2013 Farr 40 Worlds

Enfant Terrible Comes Of Age

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Passion and commitment are the two driving forces behind the Farr 40, one of the most competitive and successful classes of yachts worldwide, where Corinthian owners measure themselves against the best. There is no doubt that the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship is the most closely fought One Design event in the world. The rules of the Farr 40 class require that the owner, or a family member, helm the boat, and they can’t be “pros”. This, combined with the maximum allotment of four professional sailors in the 10-person crew, guarantees a fair level of play for all: with identical boats, it all comes down to skill, determination, training and teamwork.

The 16th edition of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship was hosted by the New York Yacht Club at its magnificent Newport clubhouse Harbour Court, which overlooks one of the most historic sailing venues in the USA. Looking at the list of 15 entries from eight countries - Australia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Mexico, Turkey and the USA - and the line-up of world-class tacticians with an endless list of America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and Olympic titles, it was impossible to select a favourite. Given the varied conditions that ranged from light breeze, to stronger winds, rain, fog and sunshine, no one among the fleet could really claim a definite advantage.

After four days of intense competition over ten windward/leeward races, it was a tiebreaker that determined the winner of the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship: Alberto Rossi and his all-Italian crew on Enfant Terrible. The Italians earned their title thanks to a greater number of wins in the series, ahead of Kevin McNeil’s Nightshift (USA). Jim Richardson and Barking Mad (USA), a three-time winner of the World Championship, finished in third three points behind the leaders. Chicago architect Helmut Jahn, defending world champion with Flash Gordon 6 (USA), finished fourth.

Every day of the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship unfolded with a different twist and the crews had lots of stories to share once back on shore.

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Forza Italia!

The 16th edition of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship hosted by the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) in Newport, RI, was as expected a tightly contested affair, and ended today after four days of intense competition over ten windward/leeward races.

Alberto Rossi and his all-Italian crew on Enfant Terrible was crowned 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Champion, out of 15 crews from eight countries - Australia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Mexico, Turkey and the USA. The final battle for the title came down to very last run of the final race. The Italian victory was clearly hard-fought and well earned: Enfant Terrible finished tied on points with Kevin McNeil’s Nightshift (USA), but the Italians earned their title thanks to their three wins on the series standings. Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad (USA), three-time winner of the World Championship and current leader of the Farr 40 International Circuit Championship, finished in third, three points behind the leaders. Chicago architect Helmut Jahn, defending Rolex Farr 40 world champion with Flash Gordon 6 (USA), finished fourth with 57 points.

2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship Results
Place, Yacht Name, Owner/Skipper, Country, Results; Total Points

1.  Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 5-5-8-3-1-1-2-5-1-10; 41
2.  Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 2-8-3-1-2-2-5-3-7-8; 41
3.  Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 4-3-6-2-6-9-1-1-11-1; 44
4.  Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 7-2-2-9-8-6-13-4-4-2; 57
5.  Charisma, Nico Poons, MON, 1-1-1-11-9-16/DSQ-4-2-10-5; 60
6.  Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 9-7-4-4-4-5-14-9-3-11; 70
7.  Nanoq, HRH Prince Frederik, DEN, 6-6-7-14-7-4-9-6-5-6; 70
8.  PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 3-9-12-13-5-11-3-11-2-3; 72
9.  Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 13-10-5-5-3-13-7-8-9-9; 82
10. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, AUS, 11-4-11-7-11-10-6-7-12-4; 83
11.  Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 12-15-13-8-12-3-8-12-8-7; 98
12.  Endorphin, Erik Wulff, USA, 8-12-9-12-13-7-11-10-6-13; 101
13.  Flojito y Cooperando, Bernard Minkow/Julian Fernandez, MEX, 15-11-15-6-14-12-10-13-15-12; 123  
14. White Knight, Zoltan Katinsky, USA, 10-14-14-10-10-14-12-14-13-14; 125
15. Oakcliff Racing, Seth Cooley, USA, 14-13-10-15-15-8-15-15-14-15; 134

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Big Breeze, Big Action

The action on Rhode Island Sound was fast and furious on the penultimate day of the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in Newport, R.I., as the 15 teams contesting the 16th edition of this championship were challenged by three races sailed under a low cloud ceiling. The first race started in 12 knots of steady breeze from the north-northeast, which increased over the three races to 17 knots.

“We did a lot of back and forth before the start to get our rig tuned properly and we think that helped us a lot,” said Kevin McNeil (USA) who stands first overall with his team on Nightshift after finishes of 2-5-3 today for 26 cumulative points with two races to go in the series. “We got pinned a little when the Italians [Enfant Terrible] came over and tacked on us and pushed us out. Strategically it was the right thing to do as they pushed us back a little bit and got another boat in front of us. We hung in there. We’ll just continue doing what we’re doing. Everybody is tuned in and doing their job, and they’re doing a great job. I’m just the jockey; they [the crew] really pull it off. We had good clean starts today, which were helpful. The boat was going really well. We went fast upwind and downwind. We had a couple of little mistakes, but all in all it turned out pretty well. So we’re very happy, but we’re cautiously optimistic.”

2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship Results
Place, Yacht Name, Owner/Skipper, Country, Results; Total Points
1. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 2-8-3-1-2-2-5-3; 26
2. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 5-5-8-3-1-1-2-5; 30
3. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 4-3-6-2-6-9-1-1; 32
4. Charisma, Nico Poons, MON, 1-1-1-11-9-16/DSQ-4-2; 45
5. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 7-2-2-9-8-6-13-4; 51
6. Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 9-7-4-4-4-5-14-9; 56
7. Nanoq, HRH Prince Frederik, DEN, 6-6-7-14-7-4-9-6; 59
8. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 13-10-5-5-3-13-7-8; 64
9. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 3-9-12-13-5-11-3-11; 67
10. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, AUS, 11-4-11-7-11-10-6-7; 67
11. Endorphin, Erik Wulff, USA, 8-12-9-12-13-7-11-10; 82
12. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 12-15-13-8-12-3-8-12; 83
13. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernard Minkow/Julian Fernandez, MEX, 15-11-15-6-14-12-10-13; 96
14. White Knight, Zoltan Katinsky, USA, 10-14-14-10-10-14-12-14; 98
15. Oakcliff Racing, Seth Cooley, USA, 14-13-10-15-15-8-15-15; 105

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Coming Out Of The Fog A Winner

When light air and fog delayed the start of racing for day two of the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, the race committee took the 15-strong fleet up Narragansett Bay in search of wind. Their patience was rewarded with sunshine and good breeze -- for race one of the day -- before the fog caught up to the racers and things got complicated.

“The conditions for the first race were great; we did a really good job, had a great start and led to the top mark,” said Jim Richardson (USA), who, in 1998 in Miami, won the first-ever Farr 40 World Championship title -- the first of his three class world titles (‘98, ‘04, ‘09).

Richardson’s Barking Mad wound up between Nightshift and Enfant Terrible. “We were in the middle and eventually had to decide which side we wanted to lose to. We ended up beating Enfant across the line, but Nightshift won the race. Second race we made a tactical error and started too far down the line and everyone to the right of us was ahead. We did a good job fighting back and gained boats around the course and then the fog rolled in and made things intense – where the buoys were, where the competition was, and where the wind was coming from.” With finishes of 2-6 today, Richardson’s Barking Mad moved from fourth to second in the overall standings.

2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship Results

Place, Yacht Name, Owner/Skipper, Country, Results; Total Points
1. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 2-8-3-1-2; 16
2. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 4-3-6-2-6; 21
3. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 5-5-8-3-1; 22
4. Charisma, Nico Poons, MON, 1-1-1-11-9; 23
5. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 7-2-2-9-8; 28
6. Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 9-7-4-4-4; 28
7. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 13-10-5-5-3; 36
8. Nanoq, HRH Prince Frederik, DEN, 6-6-7-14-7; 40
9. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 3-9-12-13-5; 42
10. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, AUS, 11-4-11-7-11; 44
11. Endorphin, Erik Wulff, USA, 8-12-9-12-13; 54
12. White Knight, Zoltan Katinsky, USA, 10-14-14-10-10; 58
13. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 12-15-13-8-12; 60
14.  Flojito y Cooperando, Bernard Minkow/Julian Fernandez, MEX, 15-11-15-6-14; 61
15. Oakcliff Racing, Seth Cooley, USA, 14-13-10-15-15; 67

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