Farr 40 Europeans

Thinner, but just as competitive and maybe a little more relaxed than normal

Coming after the spectacular Rolex Farr 40 World’s, held in Porto Cervo in July, it was always expected that the Europeans last week would be a quieter affair.

Held at the Yacht Club Hyeres in the South of France, and racing on the famous bay, the setting was once again befitting this class. An entry list of 15, was much thinner than the 40 boat peak in the summer, but some of the regular top boats attended including Wolfgang Schaeffer’s Strunje Light, Vincenzo Oronato’s Breeze, Alberto Signorini’s Seven, Tony de Mulder’s Victric 5 and Peter De Ridder’s Mean Machine.

Racing took place in a mixture of conditions, ranging from a light 5 knots through to a blustery 25. Such was the race committee’s grip on the local weather, the fleet were actually taken back in during one particular rain squall, only to be called out again later in the afternoon to complete another race in more settled, and sunny, conditions. The committee were also praised for their very proactive response to the changeable wind conditions, being quick to move the windward mark whenever necessary.

Racing was at it usual cut-throat best with the fleet usually all finishing within 90 seconds of each other. Strunje Light, displaying a slight speed edge, put together a string of consistent results, their worse being an eighth, to take the title from Mean Machine by four points in the no-discard series. Oronato’s Breeze looked strong in the opening couple of races but suffered from a case of pushing too hard, with a couple of OCS at the start and tight laylines. It was noted that local knowledge was an advantage with a strong current across the course which caught a few people out.

Crews were also greeted by a much more informal atmosphere ashore, as compared to the Worlds. The Yacht Club entertainment was relaxed - less waiters in tuxedos -more competitiors enjoying a beer with each other. Hyeres also offered crews and owners a wider choice of bars and restaurants at a more reasonable price.

Recent new addition to the class, Rob Goddard, with Farrfalina, was enthusiastic again about how close the racing was. “We were in third place up one of the beats, I got a tack wrong, maybe losing two boats lengths and that was enough to push us down ten places by the windward mark.” Goddard, finishing in penultimate place, suffered downwind after damaging their 0.5 running spinnaker, which is a key weapon in the inventory.

Goddard took six of the Volvo RYA Keelboat Squad sailors(below) with him to the event, making them easily the youngest crew. He feels it was a good experience for the young sailors, aged between 19 and 24. “I think they came away with a higher respect for the other crews. They are all very good dinghy sailors in their own right, but the need in Farr 40 sailing to work well as a team, with speed and coordination, is something they have come away with.”



Overall Goddard was very pleased with his young crew and to be a part of the RYA scheme. He feels that the scheme needs the commitment from owners, and the chance for the sailors to build up some sort of continuity, which is where the confidence with manoeuvres will come from.

The Farr 40 Mediterranean fleet will again convene next year for another series of highly competitive regattas. The Worlds are to be held in San Francisco next year so it looks likely there will be strong circuits on both sides of the pond in 2004.

	Yacht	Owner	Race1	Race2	Race3	Race4	Race5	Race6	Race7	Race8	Race9	Total
1	STRUNTJE LIGHT	Wolfgang Schaefer	4	3	2	3	4	2	5	8	6	37
2	MEAN MACHINE	Peter De Ridder	3	4	12	6	3	6	3	1	3	41
3	VICTRIC 5	Tony DeMulder	7	5	3	9	1	1	9	3	8	46
4	SEVEN	Alberto Signorini	2	7	1	4	13	3	1	7	11	49
5	TWT	Marco Rodolfi	11	11	5	5	5	4	2	4	7	54
6	NORWEGIAN STEAM	Eivind Astrup	5	12	7	1	9	10	6	2	4	56
7	BREEZE	Vincenzo Onorato	1	1	10	7	7	5	7	9	10	57
8	GAME ON	John Oswald	9	6	6	8	8	11	8	6	2	64
9	KOKOMO	Lang Walker	6	2	8	2	2	7	14	12	-	69
10	SHINING SR	Domenico Cilenti	8	13	4	11	12	9	12	5	13	87
11	HAGAKURE	Michel Tiberini	10	10	13	OCS	6	13	10	11	1	90
12	SARASTRO	JP Delmotte	13	9	9	14	11	8	13	15	5	97
13	FARRFELU	Alain Bompart	14	8	14	10	15	12	4	13	9	99
14	FARRFALINA	Rob Goddard	12	14	11	12	10	15	15	10	14	113
15	CACHARAZA	Marcos Vivian	15	15	15	13	14	14	11	14	12	123