Perini into the lead

After day two of the RhodesWaterside Farr 40 Regatta in Australia

Racing off Sydney’s Palm Beach in the Rhodes Waterside Farr 40 regatta was a long taxing day for the nine boat fleet today. A day one repeat in conditions greeted the fleet with a 12 knot easterly breeze that fluctuated and gradually decreased during the day instead of the predicted 25 knot nor’easter.

The dominant boat today was Richard Perini’s Evolution with three firsts and a fourth for today’s results. Race four of the series had the fleet jumping the gun twice with the race committee having to recall the entire fleet. Mimicking the final race from yesterday the race committee again had to change the course on each leg due to the shifty breeze. Overnight leader Lang Walker’s Kokomo maintained her top three performances to finish second just behind Perini with Steve O’Rourke’s Panther finishing third.

Race five of the regatta had Australian class newcomer Leon Christianakis and his crew on Cydon take the gun with a convincing lead of two minutes. Cydon was followed by David Urry’s War Games and Ray Roberts’s Quantum Racing improved on race four’s results to finish third.

Another general recall then an individual recall for Don Telford’s Rushcutter and race six was underway. Again the breeze was unsettled and the race committee had to make a number of changes during the race. Perini again took the gun after wrestling the lead from Kokomo who finished in second with Quantum Racing taking their second third for the day. Rushcutter sailed well to finish fourth behind Quantum Racing.

The final race for the day stared in a six knot breeze that tested the tacticians and crew for the two laps of the windward-leeward course. Kokomo did well to recover from a last place to finish second over the line with Perini taking his third gun for the day. "We’re pretty happy with the day and it will all come down to how things go tomorrow," remarked Perini.

Racing in the Rhodes Waterside Farr 40 regatta wraps up tomorrow and the next event on the calendar for the Australian Farr 40 fleet is the Savills SORC regatta being hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club November 26 and 27.

Provisional results Day 2:

1 Evolution R Perini 2,1,2,4,1,1,1 12
2 Kokomo L Walker 1,2,1,2,6,2,2, 16
3 Quantum Racing R Roberts 8,3,3,9,3,3,3 32
4 War Games D Urry 5,4,4,4,2,9,5 33
5 Cydon L Christianakis 6,5,9,6,1,6,4 37
6 Venom B Neill 4,6,7,7,7,5,6 42
7 Blacksnake M Milne 3,7,6,8,5,8,8, 45
8 Rushcutter D Telford 7,8,5,5,9,4,7 45
9 Panther S O’Rourke 9,9,8,3,8,7,9 53