some other highly fancied boats would

have done well to heed Cayard’s simple but effective advice.

Reigning world champion, Barking Mad had to take a 720º penalty

at the start of the second race, and Jim Richardson and his team

did well to recover to 14th. however, this score combined with

a first race 8th, did not represent the start to his title defence

that Richardson would have wanted. World Champion from

2003, Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori’s Nerone,

also fell foul of a 720º penalty after infringing Evolution at the

leeward gate. lying 2nd at the time, the penalty spins saw Nerone

plummet down the rankings, and the best they could salvage was

11th place, followed by a more respectable 8th in the next.

Tactician Vasco Vascotto commented: “It is important to

remember that there is not only Barking Mad and Nerone on

the water. It’s also important to stay away from trouble, and

we got in trouble.”

Perini’s Evolution won the one race on a windy second day,

and moved into the overall lead. Perini started at the pin end,

hooked into a 10º left-hand shift in the building southerly breeze,

and rounded the windward mark 1st ahead of hasso Plattner’s

Morning Glory. The wind built rapidly from 13 to 26 knots an

hour later. Evolution turned on the afterburners and shot away

to a 30-second victory over neville Crichton’s Team Shockwave,

which in turn was 47 seconds ahead of Morning Glory. With

the wind building up to over 30 knots, racing for the day was

abandoned. Vincenzo onorato of Mascalzone Latino, described

the day as “the best race of the year”, after recovering from a

restart to score 4th, just 9 seconds behind Morning Glory. Despite

the high winds, this really was a race that demanded both

brawn and brains. There were plenty of passing opportunities,

and plenty of good decisions to be made – as well as the

fundamental need to keep the mast pointing towards the sky,

and the keel beneath the waves. Marco Rodolfi’s TWT shot up the

rankings with victories in two out of three races on the third day, Joe Fly – Giovanni Maspero


20 05 s Y Dn e Y

113

putting her just one point behind Evolution. TWT revelled in the

light eight-knot southerly of the first race to lead by 1 minute 40

seconds at the top mark and extend this to a winning margin of

2 minutes 33 seconds by the finish, an enormous lead in such a

tightly-fought Class. Tactician Tiziano nava explained the winning

strategy: “We sailed up the course before the race and found more

wind on the right. I also expected a shift to come from the right,

so we started at the committee boat end. All the fleet went to

the left hand side of the course, and it felt a little too risky where

we were. but when we tacked, we said: ‘believe, believe, come

on, come on.’ We tacked on 170º but soon we were on 180-185º,

so it was good for us.”

Brighton Star put in an excellent performance to finish 2nd,

11 seconds ahead of Team Shockwave, with british substitute

helmsman Mark heeley taking the wheel for the day while owner

neville Crichton was ashore.

Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad put her defence of the world title

in severe jeopardy by being the only premature starter in this

race. she turned back to restart, and did her usual amazing

recovery job to pull back to 14th by the finish.

The wind lightened for the next race; Giovanni Maspero’s Joe Fly

took up the running in the 6-7 knots of shifting southerly breeze

that wafted across the course. however, on the second beat, TWT

hooked further into a line of breeze towards the sydney shore and

overhauled Joe Fly. The final run was tense as the two engaged

in a gybing duel that left the result in doubt until the last few

metres before the finish. TWT came in to the finish on starboard

on a hot angle, and gybed around the mark to take the winner’s

gun. In the end, Maspero was fortunate to get Joe Fly across the

line ahead of the rapidly closing Warpath. Barking Mad climbed

from 13th at the first mark to 4th at the finish.

The f leet got away cleanly for the third race. Morning Glory

and TWT were forced to tack away from a second-row start,

but worst hit was Vincenzo onorato’s Mascalzone Latino,

which was last after the first lap. Emotional Hooligan – Marcus blackmore leads Norwegian Steam - Ivan Astrup and Mascalzone Latino - Vincenzo onorato


11 4

20 05s Y Dn e Y

115

If the world championship was awarded on how many boats

you could pass, then barking Mad would have won because

her ability to climb through the fleet was immense. But being

over early in one race and other errors, prevented a strong

defence of the title.

John Thompson’s Solution leads close friend

lang Walker - Kokomo around top mark

If the world championship was awarded on how many boats

you could pass, then barking Mad would have won because

her ability to climb through the fleet was immense. But being

over early in one race and other errors, prevented a strong

defence of the title.

John Thompson’s Solution leads close friend

lang Walker - Kokomo around top mark


11 6

I’ve sailed with different tacticians and everyone brings

something different. But he is very thorough, organised

and conservative... It seems to work.


Pegasus - Philippe Kahn Nanoq - Prince Frederik

Bobby’s Girl -

John Melville

20 05s Y Dn e Y

11 7Solution - John Thomson attacks

Fiamma - Alessandro barnaba

Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori

Brighton Star - David Gotze, chasing Barking Mad - Jim Richardson


11 8

At the front of the f leet, 2000 world champion John Calvert-

Jones was showing some of his old form with Southern Star,

sailing unchallenged to a victory of 1 minute 11 seconds ahead

of Marcus blackmore’s Emotional Hooligan and Evolution for an

all-Australian podium. Richard Perini’s Evolution reclaimed top

of the leaderboard at the end of the day.

Richard Perini’s Evolution won the championship by a hair’s

breadth from neville Crichton’s Shockwave. both teams finished

equal on 66 points, but it was Evolution’s race win in the windy

conditions of the second day that gave her overall victory.

TWT’s 6th place in the final race lifted her to 3rd, a further

point behind.

Three races were possible in light and fickle conditions. Evolution

extended her lead from the previous day of just 1 point to a much

healthier 12 points going into the last race, thanks to scores of

9-2. The championship seemed all but secured for Perini, but the

wind had reached its most unpredictable for the finale. Evolution

did not have a great first beat, and rounded the windward mark

15th, ten places behind Shockwave and three behind TWT. It was

expected that Perini would pull through the fleet and close out

the regatta, and it certainly appeared so by the leeward gate,

with Evolution pulling up to 13th, just two behind TWT and seven

behind Shockwave. neville Crichton’s boat did herself no favours

by yielding four places on the final beat to round in 10th place,

with TWT among those to have overtaken her.

but Evolution was having a terrible time in the conditions,

falling to 19th. she still led the championship at this stage but

could not afford any more mistakes. During the final run she

slipped again to 21st and scraped across the line just 7 seconds

ahead of Panther.

seven seconds later and Perini would have finished 3rd overall.

so close was the championship that Perini said it was a good 10

minutes after the finish before he knew that he had won. “We

like keeping the crowds in suspense,” he said, but admitted he

hadn’t enjoyed the last race one bit. Tactician hamish Pepper

20 05s Y Dn e Y

119

Richard Perini’s evolution won the championship by a hair’s

breadth from Neville Crichton’s Team shockwave. Both teams

finished equal... and it was evolution’s race win in the windy

conditions that gave her overall victory.


1 2 0

said: “Evolution didn’t spark up like she usually does. The stress

levels were pretty high, and we were just trying to figure out

what we needed to do down that last run.”

The Barking Mad crew earned themselves a consolation prize by

winning the final race by almost 2 minutes, but Richardson’s team

was deeply disappointed with the 6th place overall. Tactician Terry

hutchinson said: “I think we sailed better here than we did in san

Francisco. If the world championship was awarded on how many

boats you could pass, then Barking Mad would have won because her

ability to climb through the fleet was immense. but being over early

in one race and other errors prevented a strong defence of the title.”

“The Farr 40 Girls”- Kim Woodhouse, sam Crichton & Renee Mehl

Results:

1. Evolution Richard Perini (Aus) 2,7,1,1,6,3,9,,21 66 points

2. Team Shockwave neville Crichton (Aus) 4,17,2,3,15,6,4,6,9 66 points

3. TWT Marco Rodolfi (ITA) 14,2,9,1,1,8,16,10,6 67 points

4. Warpath steve and Fred howe (usA)

10,3,21,10,3,7,6,1,11 72 points

5. Mascalzone Latino Vincenzo onorato (ITA) 6,11,4,8,9,8,3,4,12 75 points

6. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA)

8,14,13,14,4,5,13,8,1 80 points

20 05s Y Dn e Y

1 2 1

Evolution – Richard Perini


1 2 2

richard perini - Evolution (aUs) 2005 World Champion

20 05s Y Dn e Y

1 2 3

richard perini - Evolution (aUs) 2005 World Champion


1 2 4

newport, Rhode Island and a light south-easterly breeze was

the scene for helmut Jahn’s Flash Gordon to fire on all cylinders

while other leading lights stalled out during a tricky opening

day for the 38-boat f leet. The formula for Flash Gordon’s

success included helmut steering upwind then handing over to

his son evan, downwind.

In the first race of the day, Flash Gordon started at the pin end

of the line along with leading contenders like the 2004 world

champion, Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad, winner of the previous

week’s pre-worlds. Barking Mad tacked away to protect the

middle of the course, while Flash Gordon stayed on starboard tack

to round the first mark narrowly ahead of Vincenzo onorato’s

Mascalzone Latino. At the leeward gate, onorato had drawn level

with the leader and opted for the right-hand side while Flash

Gordon went left. This call paid off and Flash Gordon led for the

rest of the race, taking the win ahead of Mascalzone Latino and

Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori’s Nerone, the

2003 world champions.

The breeze had built to 13 knots for the second race. Flash

Gordon started near the committee boat this time, a strategy that

paid handsome dividends by the time she and Wolfgang stolz’s

Opus One had turned the top mark. behind them a battle ensued

for the next few places, with ernesto bertarelli’s Alinghi, which

continued to pick off boats around the course, and surfed past

erik Maris’ Twins to finish 3rd. helmut Jahn on board Flash

Gordon was delighted: “It was a dream day, we did exactly what

we wanted to do. We wanted to find a good spot on the line, and

get off the line cleanly, which we did. We’ve been working on this

for eight years”.

light and shifting winds brought massive changes to the leader

board on the second day. Mascalzone Latino put together the best

scores with a 4th in the first race and a 2nd in the next, to earn

the boat of the Day title, sponsored by new england boatworks,

hall spars, and new england Ropes. Those placings put Vincenzo

onorato’s team at the top of the scoreboard, four points ahead

“It was a dream day, we did exactly what we wanted to do. We wanted to find a good spot on the line and get off the line cleanly.

2006 Newport

Nanoq – Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

Cannonball - Dario Ferrari

Kim Woodhouse, Class cheerleader

since 2002

20 06 n e W P oRT

1 2 5


1 2 6

of Richardson’s Barking Mad crew. Flash Gordon by contrast,

suffered a difficult day after a series of bad starts, although

helmut Jahn’s two victories the previous day were sufficient

to keep them 3rd overall. Russell Coutts, the tactician aboard

Mascalzone Latino, highlighted the thin line between success

and failure in this 38-boat f leet. “Today we had some breaks,

some good starts, and if you can get off the line cleanly, it puts

you in the top 15.” he said adding, “but from there it’s a battle.

We didn’t make any big mistakes, compared to yesterday when I

didn’t manage that second race very well. I allowed ourselves to

get pinned out to the left and we rounded fourth last. In a fleet

this size you just can’t afford that.”

The first race of the day saw Alex Michas’ Phish Food gain a well-

timed start at the pin end and a good streak of wind on the left

side of the course to lead at the first mark. Phish Food had not

looked like a contender, but went on to score a very comfortable

victory over Dario Ferrari’s Cannonball. In the second race of the

day, Mascalzone Latino led around the first mark but allowed

eivind Astrup’s Norwegian Steam to slip by later in the race.

It wasn’t a spectacular day for Vincenzo onorato’s team on

Mascalzone Latino, but their lead in the championship increased

nevertheless. “The first race was very good, scoring a 3rd,”

commented mainsheet trimmer Adrian stead, “The second and

third races we were mid-line and going right – when the left

was paying – so they were recovery races. We also did a pretty

awesome recovery on the first beat to come back from 27th to

11th, although we later dropped back 15th. There were plenty of

snakes and ladders out there, and we did oK, probably 4th best

boat of the day, to extend our lead on Barking Mad.”

Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad clung on to second overall with

scores of 7-24-6. like Barking Mad, Mascalzone Latino also

retained her place on the leader board but behind them, all

sorts of place changing went on. The biggest beneficiary from

the tricky light air conditions was Dario Ferrari’s Cannonball

which posted a credible 5-5-3 scoreline to leap 11 places up

the rankings to 4th. Ferrari bubbled with excitement: “I have Ramrod – Rod Jabin

Mascalzone Latino – Vincenzo onorato

20 06 n e W P oRT

1 2 7

just decided to give up sailing, because after today I will never

repeat anything like that again,” he said adding; “This proves

what a fantastic Class the Farr 40 is. It shows that anyone can

win in this fleet.”

The third day brought forward three further winners: the first

by 2002 World Champion steve Phillips’ Le Renard, the next by

Wolfgang stolz’s Opus One, while the final race went to hRh

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark’s Nanoq.

Peter de Ridder’s Mean Machine also looked set for a great

recovery from a poor start to the regatta, after posting 4-2 in the

first two races . he also made a great start at the committee boat

end in the final race, but a good start is not always a guarantee

to a good result, especially after a wind shift swung the balance

of play across to the opposite side of the course. While De Ridder

struggled to better 31st place, Alinghi bounced back with skipper

ernesto bertarelli notching up 2,13,8 to sit equal 3rd with Opus

One and Cannonball. “We had a very good first day, a bad second

day, and a very good third day,” said bertarelli. “now we need to

have a very good fourth day.”

In the end, it didn’t go bertarelli’s way. Instead the stronger

winds favoured Vincenzo onorato’s Mascalzone Latino team who

turned in a masterful performance to finally win the Rolex Farr

40 world championship title. “It was not easy,” admitted onorato:

“The most difficult thing in this kind of racing is how we handle

ourselves, because sometimes it is hard to stay confident. I have

tried to win this for many years, and finally I have succeeded.”

In the first race, eivind Astrup’s Norwegian Steam sailed to her

second win of the week, although the greater threat to onorato’s

overnight lead was Opus One, with Wolfgang stolz snatching 3rd

compared with Mascalzone’s 6th. In the next race, Evolution

came to the fore with defending champion, Richard Perini,

finally showing some of the form that earned him the world title

in sydney the previous year, only to then lose the lead in the last

minute to steve and Fred howe’s Warpath.

Mean Machine – Peter de Ridder

Piranha – David Voss


1 2 8

The greater interest however, was watching championship leader

Mascalzone Latino incur a 720º penalty at the first windward

mark. onorato’s championship hopes could well have disappeared

right there, but the determined skipper took 12 places on the next

downwind leg to recovered to 13th by the end of the race.

Meanwhile Opus One sailed another solid race and stolz’s 7th

place moved him to within three points of Mascalzone Latino.

unruffled by the penalty, onorato said the key to winning the

week was to remain “cool and concentrated”. he praised tactician

Russell Coutts for keeping the crew calm and focussed: “even if

things went wrong, I was not upset. before the last race, Russell

told me, ‘This is the time to win a race.’ I said, ‘Can we?’ And he

said, ‘of course!’ And he was right.”

In the final race, Mascalzone Latino struck out from the middle of

the start line in clear air to dominate from start to finish. having

scored 13-9 in the previous races, Jim Richardson on Barking

Mad was also in contention for 2nd place at least after rounding

the first mark behind onorato, but things changed dramatically

on the run back to the finish for this local newport sailor. As

the wind softened and shifted right, the boats that gybed early

profited most from the sudden change in conditions. Richardson’s

team dropped from 2nd to 12th, leaving Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban to

slip home 6th and steal 2nd overall. Allen was delighted. “We’re

ecstatic; it’s a great result. Vincenzo, Russell and the Mascalzone

Latino guys did a great job and never really opened the door for

anyone. They sailed a great regatta and deserved to win. “That

final leg was indicative of our whole regatta,” said Barking Mad

tactician Terry hutchinson, “obviously there was a shift and I

missed it. We sailed into a light spot, and the fleet sailed by. We

didn’t quite have it today or during the whole regatta, but it just

makes you appreciate how hard winning is.”

Barking Mad finished third overall, one better than Opus One,

which just missed out on the podium. Wolfgang stolz commented:

“The last run was a bitter disappointment, dropping 15 places,

after running out of breeze. but we’re very pleased to have got a

top 10 result.”

Results:

1. Mascalzone Latino Vincenzo onorato (ITA) 2,26,4,2,3,15,15,6,13,1 87 points

2. Ichi Ban Matt Allen (Aus) 4,22,17,4,6,7,20,10,5,6 101 points

3. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA) 10,14,6,8,7,23,6,13,9,12 108 points

4. Opus One Wolfgang stolz (GeR) 20,2,3,26,13,1,14,3,7,24 113 points

5. Warpath steve and Fred howe (usA) 17,11,10,23,30,4,5,20,1,4 125 points

6. Alinghi ernesto bertarelli (suI) 5,3,30,18,2,13,8,12,14,23 128 points

Flash Gordon – helmut Jahn

20 06 n e W P oRT

1 2 9

Warpath – Fred and steve howe


13 0

20 06 n e W P oRT

13 1


13 2

20 06 n e W P oRT

13 3

Vincenzo Onorato Mascalone Latino (iTa) 2006 World Champion


13 4

Ichi Ban – Matt Allen

20 07 CoPe n h AGe n

13 5

2007 Copenhagen

It was once again the turn of europe for a world championship

and Copenhagen accepted the challenge with the race village at

the newly finished Royal Danish Yacht Club, home for 36 boats

from 13 countries. Jim Richardson won the pre-Worlds regatta.

The championship opened with a tough day on the oresund strait

with a shifting north-westerly breeze, but two Italian teams

emerged from the three races with the best scores. Massimo

Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori’s Nerone, posting 3-6-1,

finished the day with a single point advantage over defending

champion Vincenzo onorato’s Mascalzone Latino.

For Mezzaroma it was quite tricky, dealing with the shifts. he

said: “I’m glad we were here to sail for a while before the Worlds

– this Class is so tough.” That was evidenced by only three boats

keeping a double-figure result from their scores – Wolfgang

stoltz’s Opus One finished three points behind the leader.

olympic gold medallist, Tom King from Australia admitted:

“It was a question of holding one’s nerve and being patient.”

Tactician on Ivan Wheen’s Sputnik, King helped his skipper to

results of 5-30-3, he added: “There were always opportunities,

even when you were back in the f leet, to get back to

the front again.”

Three races were scheduled for the next day as well but the

weather had other ideas. The south-westerly breeze of 12-14

knots faded to 8 knots for the second race and then became so

light and fluky that the third race was postponed with the fitful

breeze threatening to drop further.

Vincenzo onorato’s Mascalzone Latino became the overall leader

at the end of the second day, after posting a 12th and then a win.

It proved that even the leaders were finding it difficult. Tactician

Adrian stead summed up their day: “The first race was pretty

tricky and our start wasn’t that brilliant. We went around the

top mark in about 15th place, didn’t have a very good run and

probably dropped back to about 19th. on the second run we got

ourselves from 20th at the top mark to 12th at the finish and

could see that every boat we got past made a lot of difference to

the overall result.”

I’m glad we were here to sail for a while before the Worlds – this Class is so tough!

Copenhagen’s famous statue.

Team Bergen – sverre Valeur


13 6

but Mascalzone Latino’s crew turned it around in the second

race, stead said, “I thought the left was pretty strong on the first

beat and we went for it and it paid off.” he added: “Alinghi sailed

brilliantly today. I think we were 4th boat on the day [on points]

and our goal has always been to be in the top five. halfway

through the regatta and I see that we’ve just got a small head

start.”

on the third day, it was cold and rainy, but as a compensation

there was some good breeze, sufficient for three races to be held,

even though two starts had to be postponed to enable the race

committee to alter the course to suit the shifting wind. once

more, there was a different winner for each of the races.

Consistency being the keynote for ultimate success, it was the

performance of onorato and his crew on Mascalzone Latino that

was to prove outstanding. Posting results of 3-5-5, the winner

in 2006 had a total of 37 points from the eight races and was 24

points clear of his nearest rival, Jim Richardson with Barking

Mad, on 61 points. Richardson had a score of 14-6-2 for the day

and led 3rd placed Alinghi on 75 points. The swiss team effectively

lessened their chances for 1st place when they were over early in

the last race of the day and had to return to restart.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

Calvi – Carlo Alberini

20 07CoPe n h AGe n

13 7

It was a question of holding one’s nerve and being patient....

There were always opportunities even when you are at the

back of the fleet, to get back in front again.


13 8

I feel wonderful. Mascalzone latino 1st. Alinghi 2nd. It’s my

dream. Next dream is to do that in the America’s Cup maybe.

Infinity – John Thomson


20 07CoPe n h AGe n

13 9


1 4 0

Two races were planned for the last day, but as with the best laid

plans, it needed great patience on the part of the race committee

to run even one. Three hours of delay elapsed before the ninth race

began. It was all worthwhile for the locals, for hRh Crown Prince

Frederik of Denmark won the race from Wolfgang stoltz’s Opus One,

followed by John Thomson’s Infinity in 3rd. With Alinghi 7th and

Mascalzone Latino 10th, the first two places were settled and even

a 26th for Barking Mad didn’t keep Richardson off the podium.

onorato became the first skipper to achieve back-to-back

championship victories in the Class with a 35 point lead over

Alinghi. Barking Mad finished a further five points behind.

The winner, after being dunked at the dockside, said: “I feel

wonderful. Mascalzone Latino 1st, Alinghi 2nd. It’s my dream.

next dream is to do that in the America’s Cup maybe. Winning

and defending the Worlds is just a matter of luck maybe.”

he continued, “The secret was just to be relaxed. It is just a sail

race and you must stay relaxed all the time. When things are

happy you must not be so happy. When things are wrong you

must not be so unhappy. This is the secret to be successful. I have

wonderful people on board. This world championship does not

belong to me but to them. because I have this wonderful crew, we

won, and with this wonderful crew we will win again. I sincerely

mean that.” Alinghi sailed a great regatta – only an oCs in the

eighth race took them out of contention for the overall title —

especially good, given the team hasn’t been in the Farr 40 Class

for a while. ernesto is keen to continue in the Class and said to

me that he had plans to ship the boat to the us to race in Key

West Race Week and the next Worlds in Miami.”

Norwegian Steam – eivind Astrup Opus 1 – Wolfgang stolz

20 07CoPe n h AGe n

1 4 1

Baloo – Jens erik host


1 4 2

Results:


Vincenzo onorato (ITA)2,2,7,12,1,3,5,5,10 47 points

2. Alinghi

ernesto bertarelli (suI)18,5,4,2,5,5,2,34,7 82 points

3. Barking Mad

Jim Richardson (usA)

7,16,5,1,10,14,6,2,26

87 points

4. Sputnik Ivan Wheen

(Aus)

5,30,2,5,6,10,1,19,13

91 points

5. Opus One

Wolfgang stolz (GeR)

4,3,6,16,28,32,7,3,2

101 points

6. Nerone Massimo

Mezzaroma and Antonio

sodo Migliori (ITA)

3,6,1,11,18,21,37(DsQ),7,8,

112 points

20 07CoPe n h AGe n

1 4 3


1 4 4

20 07CoPe n h AGe n

1 4 5

Vincenzo Onorato Mascalzone Latino (iTa) 2007 World Champion


1 4 6

Vincenzo onorato scored his third successive world championship

in the turquoise waters off Miami. his impact on the Farr 40

Class had not been dulled and his victory was the reward of

consistency despite an almost crippling setback before racing

even started. At the finish it was close and needed the successful

outcome of a protest against his closest rival, Giovanni Maspero,

to decide the issue.

on the day before the championship, onorato lost the services of

his long-term aide and tactician, Adrian stead, who was rushed

home for the early birth of his first child. It was a blow to the

whole crew, which regarded stead as a very special ingredient

within the Mascalzone Latino team. That evening onorato

declared, “My championship is over.”

Many of his 32 competitors were wishing his prediction would be

correct, but onorato was to prove himself wrong. he secured the

services of Morgan larson as a one day replacement for stead,

while John Kostecki re-arranged his life at short notice to attend

the championship. For a while the Italian must have wondered

whether his eventual choice was correct – larson left with the

latin Rascals leading on points and Kostecki’s first race saw the

team score its lowest result – a 14th.

Maspero and his Joe Fly team had been quite prepared to gloss

over a foul committed by a good natured Danish competitor at

the start of an earlier race when Joe Fly had barged in at the

committee boat. but a second protest, brought by Mascalzone

Latino, as a third party against Joe Fly for fouling Richardson’s

Barking Mad on the approach to the first windward mark of

the penultimate race, drew a fierce retort from Maspero, who

threatened to not only withdraw from the championship, but the

Class if vested interests caused him to lose the protest.

The problem, as far as the Italian was concerned, were the

bMW oracle Racing connections between the jury and the

Mascalzone Latino crew. In an open letter to the Race Committee,

Maspero stated: “everyone knows that Tom ehman, chairman of

the adjudicatory committee, works for the American bMW oracle

That evening onorato declared. ‘My championship is

over... Many of his 32 competitors were wishing his

prediction would be correct.

2008 Miami

Groovederci – John Demourkas crosses Nerone – Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori

Plenty – Alex Roepers crosses behind Nanoq - Crown Prince Frederik

20 08 M I A M I

1 47

team. likewise Richard slater, another member of the 2008 Farr

40 Worlds jury. Another judge present, henry Menin, worked for

the oracle Team in 2000. And John Kostecki, Mascalzone Latino’s

tactician in Miami, the person who formally lodged and argued the

case against Joe Fly, is also an employee of bMW oracle Racing.

The close links between Mascalzone Latino and bMW oracle

Racing are common knowledge.”

Maspero was grasping at straws and went into threatening

mode: “The conflict of interest is too blatant. This situation

led us to reject the Jury’s decision, whether or not an appeal is

possible. And it leads me to undertake whatever action I can,

in the interests of the Joe Fly team obviously, but above all for

everyone who invests in this sport, so that everyone may enjoy

equal rights, safeguards and dignity.”

history was not on Maspero’s side. When members of the Alinghi

team complained about ehman chairing the International

Jury at the 2007 world championship in Copenhagen, the

matter was referred to IsAF, which cleared ehman of any

conflict of interest. Maspero’s final dart thrown at the committee

was a press release issued two days after the championship had

finished, stating: “We are convinced that judgements and rankings

in this sport should come from the water and not an adjudicators’

room.” suggesting that the way in which the sport has been run

for over a hundred years was incorrect and implied that the

right-of-way rules meant nothing.

Filibustering aside, the rest of the fleet enjoyed some of the best

racing ever in the 11 year history of the Class. Robert hughes’

Heartbreaker won the first race from Takashi okura’s Sled,

followed by the defending champion Mascalzone Latino.

The second race went to Joe Fly from Atalanti steered by George

Andreadis’ son, stratis, with Peter de Ridder’s Mean Machine 3rd.

Mascalzone Latino won the third race of the day from traditional

Italian rival, Massimo Mezzaroma and his Nerone crew, with

former champion, Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad 3rd. It was

enough to transport onorato to the top of the points table.

Nerone – Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori leads the f leet

Ramrod – Rod Jabin crosses Infinity – John Thomson


1 4 8

Mascalzone Latino

- Vincenzo onorato

powers upwind

Flash Gordon helmut Jahn

Morning Glory leads

Alinghi - ernesto bertarelli

20 08 M I A M I

1 4 9

Sled - Takashi okura


15 0

Joe Fly – Giovanni Gaspero

20 08 M I A M I

15 1

Nanoq – Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

leads the pack into the windward mark


15 2

With the northerly breeze forecast to veer, there was considerable

thought about the course on the second day and after a slight

delay, Wolfgang stolz’ Opus One led from start to finish and won

by 3 minutes 15 seconds ahead of Barking Mad, Rob Jabin’s

Ramrod and Martin and lisa hill’s Estate Master. significantly

Mascalzone Latino and Joe Fly were back in 14th and 15th.

A wind shift at the start of the fifth race had the whole fleet fighting

for position on the right hand side of the course. Mascalzone Latino

gained most and led around the first mark from hasso Plattner’s

Morning Glory and henrik Jansen’s Silver Bullet. once they were

heading downwind Silver Bullet flashed past the leader, and Nerone

also gained eleven places to round the bottom gate 3rd. At the

finish, Nerone won from Silver Bullet with the latin Rascals 3rd.

The sixth race was notable for the flashy starting tactics displayed

by the Mean Machine crew. skipper Peter de Ridder with Ray

Davies calling the shots, found a gap at the committee boat end

of the line, hit it at speed, tacked immediately into clear air on

port tack and was never headed. It was left to the rest to fight out

the lesser places. Joe Fly was 2nd ahead of ole van der heide’s

Asterisk with onorato 5th behind erik Maris’ Twins. Mascalzone

Latino finished the day top boat, one point ahead of Joe Fly and

one more from Barking Mad.

Day three witnessed two general recalls and then a Z flag start

(penalising any early starters 10%, or three points). This caught

out Twins – the only premature starter – which was unable

to recover and finished last. Estate Master led around the

windward mark but was passed by helmut Jahn’s Flash Gordon

on the second windward leg. Jahn however could not sustain the

pressure and fell back to 3rd at the finish behind the Australian

yacht and Barking Mad. Joe Fly was 5th and Mascalzone Latino

6th, narrowing the championship lead to just two points.

The second race of the day again witnessed a general recall under

a Z flag. The second start saw two boats penalised - one of them

being ernesto bertarelli’s Alinghi which led throughout the race.

The swiss yacht was followed home by Joe Fly and Mascalzone

Fiamma – Alessandro barnaba

Goombay Smash – William Douglass

20 08 M I A M I

15 3



15 4

Latino, which reduced the championship leader’s advantage to a

single point. The penultimate race saw the protest incident that

led to Giovanni Maspero’s undoing and overshadowed Ramrod’s

start-to-finish win ahead of Mean Machine and Crown Prince

Frederik’s Nanoq. The bitter feelings between the two rival Italian

teams could easily have overflowed into the final race, especially

as only one point divided them at the top of the championship

standings. but to the credit of both Mascalzone Latino and Joe

Fly crews, neither tried to initiate a private duel.

In the end, Wolfgang stolz’ Opus One took up the front running

on the first downwind leg and held off all opponents to become

the only boat to win two races. Joe Fly’s 5th would have been

enough to win the championship had she not been disqualified in

the previous race, and the World Cup went instead to arch-rival

Mascalzone Latino which finished 9th to win the championship

for a record 3rd time in succession.

Results:

1. Mascalzone Latino Vincenzo onorato (ITA) 3,12,1,14,3,5,6,3,7,9 63 points

2. Joe Fly Giovanni Maspero (ITA) 9,1,8,15,6,2,5,2,34(DsQ),5 87 points

3. Mean Machine Peter de Ridder (Mon) 24,3,9,9,14,1,14,9,2,17 102 points

4. Nanoq Crown Prince Frederik (Den) 13,15,16,20,17,9,4,13scp,3,4 114 points

5. Calvi Network Carlo Alberni (ITA) 6,9,12,33,26,14,7,7,4,2 120 points

6. Alinghi ernesto bertarelli (suI) 8,14,6,6,7,20,9,4scp,32,15 121 points

*scp indicates an added scoring penalty.

Mean Machine - Peter de Ridder Calvi – Carlo Alberini

20 08 M I A M I

15 5

Estate Master – lisa and Martin hill


15 6

20 08 M I A M I

15 7

Vincenzo Onorato Mascalzone Latino (iTa) 2008 World Champion


15 8

Great competitors: Barking Mad - Jim Richardson crosses

Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma & Antonio sodo Migliori

20 09 P oRT o CeRVo

15 9


2009 Porto Cervo

Porto Cervo laid on one of the feasts for which it is famous in

the sailing world. For the opening day. Jim Richardson’s Barking

Mad had a narrow three-point lead over Vincenzo onorato’s

Mascalzone Latino and Giovanni Maspero’s Joe Fly. These first

three races were held in 16-22 knot westerly winds and were all

won by boats that had started well.

Maspero and his Joe Fly team were competing in their first

regatta of the season and their performance after the previous

championship proved a show of force. but, the crew with the

biggest grins at the end of that first day were worn by the

Australians on Transfusion. skipper Guido belgiorno-nettis was

suitably impressed. “It was a wonderful day with tremendous

conditions. We made a few mistakes in the first couple of races

where we didn’t quite clear the start as we would like, but we’re

also here to figure out how it all works. This is the first time

we’ve competed against the big boys of the Class.”

Doug Douglass, owner of Goombay Smash, had to admit that a

bad start was responsible for a fall from grace in the third race.

he commented: “We were fast both upwind and down, but in the

last race didn’t find our lanes as nicely as the previous two. It

really helped to get a clear lane off a good start.”

In the first race Barking Mad led Joe Fly and Mascalzone Latino

round the first windward mark. by the second windward mark

Mascalzone Latino had overtaken Joe Fly and Maspero’s team

then fell further back, crossing the finish line 4th behind

Alessandro barnaba’s Fiamma.

The breeze then dropped to 16 knots for the second race. At the

first windward mark. Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone, with Vasco

Vascotto calling tactics, led the f leet ahead of Alberto Rossi’s

Enfant Terrible and lang Walker’s Kokomo. Nerone and Enfant

Terrible held their positions through the leeward gate but Goombay

Smash moved up to 3rd, then overtook Enfant Terrible during the

second windward leg to finish 2nd behind Nerone.

The winds developed into a true Mistral for the start of the

third race. Transfusion took the lead ahead of helmut Jahn’s

Flash Gordon and Barking Mad from the start. Flash Gordon

took over from Transfusion during the downwind leg and they

were followed into the gate by Mascalzone Latino. Transfusion

This is the first time we’ve competed against the big

boys of the Class.

Gianfranco Alberini - A good

friend to the Class.


1 6 0

then clawed back her lead on the final windward leg ahead of

Mascalzone Latino and Flash Gordon.

onorato commented: “We had the kind of conditions we like

today. The Mascalzone Latino team does well in brisk winds. We

took 2nd place overall today but there is still a lot of racing left in

this championship. I think we have made an error. We didn’t go

to sail on the Australian circuit where the winds are strong and

constant, so we haven’t fully completed our training for strong

wind conditions.”

Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad, Giovanni Maspero’s Joe Fly and

Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone held their nerve best during the

second heavy weather day of racing and led the fleet. neither race

got away cleanly. The first required two attempts, the second

three. In the first, two boats still had it wrong second time round

despite the threat of a Z Flag – which adds an irredeemable

three-point scoring penalty for boats over early. In the second,

eleven more sailed the course under the shadow of the penalty

flag. Those away cleanly had a relatively easy day. both Barking

Mad and Joe Fly led races from start to finish, Joe Fly having

the better day, posting a 4th, but Barking Mad had a 6th in the

second race, and remained 1st overall.

If those three were the movers, the shakers were Transfusion

for one, with a scoreline of 3-20, and Mascalzone Latino did only

slightly better, with 17 points, pulled down by a Z flag penalty

in the second race. Another potential front-runner, Alessandro

barnaba’s Fiamma totalled 34 points, which put a severe dent in

her championship challenge.

Positions only began to solidify during the third day of racing

when Barking Mad had a 6 point lead over Nerone with Joe Fly a

further 10 points adrift. Defending champion, Mascalzone Latino

appeared to be out of contention altogether but bounced back

with a win in the first race. It proved a false dawn, for two 13th

places later, any aspirations the Italians had of retaining their

championship were dashed. Barking Mad’s 6th kept her at the

front of the fleet, but Nerone had closed the gap.

Good Fellas – ettore Morace

Transfusion - Guido belgiorno-nettis

20 09P oRTo CeRVo

1 61

Hooligan – edward broadway


1 6 2

20 09P oRTo CeRVo

1 6 3

Flash Gordon – helmut Jahn


1 6 4

Nerone opened with a 2nd, then won the next race, but in the

building south-westerly breeze undid the thread by being over too

soon at the start of the third. In that race, Marco Rodolfi’s TWT

finally showed her true potential, passing helmut Jahn’s Flash

Gordon on the final leg to win. Jim Richardson’s crew on Barking

Mad pushed hard to limit the potential loss to Nerone. sitting

behind Goombay Smash and Flash Gordon at the first leeward

rounding, Richardson and his tactician Terry hutchinson worked

some special magic to pass first Doug Douglass, and then slip

in front of helmut Jahn’s Flash Gordon at the second windward

mark.

Those two precious places meant the difference between

Barking Mad leading overall at the end of the race or seeing

her position eroded still further. The third race of the day

proved even more critical. Vascotto looked to seize the initiative

on Nerone appearing to hit the line perfectly and at speed.

but a few seconds later, Nerone was heading back to restart

- one of two boats to have been caught over the line early by

ever-vigilant race officials.

With the f leet heading left, Nerone went right. At the first

windward mark she was 19th and it looked game-over when

Barking Mad rounded 3rd, a position she never gave up. At

the finish Nerone recovered to 8th, but from Jim Richardson’s

viewpoint, the two-time world champion could not have been

better placed going into the last day. Richardson chose his

words carefully: “I think we are sailing very well. We are sailing

conservatively, not taking chances, sometimes starting at the

wrong end of the line to avoid getting congested or pushed over

the line.”

on the last day, two races were sailed in winds gusting up to the

mid-20s. Nerone put down a marker by winning the first race

of the day and set up a winner-takes-all final race. Mascalzone

Latino won the race, but significantly, Jim Richardson’s Barking

Mad crossed the line ahead of Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone to

secure the title for a third time – the first time an American boat

had won outside of home waters. Atalanti - stratis Andreadis

20 09P oRTo CeRVo

1 6 5

Plenty – Alex Roepers


1 6 6

Nerone went out all guns blazing by taking the left side of the

course and, popping out from the pin-end of the line to steal the

left hand advantage up the first beat and lead Giovanni Maspero’s

Joe Fly and helmut Jahn’s Flash Gordon to the finish. Barking

Mad, opted for the centre and rounded the top mark mid-fleet.

undaunted, Richardson’s crew dug deep to pull themselves back

up to 6th at the finish and retain a tenuous 1 point lead going

into the final race.

The significance of this was not lost on the 2nd placed Nerone

skipper: “Whoever come home in front in the next race will win

the championship. It rarely happens that after nine races with

250 points to win or lose, that just 1 point would divide us. It is

very exciting.”

At the start, Nerone headed left once more but on Barking Mad,

the lure of the left was not as strong. This was a conservative

crew after all. According to Richardson: “We just looked at each

other immediately before the start and said. ‘This is why we’re

here. We’re here for an opportunity to win the regatta on the last

race.’ What more could you want?”

After, Richardson confessed to some troubled thoughts: “I never

doubted my team’s capability, but leading wire-to-wire adds

extra pressure with each successive race. In 1999, we led going

into the last race and ended up 3rd, so that was in the back of my

mind. but I felt pretty comfortable that we were going to be able

to have a good start and get around the course in good shape. We

knew we had our hands full, and just had to sail well.”

At the end of the first beat, Barking Mad found herself in 2nd

place, hot on the heels of Alessandro barnaba’s Fiamma and

overtook the Italian boat at the offset mark with a textbook

spinnaker hoist. Counting back to Nerone, it was evident that the

left had not paid. All Barking Mad had to do was to keep in front.

“They gained on us on the second beat, but we were safe down

at the bottom mark” recalled hutchinson, adding : “From that

point it was about minimising damage and sailing a good clean

race to the finish.”

Mangusta Risk – Andrea Canavesio

Nanoq - Prince Frederik leads Flash Gordon - helmut Jahn

20 09 P oRT o CeRVo

1 6 7

Results:

1. Barking Mad

Jim Richardson (usA)1,6,4,1,6,6,3,3,6,2 38 points

2. Nerone

Massimo Mezzaroma (ITA)5,1,13,2,4,2,1,8,1,8 45 points

3. Joe Fly

Giovanni Maspero (ITA)4,5,5,4,1,19,2,6,2,5 53 points


Vincezo onorato (ITA)2,10,2,9,8,1,13,13,7,1 66 points

5. Flash Gordon

helmut Jahn (usA)

20,4,3,11,11,20,4,2,3,3

81 points

6. Plenty

Alex Roepers (usA)

12,13,19,13,10,4,15,5,4,7

102 points

For Richardson, it was a dream come true, “We’re very, very

happy. Coming to Italy and winning this world championship in

Porto Cervo is an amazing feeling for us. There were so many

good teams out there, particularly the Italians, and to be able to

win in their home waters is a great thrill for us. We tried to stay

calm all week. It’s easy to get too wound up. our basic philosophy

throughout the regatta was not to take chances, or risks. When

necessary we ducked boats rather than try to force an issue. our

point score is a tribute to how well we sailed the boat. our worst

race was a 6th and that is pretty good.”

Vincenzo onorato, the outgoing, three-time world champion,

laughingly remarked that his last race that year was also the

first race of his 2010 campaign. “This was a wonderful story for

the Class.” he added.

Vantas Cube – Martin strobel

Nerone – Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori


1 6 8


20 09P oRTo CeRVo

1 6 9

Jim richardson Barking Mad (Usa) 2009 World Champion


1 7 0

Flash Gordon – helmut Jahn crosses

Transfusion – Guido belgiorno-nettis

2010 C A sA De C A M P o

1 7 1

2010 Casa de Campo

Australians Martin and lisa hill sailing Estate Master won the

five-race pre-Worlds at the Casa de Campo resort in la Romana,

Dominican Republic. They had spent a full week acclimatising after

their long trip to the Caribbean venue. hill was clearly enthused

about his team’s pre-Worlds victory but cautioned, “There’s always

a voodoo about winning the pre-Worlds. It’s bad luck, but then

I’m not into superstitions, and have got to take any international

regatta that I can. It is lovely – the wind, the sunshine, and just

being in the Caribbean – it’s just fantastic here.”

such enthusiasm was in stark contrast to attitudes elsewhere in the

world, for the economic recession led to a depleted entry of just ten

boats from four nations.

The first race was delayed by two hours while Race officer Peter

Reggio allowed a light south-south-westerly breeze to fill in – a

wise move when temperatures were approaching 350C.

Transfusion skippered by Guido belgiorno-nettis, led the pack

from the pin end. he admitted later, “We decided we wanted

to go conservative at the start – we found ourselves a nice little

lane. Then we just kept out of trouble, though Tom slingsby, our

tactician, must have felt it was just worth staying were we were,

for we didn’t do many tacks and we got to the top mark 1st. From

there we kept that gap all the way to the finish in very light, very

challenging conditions…It was very exhausting.”

The breeze increased slightly to 12 knots for the second race, and

the fleet became tightly packed at the pin end of the start line.

Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone was very close to being over early,

and clearly thought they were, for her crew turned the boat around,

sailed back and re-crossed the start line even though there was no

recall. so it was all the more impressive when Nerone clawed back

from last place to finish 5th. Vasco Vascotto, Nerone’s frustrated

tactician said, “When we came back (to restart) we gave a big

present to everyone. We had an opportunity to do better. The 4

points we lost today - I hope it is enough for the competitors!”

Transfusion won the second race too, after moving up from 3rd at

the first mark to lead at the start of the final run to the finish. by

the third race however, Guido belgiorno-nettis’ luck had run out,

along with the wind which dropped back to 6-8 knots. Instead, Doug

Douglass’ Goombay Smash led from the pin, followed by Estate

Master, Transfusion and Wolfgang schaefer’s Struntje Light on her

hip. It was only on the final leg that Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad

came into the equation. Richardson said: “The wind had lightened

up a bit, and people were getting cranky, having been out in the

heat all day. I thought our crew did a really good job of sailing in

those conditions. everyone kept their focus.”


1 7 2

Barking Mad was 2nd around the first mark and chose to round

the leeward gate while Goombay Smash and Nerone both opted for

the right hand side. heading downwind to the finish, Barking Mad

started to reel in Goombay Smash. Richardson recalled, “It’s hard to

defend downwind in light air, and we got inside of them with a bit

more pressure and sat on their air.” The finish looked too close to

call until just before they crossed. Barking Mad found a touch more

wind to cross the finish line by a short head.

Activities on the water were wiped out by a lack of wind on the

second day, and it was not much better on the third.

It appeared that Vasco Vascotto, Nerone’s tactician, might hold the

answer to the outcome in the palm of his hand. even when Nerone

appeared slow on the first beat, Vascotto pulled out all the stops to

take the Italian boat from 8th to 2nd in the day’s opening race.

In the next, Nerone went one better, winning convincingly from

Goombay Smash, having had the good fortune of watching from the

back of the fleet when a massive wind shift forced the first start to

be abandoned. After they re-started, everything went Nerone’s way.

4th at the first mark, and with Transfusion buried, the Italians even

overcame a sail handling error at the bottom mark that cost them

dearly. Vascotto explained: “Today was one of the most wonderful

days of the past few seasons. We had two 1sts, one 2nd and a 7th.

These are conditions that we like a lot. We found passing lanes,

we were ‘in phase’ with the shifts. now, only two points divide us

from Transfusion. Tomorrow will be tough, but it will be tough for

Transfusion too.”

not many tacticians could match that good fortune. Two-time

olympic silver medallist Ian Walker, the tactician on Doug Douglass’

Goombay Smash, was close to putting a gun to his head after

counting 7th and 10th places, but ending the day with two podium

places helped considerably. “It was not physically tough out there”

he said, “but it was mentally very hard. In the first two races we

were dreadful, just getting on the wrong side of some huge shifts.

There was a little bit more wind in the last two races, it was a bit

more regular, we sailed well and were rewarded with two 2nds.”

Goombay Smash - Doug Douglass

Enfant Terrible - Alberto Rossi


1 7 3

Transfusion – Guido belgiorno-nettis


1 74

Struntje Light – Wolfgang schaefer


1 7 5

Transfusion was last at the Pre-Worlds, so heading into the final

day with a slender lead was a massive surprise bonus. no one was

taking anything for granted. slingsby headed for early bed: “I’m

not doing anything special tonight. Just sleep. The more sleep the

better! It could be an early start, so I’m just going to rest up and

hopefully the team will too.”

With three races needed to complete the series, Race officer Peter

Reggio brought forward the first signal to 10:00. happily the wind

was on his side.

The Australians had a two-point cushion at the start of the day,

but belgiorno-nettis knew it was not enough to feel comfortable.

he had to stay in front of Nerone. The Italians, however, had

proved wily foxes, capable of sniffing out an advantage from

the most improbable situations, and did so at the bottom mark

rounding during the day’s first race. Transfusion, running 2nd to

the eventual winner, helmut Jahn’s Flash Gordon, rounded the

right hand gate mark and tacked almost immediately. Nerone,

charging down under spinnaker with the crew’s minds firmly

on a clean spinnaker drop, found themselves completely out of

position. Nerone fouled her Australian rival and was forced to take

a penalty turn. They did so, and limited the damage to 1 point

by the end of the race.

With the wind still swinging as it increased in strength, the next

race was all about keeping in phase with the shifts. Vasco Vascotto

managed to keep Nerone on the right track and did a better job than

Transfusion. The difference between the 1st and 5th places they

scored respectively, turned the balance in favour of the Italians

for the first time in the championship. Nerone now led by a single

point and the tactics from there on could not have been simpler.

As the breeze continued to build at the start of the last race, the

Italians went straight into match race mode. Transfusion slipped

their initial cover, gaining a good start at the committee boat end,

but the two seemed bound to each other around the marks. The

Australians had an additional problem; they needed another boat

between them and Nerone, and for a time it appeared that Enfant

Fiamma – Alessandro barnaba

Enfante Terrible - Alberto Rossi


1 7 6

Varied conditions in the Dominican Republic provided very challenging conditions... It was exhausting!

The need for a spreader

mark becomes obvious

Fiamma – Alessandro

barnaba and Enfant

Terrible – Alberto Rossi


1 7 7

Struntje Light – Wolfgang

schaefer leads Barking Mad

– Jim Richardson


1 7 8

Transfusion - Guido belgiorno-nettis


1 7 9


1 8 0

Terrible might oblige. but twice the Nerone crew shut the door by

tacking on their fellow countrymen, leaving Barking Mad to sail

further away in the lead. As the breeze continued to increase, tension

mounted on the final downwind leg. Transfusion threw in a couple

of gybes, hoping to induce Nerone into a broach, but it was all to no

avail. Nerone rolled over the Aussies and won the championship by

a 2 point margin.

The final day was Jim Richardson’s. Barking Mad chalked up a 2-3-

1 score-line to take 3rd overall.

After losing the 2009 championship in the final race, Massimo

Mezzarona was ecstatic. “This world championship win has a lot

of meaning for us because Antonio sodo Migliori, my co-owner

and helmsman, had a very bad accident. We’ve done this for him

and simon, who’s been sailing with us for ten years. These two are

injured at home, so it was very important for us to get this result.”

Results:

1. Nerone

Massimo Mezzaroma and

Alberto signorini (ITA)

2-5-5-2-1-1-7-4-1-2,

30 points

2. Transfusion

Guido belgiorno-nettis (Aus))

11-1-3-3-2-6-5-3-5-3,

32 points

3. Barking Mad


4-3-1-10 -3-3-3-8 -2-3-1,

38 points

4. Estate Master

lisa and Martin hill (Aus)

7-2-10-8-4-9-1-5-2-7,

52.5 points

5. Fiamma

Alessandro barnaba (ITA)

5-7-6-1-7-1-10-6-6-4-6,

58points

6. Enfant Terrible

Alberto Rossi (ITA)

6 -10 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 4 - 4 - 7 - 8 - 4 ,

58 points

Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma &

Alberto signorini

Fiamma - Alessandro barnaba


1 81

Estate Master – lisa and Martin hill

leads the pack


1 8 2


1 8 3

massimo mezzaroma Nerone (iTa) 2010 World Champion


1 8 4

Flash Gordon – helmut & Ivan JahnHooligan - Marcus blackmore

leads fleet of the start line

2011 s Y Dn e Y

1 8 5

2011 Sydney

The racing in the 2011 world championship, held off sydney, could

not have been closer. While three boats shone on the opening day, it

came down to a battle between two of them for the outright honour.

That battle continued right through to the tenth and final race

when just 2 points separated them, and with no other challenger

for the title, the outcome remained in doubt until the finishing line

was crossed.

The die, however, was cast on the opening day in a north-easterly

airstream that increased from 8 to 15 knots – a pattern that was to

be maintained throughout the championship – with a reasonable

swell off the heads. From the outset, PRo, Peter ‘luigi’ Reggio, kept

the 20-strong class in order, tolerating no unnecessary premature

starting, preferring to identify the individuals at fault.

The defending champions, Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo

Migliori’s Nerone with Vasco Vascotto as tactician, made it readily

apparent that they were not going to relinquish the title easily.

While lisa and Martin hill’s Estate Master, guided by the three-

time laser world champion, Tom slingsby, took the first race,

Nerone was hard on their heels.

Then Nerone stamped her authority on the fleet in the second race

with a win to lead the series when Estate Master slipped to 8th.

Vascotto, who has been with this team for several years, said of the

crew that they had bonded so well over that time, that he admits

that even if he were given the opportunity: “I would not want to

replace any of the amateurs on board with professionals“. That

was no faint praise.

Guido belgiorno-nettis was displaying consistency in Transfusion

with a couple of 4th places. he had finished 2nd to Nerone at the

previous world championship and now was in the same relative

position to the Italians and a point ahead of Estate Master.

There was the most wind of the day for the third race and

Nerone was called over early and had to go back. This left Estate

Master and Transfusion to duke it out with Wolfgang and Angela

schaefer’s Struntje Light. The hills took the winning gun, but

Transfusion’s 2nd place put her on level points with Estate Master.

by recovering to 10th, Nerone was 3rd overall at the end of the

first day. belgiorno-nettis, who had swapped slingsby for John

Kostecki as tactician, must have been happy with his choice. The

olympian, who had won this championship twice before as well

as the America’s Cup and the Volvo ocean Race, is well known for

Enigma - David Gotze and Michael

Cranitch battle Struntje Light - Wolfgang

schaeffer


1 8 6

his strategic consistency.‘luigi’ delayed the start of the second

day’s racing to allow the sea breeze to fill in and began race

four with 10 knots from the north-east. An unlikely Vascotto call

saw Nerone starting at the pin end. It proved her undoing since

she finished 10th, a position that was subsequently improved by

two places when two boats that had finished in front of her were

disqualified on protest. Transfusion led all the way round to win

from helmut and evan Jahn in Flash Gordon with Struntje Light

3rd, but the German boat was one of those disqualified for an

incident at the weather mark first time round.

The next two races proved a triumph for the defending champion,

when Nerone led all the way round from Jim Richardson’s

Barking Mad with Andrew hunn and lloyd Clark’s Voodoo Chile

3rd. Transfusion, after being 3rd for the first round, slipped to

7th at the finish. The sixth race caused some grief for ‘luigi.’

The second general recall brought the radio comment from him:

“Come on guys, that’s as bad as I’ve ever seen you!”

This brought the fleet to heel and it was away cleanly the next

time. Active management of the race course is essential in

‘luigi’s’ view, “I have to be on top of the boats, watching their

angles. The race boats will tell me of a wind shift long before the

mark boats.” With the wind swinging from 070° to 035° during

the afternoon, more than once his team was forced into action,

shortening course lengths and resetting marks.

Nerone led from the committee boat end of the line all the way

around the course to win from Voodoo Chile and Barking Mad,

but a 4th for Transfusion was sufficient to keep belgiorno-nettis

at the front, just 1 point ahead of the Italians. Estate Master had

slipped slightly – 11 points further behind in 3rd place overall.

The championship was developing in a characteristic manner.

Conditions were much the same on the next day and first off

belgiomo-nettis made it clear that he wanted to win. Transfusion

led for the first round of race seven but allowed three boats to

slip in front before the finish. That finish could not have been

closer when Dougie Douglass’s Goombay Smash shaded out Estate Master – lisa and Martin hill

Flash Gordon - helmut and evan Jahn cross Transfusion - Guido belgiorno-nettis

2011s Y Dn e Y

1 8 7Wired – stephen boyes


1 8 8

2011s Y Dn e Y

1 8 9


19 0

Struntje Light by the thickness of her spinnaker on the line with

lang Walker’s Kokomo 3rd just ahead of Transfusion, which was

able to retain the overall lead from 6th placed Nerone.

The wind was almost due north for the 2nd race of the day and

reached 15 knots. It was tailor-made for Nerone, who led all the

way around from Barking Mad. Flash Gordon claimed 3rd just

ahead of Marcus blackmore with Holligan, in turn one place

ahead of Transfusion. At the end of the day Nerone led by 1 point

from Transfusion and then there was a 20 point gap to Flash

Gordon.

At the top, it was a reversal of the previous year when Transfusion

led by 2 points from Nerone, and this must have been in the back

of both skippers’ minds as they began the final day. When they

finished the ninth race 1st and 2nd, Nerone led by 2 points with

only the final race to come. And what a race that proved to be.

Nerone, abandoning her usual committee boat end start, was

blanketed in mid-line, and despite a 1.8 mile windward leg, this

appeared to seal her fate. Jim Richardson took Barking Mad into

the early lead, hotly pursued by Transfusion, Flash Gordon and

Estate Master. Nerone was 8th around the windward mark. The

two leaders held their positions on the run while Nerone slipped

to 10th after taking an early gybe.

The last windward leg was shortened to 1.6 miles. At the weather

mark, Barking Mad held a 15 second lead over Transfusion, while

Nerone had climbed to 7th. Could the Italians do enough to retain

their title? A 4th would have been enough to level the points and

for them to win on countback. Places were changing all the time

and it looked at one stage as though the mission impossible might

be made possible. but Transfusion held on to 2nd place behind

Barking Mad and then the Transfusion crew looked back to the

finish line to see Goombay Smash, Estate Master and Voodoo

Chile cross before Nerone.

Guido belgiorno-nettis and his crew leapt into the air in

realisation of their objective – reversing last year’s result and

Plenty – Alex Roepers leads Struntje Light - Wolfgang schaefer

Edake – Jeff Carter crosses Voodoo Chile – Andrew hunn and lloyd Clarke

2011s Y Dn e Y

19 1Nerone - Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori


19 2

Edake - Jeff Carter

2011 s Y Dn e Y

19 3

Results:

1. Transfusion Guido belgiorno-nettis (Aus) 4 4 2 1 7 4 4 5 2 2 35 points


Antonio sodo Migliori (ITA) 2 1 10 8 1 1 6 1 1 6 37 points

3. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA) 15 10 5 9 2 3 10 2 5 1 62 points

4. Flash Gordon helmut and

evan Jahn (usA)11 2 9 2 8 5 11 3 4 9 64 points

5. Estate Master lisa and Martin hill (Aus) 1 8 1 5 9 10 12 12 8 4 70 points

6. Goombay Smash William Douglass (usA) 9 6 17 10 11 16 1 6 3 3 82 points

becoming the world champions for the first time. The skipper

admitted: “It is a big achievement, it’s still sinking in. I joined the

class in 2007 and in the first year we decided to have a shot at

the Worlds. It’s been a three year programme and it came down

to the last race. We certainly peaked at the right time.”

Though noticeably disappointed, Vasco Vascotto, Nerone’s

tactician was gracious in defeat: “Transfusion was the best boat

of the week. The way they recovered in the first race, for us, that

was the clear signal that they were still alive. It’s the reverse of

last year, which is good for the class.”

The 2012 World Championship will be held in Chicago.

Struntje Light - Wolfgang schaefer


19 4

2011s Y Dn e Y

19 5

Guido Belgiorno-nettis Transfusion (aUs) 2011 World Champions


19 6

Day one of the 2010 Farr 40 european Championship at Porto

Rotondo saw the ten yachts compete in two windward-leeward

races in light and tricky conditions. Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad

with hamish Pepper on tactics, led the overall classification at the

end of the day with as many as eight more races to be run. behind

Richardson was Plenty owned by Alex Roepers with Chris larson

calling tactics on equal points with Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone.

After a long wait, the first race started in 7 knots of east south-

easterly breeze. Plenty dominated from the start and was followed

round the windward mark and the leeward gate by Nerone, the

2010 Farr 40 World Champion, with Vasco Vascotto calling tactics.

on the second upwind leg both Plenty and Barking Mad chose the

left side and by the first mark Barking Mad had climbed through

to 2nd place ahead of Nerone. These three held their positions to

the finish.

by the start of the second race, the prevailing Mistral was blowing

off the coast at approximately 12 knots. once again, Plenty was

hot off the mark, led Wolfgang schaefer’s Struntje Light, Barking

Mad and Andrea Canavesio’s Mangusta Risk. Nerone and Fiamma

were over the line early at the start and the resulting penalty left

them well back in the fleet. on the second beat, the changing winds

handed the lead to Barking Mad, and Richardson’s crew rounded

just ahead of Mangusta Risk and Alberto Rossi’s Enfant Terrible,

with Plenty slipping back to 6th. Mangusta Risk took the lead on

the final downwind leg but in the fight to the finish, Barking Mad

managed to slip across the line inches ahead of her Italian rival.

Enfant Terrible, with Pietro D’Alì calling tactics, took 3rd and Nerone

recovered to 4th.

The changing winds handed the lead to barking Mad

on the second beat.

2010 European championship

Charisma – nico Poons leads the f leet from the middle of the start line...

... and looks to have a head start on the rest of the fleet

Vivian Rodriguez a good friend

to the class

2010 eu RoPe A n Ch A M PIonsh I P

19 7

Plenty – Alex Roeper


19 8

Barking Mad - Jim Richardson


19 9Struntje Light - Wolfgang schaefer


2 0 0

Jim Richardson was understandably pleased with the day’s work:

“It was very shifty, but we did a pretty good job of being in the

right place on the course. It worked out pretty well.”

Talking about the second race Richardson added: “We rounded

the leeward gate 4th with Plenty leading Struntje Light and

Mangusta Risk, which then went to the left hand side of the

course, and we went right, Mangusta came back on us and ran

neck and neck with us all the way to the line.”

Italy’s Nerone, owned by Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio

sodo-Migliori with America’s Cup veteran Vasco Vascotto

calling tactics, led the standings after five races, followed by

Barking Mad and Plenty.

During the next three races, each approximately 6 miles long, the

fleet saw winds increase from 10 knots at the start of racing to

22 knots with gusts of 26 for the final legs of the third race. The

winning guns went to nico Poons’ Charisma, Struntje Light and

Alessandro barnaba’s Fiamma.

The third race of the series proved a hard-fought duel between

Nerone and Charisma which finally stole the lead on the second

upwind leg. Struntje Light finished 3rd.

The Mistral picked up to 18 knots for the start of the fourth race.

Nerone won the pin end but the Italians found themselves over early

and were quickly relegated to the back of the fleet once her crew

had completed their penalty turn. Remarkably, they recovered to

round the windward mark in 3rd place behind Struntje Light and

Charisma, positions they maintained to the finish.

helped by Kiwi sailors Ray Davies and Tony Rae, Alessandro

barnaba’s Fiamma shone through in the third race of the day

as she stormed round the course well clear of the rest of the

pack. Plenty, with Chris larson on tactics, moved up to 2nd place

on the first downwind run, leaving Struntje Light, Charisma,

Barking Mad and Nerone tightly packed behind to fight out 3rd,

a battle which Nerone won.

Fiamma – Alessandro barnaba leads at the top mark

Nerone – Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori.


2 01

Charisma – nick Poons crosses

Nerone – Massimo Mezzaroma and



2 0 2

Struntje Light - Wolfgang schaefer leads Barking Mad -

Jim Richardson and Enfante Terrible - Alberto Rossi


2 0 3

Porto Rotundo

Vascotto was quietly confident about the next two days racing:

“unfortunately we start early in at least one race a day! We are

sailing well though and are now leading by 3 points so we recover

well each time. I am very happy with the performance of the crew

and though Barking Mad, Plenty, Struntje Light and Charisma are

also sailing well, we are happy with what we are doing.”

Two windward-leeward races were held on the fourth and final day,

which brought the fleet to its full quota of ten races. sirocco winds of

15 - 18 knots, sunshine and a rising swell provided ideal conditions.

The battle for top spot was now between Nerone and Barking Mad,

and with the Italians scoring two bullets with Barking Mad right

on their tails, decided the issue. Antonio sodo Migliori was clearly

pleased with Nerone’s performance: “We are more than happy. We

set out to be cautious, just wanting to stay close to Barking Mad, but

it was one of those days when things go well. We were fast and we

found ourselves in front each time and we held on to that.”

Vasco Vascotto, Nerone’s tactician, explained how this victory

was one of the team’s most significant to date and marked the

return of their injured co-owner and helmsman sodo Migliori,

following a helicopter crash earlier in the year: “This was a very

important regatta for us because it was our first with Antonio

back at the helm. It was a miracle that he is still with us and

participating in the european championship was a motivation of

his over the past months.”

ed broadway - Hooligan, winner of the Corinthian Trophy


2 0 4


2 0 5

“The whole week was great,” he continued. “Today was particular

because we had to make sure we kept that 4 point lead. It was not

easy because you have to control your opponent and concentrate

on sailing well. I chose the pin end in the first race, which was a

mistake, I realized we were being pushed into a corner but we kept

our cool and went round the back of everyone to get back in the

middle of the course. It was our best move of the day. once we got

in front of Barking Mad, we just had to stay there. In the second

race everything went right for us and we were lucky.”

“Nerone sailed a very good regatta,” agreed Jim Richardson. “We

have been battling against them for ten years. sometimes we get

them and sometimes they get us. We had a pretty good regatta

here, we sailed well although a couple of moments could have

gone better. our hats are off to Nerone. They did better. Vasco and

Antonio and the Nerone crew have been sailing together for a very

long time and they’re very good. Struntje Light also did a good job

coming 3rd - there was a full on battle for 3rd place that came

down to the very end.”

Results:

1. Nerone

Massimo Mezzaroma (ITA)

3,4,2,3,3,5,1,3,1,1

26 points

2. Barking Mad


2,1,4,7,4,2,7,1,2,2

32 points

3. Struntje Light

Wolfgang schaefer (GeR)

8,5,3,1,7,1,5,2,6,3

41 points

4. Plenty

Alex Roepers (usA)

1,6,5,4,2,4,4,6,4,7

43 points

5. Charisma

nico Poons (Mon)

6,8,1,2,5,7,2,8,3,5

47 points

6. Fiamma

Alessandro barnaba (ITA)

5,7,7,9,1,6,3,4,7,6

55 points

Monick –

David brae-holm


2 0 6

2010 north american championship

Rod Jabin and the crew of Ramrod dominated the 2010 Rolex Farr

40 north American Championship, taking the first two races at

Annapolis from the defending champion helmut Jahn with Flash

Gordon. In the third race, Jahn reversed the order and raised the

hopes of the other seven competitors for the next two days.

With Chris larson in charge of tactics, Jabin destroyed those

hopes conclusively, winning all three races the next day and the

two on the final day to post 9 points from the eight races. “It’s

pretty remarkable to have won; we’ve never done so consistently

well,” said Jabin, who had owned Ramrod since 2005, and had

won the recent Annapolis nooD Regatta. “We had a solid crew;

the rig was good, the sails were just right,” he added, pointing

out that his crew has been together “for some time,” with larson

joining earlier in the year. Endorphin – erik Wulff

Nightshift - Kevin McneilYellow Jacket – larry bulman and Jeff scholz

2010 noRTh AMeRICAn ChAMPIonshIP

2 0 7

Sundance – Gary beer


2 0 8

Ramrod – Rod Jabin

2010 noRTh AMeRICAn ChAMPIonshIP

2 0 9


2 10

Tsunami - Preben ostberg, bud Dailey

and Todd olds

2010 noRT h A M eR IC A n Ch A M PIonsh I P

2 11

Results:

1. Ramrod

Rod Jabin (usA)

1.1,2,1,1,1,1,1

9 points

2. Flash Gordon

helmut Jahn (usA)

2,2,1,3,4,2,2,4

14 points

3. Nightshift

Kevin Mcneil (nZl)

4,5,3,2,2,3,3,6

16 points

While the first two days of racing challenged teams with 18-25

knot winds on Friday, increasing to 20-30 on saturday, sunday

served up a more moderate 10-15 knots of breeze. Ramrod showed

slick crew work throughout, sometimes making winning look

easy by leading at all marks. At other times, however, it wasn’t

so straightforward. “In both races on sunday, we got pushed

back pretty hard by Flash Gordon,” said Jabin. “We were lucky

to sneak out from under them and be able to weave our way back

through the fleet. Then it was like a big rubber band; we’d go

forward and come back, forward and come back, and whoever

got the last shift won.”

Kevin Mcneil’s Nightshift also demonstrated good crew rapport,

resulting in two strong 2nd place finishes on day two, as well as a

3rd in a photo-finish with Flash Gordon, to end the championship

3rd overall.

Bellerophon - Rick and skip sinclair crossing Yellow Jacket - larry bulmam and Jeff scholz

Rod Jabin and his winning Ramrod team


2 1 2

2011 australian championshipWorld champions Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori

sailing Nerone, stamped their authority on the 2011 Australian

Championship and announced their intention for the World

Championship that followed, by winning with a 7 point margin

from former world champion, Jim Richardson. Mezzaroma was

absent, but the crew dedicated the victory to their joint skipper.

“We are a little sad with no Massimo,” said tactician Vasco

Vascotto, “but last year we sailed without Antonio and hopefully

we will all sail together soon.”

The Nerone scoreline of 6,1,6,1,1,1,6,3 was one of brilliant consistency

across a range of wind speeds on the offshore courses. The final

race was shortened when the already light wind showed signs of

disappearing altogether.

Wolfgang schaefer won the Corinthian division with the always well-

sailed Struntje Light, repeating the performance of the German team

in the earlier summer sprint series. “It was a tough competition and

some of the best sailing in the world,” said schaefer.

The opening day saw a southerly breeze that peaked at 17 knots,

over a course set on the Macquarrie Circle off sydney’s south head,

and ended with two boats tied on points after three races for the 20

boats. Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad and Guido belgiorno-nettis’

Transfusion had each scored 9 points, but Richardson, who won

the opening race from belgiorno-nettis, led after the countback.

Antonio sodo Migliori and Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone was a

further 4 points further back; they had won the second race from

helmut Jahn’s Flash Gordon, while brett neil’s White Cloud won the

3rd from Transfusion.

The second day was a total triumph for the Italians who scored

three bullets. It couldn’t have been better. no one could come near

Barking Mad closing on the windward mark - Jim Richardson

Hooligan - Marcus blackmore

2011 AusT R A l I A n Ch A M PIonsh I P

2 13

White Cloud - brett neill

2011 australian championship


2 1 4

2011 AusT R A l I A n Ch A M PIonsh I P

2 15

to matching the Nerone performance and the world champions took

over the lead. “It was a perfect day today. We wish we could have a

day like this at the Worlds,” remarked Nerone crewman, Massimo

bortoletto.

There was a consistent 20-25 knot north-easterly breeze on the

Manly Circle, north of the heads and Nerone reversed the points

situation with Barking Mad to lead by 4 points after six races.

helmut Jahn’s Flash Gordon moved to 3rd after Transfusion fell off

the pace and trailed the leader by 19 points in fourth place.

It had been planned to sail the two final races inside sydney

harbour but PRo, Peter ‘luigi Reggio decreed otherwise. “We

could not guarantee a fair race inside. The breeze was too

unstable.” he admitted. lisa and Martin hill’s Estate Master

clawed her way back onto the podium in 3rd place after a 1st

place in the morning behind Nerone and Barking Mad, which

gave the hills the Australian Farr 40 Circuit victory. “It was

again down to the wire with Transfusion,” said hill, “racing with

the regulars and welcoming old faces back to the class.”

Results:

1. Transfusion Guido belgiorno-nettis (Aus) 35 points

2. Nerone Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori (ITA)

37 points

3. Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA) 62 points

4. Flash Gordon, helmut Jahn (usA) 64 points

5. Estate Master lisa and Martin hill (Aus) 70 points

6. Goombay Smash William Douglass (usA) 82 points

Estate Master - lisa and Martin hill crosses Sputnik - Ivan Wheen

Nerone - Massimor Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori lead Goombay Smash - William Douglass around the bottom mark


2 1 6

Raced between America and Canada by clubs situated on the Great

lakes, this great event dates back to 1896 when a challenge was

issued by the lincoln Park YC of Chicago to Canadian yacht clubs.

The first match, won by the appropriately named Beaver from

the Royal Canadian YC, was held off Toledo. subsequently the

trophy became known as the Canada’s Cup, and was presented

to the Royal Canadian YC as a perpetual challenge for friendly

competition between yacht clubs of the two nations bordering the

Great lakes.

Competition has been both fierce and friendly for more than a

century, and since 2001, has been sailed in Farr 40 Class boats.

It has necessitated slight alterations to the class rules with regard,

particularly, to the owner/driver situation, which is not appropriate

for the event, but the limit of four professional crew is retained.

The Farr 40 has proved to be the perfect vehicle for match racing,

producing a series of incredibly tight finishes. Maximum excitement

has been maintained and many of the races have finished with the

two boats overlapped on the finish line with only seconds separating

them. The classic was in 2007 when bob hughes’ Heatbreaker for

the usA was level with Alek Krisajic’s Honour at 4-4, and finished

their deciding race with less than half a boat’s length separating

them as they crossed the line overlapped. Winning deltas of less

than 10 seconds have been common on the four occasions (40

races) when the Farr 40s have been employed.

When the first Farr 40 Canada’s Cup was held, the RCYC had the

distinct advantage of having Terry Mclaughlin, one of the most

experienced match racing skippers in the world, to lead the team

in the best-of-13 match. Mclaughlin, sailing Defiant against the

defender, Robert hughes of bayview YC with Team Saturn, took the

series 7-5 and returned the Cup to Canada in grand style.

The same two skippers met again two years later and Mclaughlin

retained the Cup with a similar scoreline. The next defence, by

Krisajic, saw challenger Robert hughes from the bayview YC

squeak the decision in the 9-race series. The Cup was back with

the united states for the 12th time.

After another three-year break, the Cup was defended by Don

Wilson’s Convexity from the Chicago Match Race Centre YC

against Grant hood’s Vincere from the Port Credit YC. Wilson had

canada’s cup

Vincere – Grant hood (CAn) crosses Convexity – Don Wilson (usA)

C A nA DA’s Cu P

2 1 7

established the Match Race Centre YC very close to where the

original challenger, lincoln Park YC, is situated on the Chicago

shore. It was a well-planned regatta, with races set with target times

of 60-75 minutes using four windward/leeward round courses.

Day one on the 2010 event was all Wilson’s. The 11-18 knot north-

westerly provided a lumpy sea that best suited the home team

and the united states posted a 3-0 score. Despite the scoreline,

the racing was close with plenty of match racing action. The next

day, Grant hood swung back into the battle, winning the 1st race,

but Wilson took the next. The last race of the day was Canada’s.

having won the start, they controlled the opponent to make the

score 4-2.

More lumpy seas on the final day gave the defenders the initiative,

despite the challenger proving the faster downwind. Wilson

maintained control to the finish where only half a boat’s length of

clear water separated the two for the united states to win by 5-2.

Macatawa bay YC will host the 23rd defence in 2011.

Year Yachts helmsman Club series Winning Yacht Country

2001Defender Team Saturn Robert hughes bayview YC

best of 13Defiant

(7-5)Canada

Challenger Defiant Terry Mclaughlin Royal Canadian YC

2003

Defender Defiant Terry Mclaughlin Royal Canadian YC

best of 13Defiant

(7-5)Canada

Challenger Heartbreaker bob hughes bayview YC

2007Defender Honour Alek Krisajic Royal Canadian YC

best of 9heartbreaker

(5-4)united states

Challenger Heartbreaker bob hughes bayview YC

2010

Defender Convexity Don WilsonChicago Match Race Center

YCbest of 9

Convexity

(5-4)united states

Challenger Vincere Grant hoodRace Center YC Port Credit

YC

Win standings since 1896 to 2010: usA 13, Canada 9

Convexity – Don Wilson (usA) leads Vincere – Grant hood (CAn)


2 1 8

Terry hutchinson has seen many aspects of yacht racing in the

widest variety of boat from the America’s Cup to J24s, and was

winner of the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award in the united

states in 2008. In that year, when he contributed to many other

winning yachts, he was only able to record an 8th aboard Jim

Richardson’s Barking Mad at the world championship. he was,

however, able to help Barking Mad redress the balance in 2009

in Porto Cervo. After that win, hutchinson was cheerfully able

to comment on the Class and some items of special interest. he

began with whether he had found the championship any different

to what he might have anticipated.

“It wasn’t really much different than expected. Three Italian

boats, Nerone, Mascalzone, and Joe Fly were all very well

prepared and fast. Probably the biggest surprises were the fact

that TWT and Calvi were not at the front since they were very

fast in Capri. We did have slightly different conditions though, so

maybe that had something to do with it. other teams that showed

a lot were Americans Alex Roepers’ Plenty and helmut Jahn’s

Flash Gordon. both came on strong at the end.

“our strength was that Barking Mad was able to stay in the

top 6 for all ten races; only Joe Fly, which was 3rd, came close

to that consistency, although they had a 19th. We believe we

know what the main factors we possessed to help us avoid any Terry hutchinson ‘high-fiving’ with Jim Richardson after winning the world championship.

The tacticians have their say

T h e TAC T IC I A ns h AV e T h eI R sAY

2 19

Struntje Light - Wolfgang schaefer, Twins - erik Maris,

Transfusion bow 16 - Guido belgiorno-nettis and Estate

Manager - Martin and lisa hill in close mark rounding


2 2 0

big score that would ruin our regatta – it was boat speed. We

were bloody quick and inevitably in the situations that were

tough to hang, our boat speed carried us. I always banged on

about being as smart as we are fast, and this was one of those

regattas. next was the fact we started well, conservatively

away from traffic.

A lot of times we were giving up line bias to guarantee we could

go straight off the line. but again, that goes back to the fact that

we were confident in our speed. The final point would be that our

teamwork was as consistent as the result. Inevitably it takes all

the pieces to be in place and the team to be rock solid.

“The Farr 40 Class is healthy. The 2011 world championship saw

20 boats and 5 countries represented in an economic environment

that nobody was very positive about. To me that speaks volumes

about the Class, the owners, and the competition.

“one of the reasons for this is the stability of the Class, its rules

and the owners’ determination to see that these are adhered to. It

is all very streamlined. occasionally there are little measurement

items like a shackle here and there, but for the most part

everybody knows the rules and complies. A lot of it comes from

the fact that the Class management does good work at keeping

everybody honest. You cannot underestimate the importance of

Enfant Terrible - Alberto Rossi,

Kokomo - lang Walker and

Goombay Smash - Doug Douglass

round top mark


2 2 1

that with any class, and the fact that the Farr 40 is going strong

is a good indication of the owners association and leadership

from stagg Yachts.

“The Class has always had one crew weigh-in prior to each

event. For us on Barking Mad, we chose to sail with ten, which

inevitably means a smaller team, but an extra set of hands in

a lot of the manoeuvres can be more beneficial. Inevitably the

need for smaller people means that we choose to have women

with us on the boat. linda lindquist-bishop and Derby Anderson

have been with the team for a while and we are very fortunate

to have them.”

The Class uses its own system of rule observance by umpires, of

which hutchinson approves. “The on-the-water umpire system is

in place not to access penalties, but to let the competitors know

when the judges have witnessed a foul or situation.

by blowing a whistle it lets competitors know that the judges

have seen something and that somebody should do a penalty.

It can be fairly busy at these event because the race track is

often left-hand biased. That inevitably leads to 85% of the fleet

coming into the top mark on port tack. however, all in all, it is

a good system since it avoids late nights in the protest room for

all involved.”

Adrian stead (standing) - the

thinking man’s tactician.


2 2 2

Goombay Smash - William Douglass close

with Enfant Terrible - Alberto Rossi, chasing



2 2 3

Adrian stead, with three world championship victories to his

credit, is the most successful tactician the Class has known and

he was keen to outline what crucial talents were of importance

for a tactician in the Farr 40 Class. “not only are you a tactician

in the Farr 40 Class, you are also the owner’s coach and mentor.

The primary reason why the owners are in the Class is to have

some fun and great racing.

“From Vincenzo’s perspective, he lives for it. It’s his release

from work. It’s about getting owners out on to the race track and

helping them to be as successful as possible. We also have our own

job, trying to get good starts and judging the wind shifts right.

That’s why, when you look at the most successful partnerships in

the Farr 40 Class, the tacticians and their owners end up being

very good friends. You need to understand the person you are

advising – what makes him tick. I know Vincenzo knows what

makes me tick, so that he gets the best out of me.

“not only that, but we have to interact well with the other nine

or ten people on the boat. so, there’s a lot on top of the normal

tactician’s job. You can’t take anything for granted; you are the

tactician, coach, and team motivator. You have to get the best

out of some very good amateurs, as well as the professionals on

board. It’s a challenging but very good role. If you get it right,

Barking Mad tactician look ahead


2 2 4

the satisfaction is almost better than sailing on an all-pro-team.

In the Farr 40 Class we are trying to juggle between getting the

best out of your owner’s abilities and getting the balance right

between having fun - and improving the whole time.”

stead believes that it is all a question of balance in the

relationship with the owner, the crew and the tactician that

makes the difference. he says: “When you look back at the most

successful teams, the majority of the crew has been together from

the beginning. Take Gerry Mitchell and myself. The first time

we sailed together was with Jim Richardson at block Island in

1998, when fresh off the Volvo ocean Race yacht Silk Cut. That

relationship has continued through Barking Mad and Victric, and

for the last four or five years on Mascalzone Latino. The Italians

in the crew have been there for years, Matteo savelli, for example,

has improved and matured as we’ve sailed with him, and now you

see him as a potential team manager of an America’s Cup team.

There’s more to the relationship if it is to function correctly.

“The whole thing begins well before the start of the regatta

– it’s having a good rapport with the team, so that when you

are sailing the boat, you are already ticking together.” says

stead, adding. “What is most important is getting comfortable

with the conditions. on race day, we try to get out and develop

a real feel for going upwind and downwind, so that the owner

is happy with it.

“The daily preparation – a lot of it is about instilling confidence in

the whole team, not just the helmsman. With Mascalzone Latino

that came with time in the boat and having the confidence.

Winning the first regatta was the hardest one because after that

we had the confidence to believe we could win. It was achievable.

so, in terms of our pre-start, it’s a case of sailing around, getting

used to the conditions, and trying to paint a picture of what you

are going to do up the course.

some people like different conditions; some like strong winds,

others prefer lighter breezes. on Mascalzone Latino back in 2003,

sailing in strong winds was not the team’s strong point, but I have

always loved sailing in a breeze and we very quickly turned that

on its head. We called it ‘hooligans’, which was effectively how

we sailed the boat; and ‘ballerinas’ in the light. When racing was

cancelled because it was too heavy, we would still go out and

blast around, just to show people that we could. We enjoyed it.

“When Russell Coutts came to sail with us in 2006, he made

a real inroad in terms of Vincenzo’s confidence. Indeed, in

september 2005 when we knew that Russell was coming with us

the next year, we won our first regatta. That and the addition of

Tim burnell to the crew, made a huge difference.”

“When a crew reacts symbiotically, the actual sailing becomes

less difficult, but there is also an overriding need for careful

planning. “The prime thing is where you want to go up the beat

and to place the boat on the start line to be able to do that. Farr

40 scoring is such that there is no discard; every mistake and

everything that you do right counts in the end.

“so it comes down to how much you want to win the start, or

win an end versus getting a clean start, and letting crew-work

and boat speed work itself out around the course. Also, when

courses are set with PRos of the calibre of Peter ‘luigi’ Reggio,

who understand whether it is going to pay to the left or right up

the first beat, they set the line at a skew so that there are options

all the way along the line. It is great, but more often than not all

the usual suspects are still crowded together at the top mark,

even after 2.2 miles.

“Keeping clean is ultra-important and tacticians and crews

are mature enough not to put our owners in tricky positions.

Instead, we sail to our strengths and not port tack the fleet every

start. There is always a balance, and if you have a bad first beat,

the guys who knuckle down and know how to sail up through

the fleet will come through and get themselves into a regatta

winning result.”

Terry hutchinson is adamant that while boat speed is vitally

important, extra boat speed is never easy to obtain in a one-


2 2 5

offset mark in action, an idea

pioneered by the Farr 40 Class


2 2 6

Peter de Ridder for example, was an owner/driver of Farr 40,

then went to the TP52 circuit and won it. so this is the level they

have reached now, the Farr 40 Class.”

he was magnanimous about his involvement with a successful

team: “It is down to the team. This is a group that is ten years

together. every single person knows exactly what to do on the

boat. here we have four professional sailors on board, but even if

I have the opportunity to sail with the ten professionals sailors, I

do not think I will change my crew with anybody, because, right

now, all these guys are doing exactly what professional guys can

do. This is the reason why we are competitive - ten years in this

class. so it is a matter of a good crew all together.”

Vasco Vascotto watches carefully for the helmsman of Nerone

design Class. Adrian agrees with Terry: “Yes, definitely. The best

thing about a one-design Class is that it highlights how successful

your team is in terms of creating speed and sail development.

You might have the best sails, but if the mainsheet trimmer does

not have that relationship with the helmsman that encourages

him to get 100% out of the boat in terms of speed, then you are

not going to be at the front.

“The most successful people are not the newcomers to the Class,

they are people who have spent time understanding how to get

the best out of the boat in all conditions. For example, the Nerone

guys have been racing together since 2000; both Vincenzo and

Jim have been there since 1998. When you look back at them

and realise that Jim has now probably done 75 regattas in the

Class, that’s an awful lot of experience, sailing the same boat

over the last seven or eight years with the majority of the same

guys. that experience counts. It gives you that extra 10 feet when

approaching the weather mark and carries you a little higher up

the ladder.

“It’s all those little things that mount up and bring out an amazing

team dynamic that gets the best out of the boat. You are sailing

with four pros and six amateurs, the success of the amateurs is

what gets you the results.

“speed is always good. The only venue we have sailed at where

speed was probably the least important was at the Worlds in

Denmark. There, it was very shifty and there were opportunities

where you could have got away with not being too quick.”

Vasco Vascotto, another of the championship winning tacticians,

believes that unlike the professional circuit, it is only fair to

give the guys who pay the money the chance to play with their

boats, “This kind of guy has the opportunity to sail with the

professional sailor. They train a lot, they are not just sailing. We

do sundays of training all day. We did in the past, speed tests. We

did everything that we are doing normally with the professional

guys. I do not want to say that they are professional, but they are

good enough to beat professional guys. Can you imagine that,


2 2 7

Southern Star - John Calvert-Jones & Damien King caught

in a close-quarter duel with Kokomo - lang Walker


2 2 8

hull # oRIGInAl oWneR CuRRenT oWneR CuRRenT boAT nAMe CounTRY/ReGIon

buIlT bY CARRoll MARIne

40001 steve Garland Tosh neminsky Ohana usA - West Coast

40002 Ken bruneflod Ken bruneflod Hurrycane 3 sweden

40003 lorenzo Galmes Andrea Canvesio Mangusta Risk Italy

40004 John Thomson William Francis Solution usA - Great lakes

40005 Phillip Tollhurst Mauro Puddu Cacharaza Italy

40006 George Carabetta leif sigmond & Marcus Thymian Norboy usA - Great lakes

40007 Yuji narumi nishida Ryutaro Ninja XI Japan

40008 steve Kaminer on Deck Racing Predator usVI

40009 Irvine laidlaw united states naval Academy Seawolf usA - east Coast

40010 edgar Cato John leman Bobby’s Girl Australia

40011 Doug Taylor Zoltan Katinski White Knight usA - West Coast

40012 Jim Richardson Grant larsen Wolfpack norway

40013 noT buIlT

40014 bill Ziegler us Coast Guard Academy Gem usA - east Coast

40015 bill steitz Frederic scheer Farr Niente usA - West Coast

40016 butch Tompkins on Deck Racing Bandit usA - Virgin Islands

40017 Graham Walker Per Arne nilsen Happy Happy norway

40018 shigeyuki suzuki shigeyuki suzuki Swing XI Japan

40019 Josephine emery hughie lewis Eurocentral Australia

40020 John Calvert-Jones eric Moog Dynamo Canada

40021 Walt logan Matthew short Short Shipped Australia

40022 skip PurcellGürsel ozturk, Ayhan Karaca,

Taner halacoglu 7 Bela Turkey

40023 eric sissener Michel Tiberini Hagakure France

40024 John Kilroy lumijarvi/linnovaara Siragusawa Finland

Farr One Design - register40

FA R R on e DesIGn - R eGIsT eR

2 2 9


40025 Peter Tong Jeff Carter Revolution Edake Australia

40026 Tony buckingham Rob Goddard FarrFalina uK

40027 Alexis Michas Arnd Frohne Glorious Dream Germany

40028 Mario Ikeda Yoshio Jimbo Mario Express Japan

40029 Vincenzo onorato erik Wulff Endorphin usA - east Coast

40030 Mark healy Tom Parker Stressless usA - West Coast

40031 borys Jaymowycz Christian Gremion French Kiss Mexico

40032 Mark bregman larry bullman & Jeff scholz Yellow Jacket usA - east Coast

40033 Jack Woodhull Wes huston Wooly Bully usA - West Coast

40034 John Ryan on Deck Racing Swordflounder usA - Virgin Islands

40035 George Andreadis startis Andreadis Atalanti XI Greece

40036 Dickie scruggs stuart Townsend Virago usA - Great lakes

40037 brian Jackman Dirk Freeland Skain Dhu usA - West Coast

40038 steve Mash Chris Whitford Hot Lips usA - Great lakes

40039 Mike Condon Kinoshita Javelin Japan

40040 stuart brotz suzan Zinth Albablu Germany

40041 Richard Grunsten Chuck brewer Heartbeat usA - West Coast

40042 John Delaura henrik Jansen Silver Bullet Denmark

40043 Warren levins Gary beer Sundance usA - east Coast

40044 helmut Jahn steve ellis Splash Gordon Australia

40045 Tom neill Rob Ruhlman Spaceman Spiff usA - Great lakes

40046 Kevin boyle Tony Pohl Twisted usA - West Coast

40047 Richard Marki Jeff Janov Dark Star usA - West Coast

40048 Philip Dowd Philip Dowd Inferno usA - Great lakes

40049 Kouichi Agatsuma Kouichi Agatsuma Dottoressa Japan

40050 Alan Field Ray Godwin Temptress usA - West Coast

40051 eduardo Ramos Jacob l'orsa Farrig norway

40052 oscar strugstad Mark Cloutier Shazzam Canada

40053 Rennie Miller Johann-Philipp Reith Hobbytry Germany

40054 stuart Greenfield & David Murrin ergin Imre Provezza 5 Turkey

40055 John Calvert - Jones bero Vranic Damaco Croatia


2 3 0


40056 hasan besneli ergin Imre Provezza 6 Turkey

40057 Deneen Demourkas steve Murphy JoAnn usA - West Coast

40058 hank Mchale Alek Krstajic Honour Canada

40059 eduardo Ramos JP Delmotte Sarastro France

40060 Rick Woodworth Joe Carter & Dennis Rosene Radical Departure III usA - West Coast

40061 Peter Wright & Todd Cozzens Mclaughlin & Phelan Defiant Canada

40062 Philippe Kahn David harris Psycho Circus hong Kong

40063 Dave Carrel Anthony lobb PT 73 Australia

40064Antonio sodo Migliori/Massimo

Mezzaroma ebbe elmer nielsen Magic Mazda Denmark

40065 Anthony Demulder Martin & lisa hill Estate Master Australia

40066 Jim Johnson Rick & skip sinclair Bellerophon usA - east Coast

40067 noT buIlT

40068 Zarko Draganic & hank lammens Pieralberto setti Shear Terror Italy

40069 Robert shaw Joaquin brockman Mexico

40070 hasso Plattner Destroyed

40071 John oswald Carlo Alberini, Renato Morsiani,

Francesco Picaretta Calvi Italy

40072 Dario Ferrari on Deck Racing Madina usA Virgin Islands

40073 Chris Doscher Royal Danish Yacht Club APM Denmark

40074 Tom hill stephen boyes Wired Australia

40075 Jim Richardson David brae-holm Monick Denmark

40076 Phil schoeller Kevin Mcneil Nightshift usA - east Coast

40077 Vincenzo onorato howard lambourne Lambourdini Australia

40078 Mark heely Vasyl Gureyev Arctur ukraine

40079 Mary Coleman Mary Coleman Astra usA - West Coast

40080 Alberto signorini Rolf Auf der Maur Kajsa II switzerland

40081 John Coumantaros Matt Allen & Walter lewin Bandit Australia

40082 Tony buckingham h2o Charters Creative Play 2 uK

40083 Don hughes Destroyed

40084 Takashi okura Mark Cloutier Abracadabra Canada

40085 Phillip Tollhurst ed broadway Hooligan uK

40086 bruno Tronchetti Provera Pieralberto setti Shear Terror Italy


2 3 1


40087 noT buIlT

40088 Renato Mazzeschi Martin stroebel Vanitas Cube switzerland

40089 hughes lepic hughes lepic Aleph France

40090 bill helming John Chuang Shout usA - east Coast

40091 Mark Timbrell Alberto Rossi Enfant Terrible Italy

40092 bob hughes/Wally Tsuha bob hughes Heart Breaker usA - Great lakes

40093 Michael Illbruck Royal Danish Yacht Club MMM Denmark

40094 Robin Patterson Robin Patterson Katanga Caribbean

40095 owen Kratz oak Cliff sailing Center Nimbus Black usA - east Coast

40096 John Kilroy Charles swingland Dark Side uK

40097 noT buIlT

40098 George Andreadis George Andreadis Atalanti Greece

40099 Takashi okura Preben ostberg/bud Dailey/

/Todd olds Tsunami usA - east Coast

40100 Vincenzo onorato Vincenzo onorato Mascalzone Latino Italy

40101 hasso Plattner Donald Wilson Convexity usA - Great lakes

40102Antonio sodo Migliori/Massimo

Mezzaroma Armando Pierdomenico MP30+10 Italy

40103 Arrivabene/bocchini Magnus Goertz Jolly sweden

40104 John Coumantaros helmut Jahn Flash Gordon usA - Great lakes

40105 Peter de Ridder David Voss Piranha usA - West Coast

40106 Fred & steve howe oscar Krinsky Chayah usA - West Coast

40107 Fred & steve howe sverre Valeur Team Bergen Denmark

40108 Giovanni Maspero Giovanni Maspero Joe Fly Italy

40109 noT buIlT

40110 noT buIlT

40111 noT buIlT

40112 noT buIlT

buIlT bY usWATeRCRAFT

40113 John Kilroy Grant hood Vincere Canada

40114 Richard Perini Guido bellgiorno-nettis Transfusion Australia

40115 Jim Richardson Jim Richardson Barking Mad usA - east Coast

40116 Wolfgang stolz Guido bellgiorno-nettis Transfusion Australia


2 3 2


40117 noT buIlT

40118 Vincenzo onorato Vincenzo onorato Mascalzone Latino Italy

40119 noT buIlT

40120Antonio sodo Migliori & Massimo

Mezzaroma

Antonio sodo Migliori & Massimo

MezzaromaNerone Italy

40121 lang Walker lang Walker Kokomo Australia

40122 Alessandro barnaba Alessandro barnaba Fiamma Italy

40123 eduardo Ramos bermardo Minkow Flojito y Cooperando Mexico

40124 hRh Prince Frederik hRh Prince Frederik Nanoq Denmark

40125 erik Maris Jeff Carter Twin Edake Australia

40126 hasso Plattner hasso Plattner Morning Glory Germany

40127 Matt Allen John Demourkas Groovederci usA - West Coast

40128 Vasyl Gureyev Vasyl Gureyev Arctur ukraine

40129 lang Walker lang Walker Kokomo Australia

40130 Peter de Ridder Wolfgang schaefer Struntje Light Germany

40131 William Douglass William Douglass Goombay Smash usA - east Coast

40132 Dario Ferrari ergin Imre Provezza 7 Turkey

40133 Alex Roepers Alex Roepers Plenty usA - east Coast

40134 Fred & steve howe nico Poons Charisma belgium

40135 John Thomson Doug DeVos Heritage usA - Great lakes

40136 ole van der hyde hasip Gencer Uno-Asterisk Turkey

40137 Michele & Gianluca Perris Alberto Rossi Enfant Terrible Italy

40138 noT buIlT

40139 Vincenzo onorato Maurizio Guglielmo Irina Italy

40140 helmut Jahn helmut Jahn Flash Gordon usA - Great lakes

buIlT bY MCConAGhY boATs

40201 lawrence shannon lucas & Kent Down Ex Young Australia Australia

40202 Richard Perini bruce staples Ex Corinthian Doors

(Ex Norwegian Steam)Australia

40203 John Calvert-Jones Rod Jabin Ramrod usA - east Coast

40204 Warren Wiekmann Warren Wiekmann Leroy Brown Australia

40205 Marcus blackmore Michael Cranitch & David Gotze Enigma Australia


2 3 3


40206 Richard Perini Ivan Wheen Sputnik Australia

40207 brian northcote oak Cliff sailing Center Nimbus Blue usA - east Coast

40208 Michael Quinn Chris Way Easy Tiger II Australia

40209 shane Tyrell noel Murphy Ex Terra Nova then Southern Star Australia

40210 steve ellis brett neill White Cloud new Zealand

buIlT bY DK YAChTs

40211 lang Walker Doug Coulter Komodo Australia

40212 Kevin Miller ed Psaltis AFR Midnight Rambler Australia

40213

40214 David urry Wayne banks smith War Games Australia

40215 Dennis McDonald Rob Robertson Craklin Rosie Australia

40216 Rob skinner Ivan Resnekov Impi Australia

40217 Phil Coombs Russell McCart Night Nurse Australia

40218 Ivan Wheen Michael Cooper Prince of Wales Australia

40219 lang Walker Andrew hunn & lloyd Clark Voodoo Chile Australia

40220 Philippe Kahn Phil Arnall Anger Management Australia

40221 Wolfgang schaefer Alberto Franchi FarrMarmo Italy

40222

40223 steve o'Rourke steve o'Rourke Panther Australia

40224 schle Wood Ismet ozbakir

- Istanbul sailing Academy Zall Turkey

ReGIon (19 CounTRIes) # oF boATs

America/Canada/Mexico 55

Australia/new Zealand/Japan 39

Italy 17

europe excl Italy 38

Destroyed 2

In build 1

Total built 152

boAT nuMbeR bY buIlDeR

Carroll Marine 104

usWatercraft 26

DK Yachts 12

McConaghy boats 10

Total 152

Total built 152


2 3 4

roll of honour

2002 World Championship

1. Le Renard steve Phillips (usA)

2. Crocodile Rock Alex Geremia & scott harris (usA)

3. Grooverderci Deneen & John Demourkas (usA)

4. Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy (usA)

5. Nerone, M Mezzaroma & A Migliori (ITA)

6. Pegasus Philippe Kahn (usA)



2. Mascalzone Latino V. onorato (ITA)


4. Southern Star J Calvert-Jones (Aus)

5. Flyer Doug Mongeon (usA)

6. Blue Chip Walter logan (usA)



2. Southern Star John Calvert-Jones (Aus)

3. Wired steve Garland (usA)

4, Hissar edgar Cato (usA)

5. Solution John Thomson (usA)

6. Alliance skip Purcell (usA)




3. Atalanti George Andreadis (GRe)


5. Solution John Thomson (usA)

6. Mascalzone Latino Vincenzo onorato (ITA)


1. Alinghi ernesto bertarelli (suI)

2. Southern Star J Calvert-Jones (Aus)

3. Warlord VII, Philip Tolhurst (GbR)

4. Victric, Tony de Mulder (GbR)

5. GBR25, Mark heeley (GbR)

6. Aleph, hughes lepic (GbR)


1. Nerone Massimo Mezzaroma & Antonio sodo Migliori (ITA)

2. Nela Michael Illbruck (GeR)

3. Bambakou John Coumantaros (usA)






2. Nerone Massimo Mezzaroma & Antonio

sodo Migliori (ITA)

3. Warpath steve & Fred howe (usA)

4. Le Renard steve Phillips (usA)

5. TWT Marco Rodolfi (ITA)

6. Slingshot Chuck Parrish (usA)


1. Evolution Richard Perini (Aus)

2. Team Shockwave neville Crichton (Aus)

3. TWT Marco Rodolfi (ITA)

4. Warpath steve and Fred howe (usA)





2. Ichi Ban Matt Allen (Aus)


4. Opus One Wolfgang stolz (GeR)

5. Warpath steve & Fred howe (usA)


Rol l oF honou R

2 3 5


1. Transfusion Guido belgiorno-nettis (Aus)



4. Flash Gordon helmut & evan Jahn (usA)

5. Estate Master lisa & Martin hill (Aus)

6. Goombay Smash William Douglass (usA)





4. Sputnik Ivan Wheen (Aus)

5. Opus One Wolfgang stolz (GeR)




2. Joe Fly Giovanni Maspero (ITA)

3. Mean Machine Peter de Ridder (Mon)

4. Nanoq Crown Prince Frederik (Den)

5. Calvi Network Carlo Alberni (ITA)



1, Barking Mad Jim Richardson (usA)

2, Nerone Massimo Mezzaroma & Antonio sodo Migliori (ITA)

3. Joe Fly Giovanni Maspero (ITA)


5. Flash Gordon helmut Jahn (usA)

6. Plenty Alex Roepers (usA)


1. Nerone nerone Massimo Mezzaroma & Alberto signorini (ITA)


3. Struntje Light Wolfgang schaefer (GeR)

4. Plenty Alex Roepers (usA)

5. Charisma nico Poons (Mon)

6. Fiamma Alessandro barnaba (ITA)


2 3 6

Rol l oF honou R

2 3 7


2 3 8

There was some serendipity in the thing. The 40 foot size turned out to be

manageable for a lot of owners, and straightforward to sail in mechanical

terms. One of the key decisions was going with the runner-less rig so the boat

could be more or less bullet proof.

Rol l oF honou R

2 3 9


2 4 0

acknowledgmentsPresidents Roll of Honour

Irvine Laidlaw, Mon, Oui Fling 1997 - 1998

Steve Garland, usA, Wired 1998 - 1999

John Calvert-Jones, Aus, Southern Star 1999 - 2002

Jim Richardson, usA, Barking Mad 2002 - 2011

Martin Hill, Aus, Estate Master 2011 -

Life Members

John Calvert-Jones, Aus, Southern Star 2008

Jim Richardson, usA, Barking Mad 2011

The Farr 40 class would like to acknowledge the assistance of all those who have made this book possible:

The four stakeholders: John Calvert-Jones, Jim Richardson, Lang Walker and Vincenzo Onorato.

Rolex for their long-standing support of the Class and supply of photographs in this book.

Bob Fisher for the words and editorial contribution.

Geoff Stagg for his motivation, diligence and attention to detail.

Barry Pickthall and his team at PPl for picture research, design and illustrations.

The photographers:

Kurt Arrigo/Rolex: 2, 13, 146, 18, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41, 42, 47, 148, 157, 158, 159,

160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 216, 217,

218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227

Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex: 8/9, 10, 15, 17, 20, 22, 38, 44, 46, 59, 73, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91,

106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 123, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138,

139, 140, 142, 143, 196, 238/239

Farr Yacht Design: 16, 24/25

Bob Fisher/ PPL: 11, 34, 48, 49, 50, 51

Daniel Forster/PPL: 14, 20, 21, 28, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 72

Daniel Forster/Rolex: 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 122, 124,

125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138, 141, 142, 144, 145, 150,151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 166,

167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 204, 206, 206, 207, 208, 238/239

Andrea Francolini/DPPI: 210, 211, 213

Dallas Kilponen: 186, 212, 214

Kos Picture Source: 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71

Ian Mainsbridge/PPL: 40

Francesco Nonnoi: 194, 195, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202

Isao Toyama: 214, 215

Onne Van Der Wal: 74, 75, 76. 77. 79

Documents

The Fabulous 40s