Richardson leads Farr matchracing

Dana Paxton reports from the Rolex Farr One Design Invitational regatta in Miami

Beautiful conditions provided the perfect setting for the first of two days in the Rolex Farr 40 Match Race where six international teams are competing as a warm-up to the Rolex Farr One Design Invitational.

One round of matches plus one flight in the second round was completed today just off Miami’s South Beach, on the Atlantic Ocean, under the auspices of Peter "Luigi" Reggio and the Storm Trysail Club.

Past Farr 40 world champion Jim Richardson and his Barking Mad team lead the round robin scoreboard with five wins and one loss with Italians Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio Sodo Migliori and the Nerone team also with 5-1, but in second overall as their one loss was to Barking Mad.

"This is the first time that the Farr 40 class has organised match racing and it was a great learning process for all of us out there today," said Richardson, who is also the Farr 40 Class President. "We all sailed six matches of two windward-leeward laps, making the crew work intensified. It was a fun start to the week."

Peter Stoneberg and his Shadow Rock team are even on three wins and losses with Peter de Ridder and his Mean Machine from Monaco, with two wins and four losses.

For Annapolis sailor Steve Phillips, the learning curve was a bit steeper thanks to an unsuspected hit in the mouth by the boom during the pre-start of the first match against Twins2 owned by Frenchman Erik Maris. The Le Renard skipper, who is a past Farr 40 world champion, lost the edge off of his three front teeth, but recovered quickly and went on to win the race. Unfortunately the day didn’t go any better for the team as they are 1-5 in the results.

Results
Day 1, November 17, 2003
Skipper, Boat Name, Hometown, Win-Loss Record
Jim Richardson, Barking Mad, Boston, Mass./Newport, R.I., 5-1
Massimo Mezzaroma & Antonio Sodo Migliori, Nerone, Rome, Italy, 5-1
Peter Stoneberg, Shadow Rock, Orinda, Calif., 3-3
Peter de Ridder, Mean Machine, Monaco, 2-4
Erik Maris, Twins2, France, 2-4
Steve Phillips, Le Renard, Annapolis, Md., 1-5