Early leaders

Rich Roberts reports from the first day of racing at Terra Nova Trading Key West Race Week

One day does not make a regatta, but opening day of Terra Nova Trading Key West 2004, presented by Nautica, left the dynamic international Farr 40 and Melges 24 fleets something to munch on besides conch fritters for the rest of the week.

Maspero Giovanni and his Joe Fly crew from Lecco, Italy, won the first Farr 40 race they ever sailed Monday and smoked that tough crowd with first- and fourth-place finishes, only later to be bumped down to tenth in the first race leaving George Andreadis' Atlanti (Robbie Haines) holding a narrow lead over Jim Richardson's Barking Mad (Terry Hutchinson).

Meanwhile Philippe Kahn and his 14-year-old world champion son Samuel (a.k.a. Shark) are first and third among 58 Melges 24s, separated by Britain's unheralded John Pollard in second.

Racing for 301 boats in 21 classes is scheduled to continue through Friday.

The Joe Fly guys also sail a mean Melges 24 (fourth here a year ago) and a Mumm 30 on the European circuit, but they hadn't seen their new Farr 40 until last week. They got in four days of practice, then went out Monday for real.

"The difference with the Farr 40 is that it's easy," said Giovanni, who was at the wheel in the owner-driver class, with Luca Santella matching tactical wits with a flock of superstars.

The Kahns claim they aren't team-racing the fleet but that it's every man and boy for himself. "We're always racing in-house," Philippe the father said.

Morgan Larson, a member of Philippe Kahn's crew, noted that "we gybed on [Shark's] wind a couple of times and passed him downwind to get second in the first race."

Shark the son was asked if he felt his rivals regarded him differently on the race course since he won the class Worlds convincingly at San Francisco last September. "Not really," he said. Well, does anybody yell at you? he was asked. "My dad," he said.

Philippe Kahn had a right to shout. His Pegasus 575, with a pair of seconds, won Nautica Day Boat of the Day honours.

Philippe Ligot's French entry, the P&P Sailing Team with Sebastian Col driving, won the first race but took an OCS hit in the second and is 28th overall. Dawn Riley's debut with an all-girl Detroit team struggled in 43rd place.

For sheer elegance, the Swan 45s stepped out in style for the first time with an eight-boat fleet and, appropriately, the Nautor's Swan brothers swapped wins as the elder Leonardo emerged atop the fleet on the day, while Massimo stood fourth.

San Francisco's Dee Smith, tactician for Craig Speck's second-place VIM liked the ride. "All the boats seem to go the same speed," he said, "although it's too early to tell after two races. They're great boats to race against other Swans."

Four boats, including both Corsair trimaran leaders, had perfect days. Bob Harkrider, sailed his Corsair 28R Bad Boys to a pair of firsts, as did Robert Remmers on Breaking Wind.

Mike Rose's J/133, Raincloud and Jim Hightower's Farr 37, Hot Ticket, also was unbeatable in PHRF 3 and 8, respectively.

Farr 40

Pos	Name	Skipper	From	R1	R2	Tot
1	Atalanti	George Andreadis	Athens, GRE	8	1	9
2	Barking Mad	James Richardson	Newport, RI	2	8	10
3	Crocodile Rock	A Geremia/S Harris	Santa Barbara, CA	9	2	11
4	Mean Machine	Peter De Ridder	Scheveningen, NED	6	7	13
5	Joe Fly	Maspero Giovanni	Lecco, ITA	10 p40	4	14
6	Samba Pa Ti	John Kilroy	Los Angeles, CA	3	13	16
7	Warpath	Steve & Fred Howe	San Diego, CA	10	6	16
8	Sotto Voce	Arien van Vemde	Willemstad, NED	5	14	19
9	Breeze	Vincenzo Onorato	Portoferraio, ITA	19	3	22
10	Bambakou	John Coumantaros	Newport, RI	12	11	23
11	Virago	Stuart Townsend	Chicago, IL	7	17	24
12	Nitemare	Tom Neill	Chicago, IL	4	21	25
13	Dynamo	Eric Moog	Toronto, CAN	20	5	25
14	Solution	John Thomson, Jr.	Sands Point, NY	14	15	29
15	Flash Gordon 4	Helmut Jahn	Chicago, IL	21	9	30
16	Riot	Marc Ewing	Northeast Harbor, ME	18	12	30
17	Sled	Takashi Okura	Kansai YC, JPN	11	20	31
18	Kokomo	Lang Walker	Sydney, AUS	16	16	32
19	Twins 2	Erik Maris	Porquerolles, FRA	15	18	33
20	Impetuous	Paul Zabetakis MD	Jamestown, RI	17	19	36
21	Le Renard	Steve Phillips	Annapolis, MD	22	19 p40	41
22	Pendragon V	John MacLaurin	Los Angeles, CA	22 avg1	22	44
23	Phish Food	Alexis Michas	Stonington, CT	23	23	46

Melges 24

Pos	Name	Skipper	From	R1	R2	Tot
1	Pegasus 575	Philippe Kahn	Waikiki, HI	2	2	4
2	Xcellent	John Pollard	Torquay, UK	3	3	6
3	Pegasus 492	Samuel Kahn	Waikiki, HI	4	5	9
4	Tickler	Sheldon Ecklund	West Palm Beach, FL	7	7	14
5	Blu Mun	Franco Rossini	Chiasso, SUI	16	1	17
6	OVL	Martin Wedge	Hayling Island, UK	5	18	23
7	Terra Nova Trd.	Ian Cleaver	Argyll, SCT	14	10	24
8	Monsoon	Bruce Ayres	Newport Harbor, CA	19	6	25
9	Baghdad	Kristian Nergaard	Oslo, NOR	22	4	26
10	Devotissimo	Franco Mavia Rao	Rome, ITA	10	16	26
11	Barbarians	Stuart Simpson	Torquay, UK	13	15	28
12	Wild Cats	Simon Strauss	Larchmont, NY	20	9	29
13	Star	Jeff Ecklund	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	17	12	29
14	Rhino	Sean Scarborough	Ocean City, NJ	8	23	31
15	Startack	Nick Maxwell	Madison, WI	9	26	35
16	Grinder	Jeff Littfin	San Francisco, CA	32	8	40
17	Shadow	Peter Stoneberg	San Francisco, CA	15	27	42
18	Cagey	Karen Gottwald	Chicago, IL	29	14	43
19	Maski	Dietrich Scheder	Hamburg, GER	18	25	43
20	Barracuda	Bob Dockery	Longboat Key, FL	23	20	43

Other class leaders (2 of 9 races)

Swan 45 (8 boats)---Cuordileone, Leonardo Ferragamo, Italy (3-1), 4 points.

Mumm 30 (13)---Turbo Duck, Bodo Von Der Wense, Annapolis (1-2), 3.

J/105 (29)---Max Power, Gerrit Schulze, Cape May, N.J. (5-2), 7.

J/80 (20)---Sooner Magic, Mac Kilpatrick, Ft. Worth, Tex. (5-2), 7.

Corsair 28R (10)---Bad Boys, Bob Harkrider, Augusta, Ga. (1-1), 2.

Corsair 24 (9)---Breaking Wind, Robert Remmers, Des Moines, Iowa (1-1), 2.

C&C 99 (11)---Lakota, David Roggenkamp, Rochester, N.Y. (3-1), 4.

T-10 (8)---Tie between Cygnet, Tim Rathbun, Chicago (2-1) and Liquor Box, Chuck Simon/Bill Buckles, Key West (1-2), 3.

PHRF 1 (9)---Aera (Ker 55), Nicholas Lykiardopulo, Cowes, UK 1-3), 4.

PHRF 2 /IMS (8)---Tie between Sjambok (1D48), Michael Brennan, Annapolis, Md. (2-1) and Storm (R/P 43), Les Crouch, San Diego (1-2), 3.

PHRF 3 (8)---Raincloud (J/133), Mike Rose, Kemah, Tex. (1-1), 2.

PHRF 4 (10)---Tazo (Farr 36), Markus Fiala, London, UK (3-1), 4.

PHRF 5 (12)---Euro Trash Girl (J/120), Nicole Weaver, Annapolis, Md. (5-1), 6.

PHRF 6 (14)---Le Cygne (Beneteau 1st 40.7), Don Chapman, Annapolis, Md. (3-1), 4.

PHRF 7 (12)---Patriot (Evelyn 32-2), Chip Crawford, Pensacola, Fla. (1-3), 4.

PHRF 8 (9)---Hot Ticket (Farr 37), Jim Hightower, Houston, Tex. (1-1), 2.

PHRF 9 (11)---Tie between Jazzy Jr. (Mariah 27 OB), Dan Romano, Farmington Hills, Mich. (1-4) and Invincible (N/M 30), Jeff Gastreau/Brian Lees, Annapolis. Md. (3-2).

PHRF 10 (7)---Ego Tripp (Tripp 26), Rich Harrison, Annapolis, Md. (2-1), 3.

PHRF 11 (12)---Outtasight (Wavelength 24), Lydia King-Rayner, Long Beach, Miss. (2-1), 3.

More photos on the following pages from Rick Tomlinson, Jack Hardway and Sue Bodycomb

Title Sponsor, Terra Nova Trading, L.L.C. (member NASD, SIPC & PCX), is recognised as an innovative leader in Electronic Direct Access Trading. The Chicago-based firm enables customers to electronically route orders to major markets and ECNs. Terra Nova Trading's technology partner, Townsend Analytics, Ltd., is the developer of the premier real-time trading platform, RealTick(r), which is also a Key West sponsor.

Nautica has upgraded its role to the Presenting Sponsor level. The winners of the multi-boat International Team Competition will receive the Nautica Trophy.

Mount Gay Rum, Lewmar, Samson Rope Technologies, Pearson Yachts, Raymarine and the Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council round out the official line-up. The Historic Seaport is the Official Site for the event. The Performance Sailing Industry Partner Program, now in its third year, features 26 companies that have made a multi-year commitment to the event.