Gusts at over 30 knots forced the Race Committee to abandon racing for the day
Porto Cervo, July 13, 2017. The Mistral breezes that were forecast for the first day of racing at the 20th edition of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship kicked in as expected in Porto Cervo with gusts at over 30 knots.
Today, ARCORA Lifestyle Race Day, saw the Farr 40 One Design fleet wait in port while the AP flag was hoisted at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, organizer of the event in collaboration with the Farr 40 Class Association and the Title Sponsor Rolex.
The Race Committee, headed by Peter "Luigi" Reggio, checked out the sea state and decided to commence starting procedures. The Farr 40 fleet headed out hoping to get at least one race under their belts today. But seeing how the Mistral kept building, Reggio called off racing for the day.
Tomorrow should see the first day of racing in this event. Edoardo Recchi, Sports Director at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, had these words: "When I went out this morning on the Committee Boat the breezes were at about 18 to 20 knots which would have been fine for racing. But by noon, when racing was scheduled to start, the breezes had built to 27 knots and were predicted to get even stronger. We sent the fleet back to port for safety's sake at 1:00 PM when there were gusts at up to 32 knots. So we abandoned for the day, but are looking forward to tomorrow when conditions should be better."
Racing should get underway tomorrow, Friday July 14th, at noon in Mistral breezes that are predicted to be lighter than today's.
