Cowes Week class preview 1

John Greenland looks at the form in the Farr 40, Sigma 33, 38 and X-332 classes

Farr 40s

The Farr 40s will be sailing with their own start for the first three days of the week using simply windward-leeward courses. This format is similar to the planned format for the Farr 40 Europeans, so competition is likely to be fierce among the twelve boats currently entered. Each boat can have up to four professionals on board, frequently filled by GBR Challenge sailors, current and past Olympians, and internationally renowned yachtsmen.

There have been several major competitions in the Solent this year for the owner-driver class including the Red Funnel Easter Regatta, the Berthon Source Regatta and most recently, the RORC One Design event. In addition to this the Farr 40s have also had their own series of races.

To date Mark Heeley's GBR 25, has proved to be the dominant force in this class and most recently won of the RORC One-Design event. GBR25 will be one of the favourites for this series as on board doing tactics will be Finn Gold Medallist Iain Percy. Heeley has won Cowes Week six times before, including the IRM division - this year combined with IRC0. Heeley also competed in the Key West regatta earlier this year where he finished an impressive fourth overall.

Also capable of winning the series are Game On, John Bainbridge and John Oswald, and A Bit of a Coup, Tony Buckingham. Game On, new last season, won last year's Europeans. Although they are yet to secure a win in any of the major regattas this season, their speed and consistency gives them the potential to claim victory during Cowes Week. Buckingham was a close second during the Easter Regatta, and second British boat in the One-Design series (fifth overall).

Also travelling over to Cowes as a warm up for the Europeans and Worlds will be Jim Richardson's, ex-world champion, Barking Mad. Richardson will have Terry Hutchinson on board doing the tactics, which should prove a competitive partnership for the regatta.

Warlord VII, another new Farr in the fleet, also chose to warm up for this season in Key West. Although not as successful as Buckingham, their crew showed great improvment, winning the Easter Regatta on returning from Miami.

The class' three day series will take place during the first three days of the week, with each race starting at 1100.

continued with Sigmas and X332s on page two...