Farr 40s, ding ding, round one.

21 Boats compete in first Med event in Capri

21 Farr 40s made the trip to Capri, the Italian island located just off Naples, for the first of the Deutche Bank Farr 40 Mediterranean circuit.

Three days of racing have been completed in light airs which has resulted in only one race per day being sailed.

The series started off in traditional style with the proven partnership of owner George Andreadis and his tactician Robbie Haines putting the first score on the board for this season. The Italian favourite, Nerone, owned by Massimo Mezzaroma were without their usual tactician Vasco Vascotto, with Andy Beadworth calling the shots instead. Nerone put in a good first day with a third, but the addition of two poor results dropped them 15 overall.

An improving Barking Mad, with Terry Hutchinson sailing as tactician, for the experienced 40 campaigner Jim Richardson, finished the weekend one point off second place with a 8,11,2 scoreline.

German boat Struntje Light has started the season well in Capri with a fourth place overall. Wolfgang Schaefer was second at the Europeans last year with an on form Iain Percy getting the tactics inch perfect. For this event Percy has been replaced by fellow Olympian Xavier Rohart.

Top British boat was Philip Tolhurst's Warlord in fifth place, back with their regular tactician from 2001, GBR Challenge Kiwi Chris Main. Tony de Mulder has had a less than perfect start to the Med circuit, with a core crew of Adrian Stead's regulars, Victric 5 finished in 14 place. Tony Buckingham's A Bit of a Coup, was a no show at the event due to the owner's work commitments.

The second round is at the end of this month, with the fleet moving up the coast to the Prada America's Cup base of Punta Ala. The Worlds take place at the beginning of July in Sardinia.

	Boat	Owner	Tactician	R 1	R 2	R3	Tot.
1	ATALANTI	George Andreadis	Robbie Haines	1,0	8,0	6,0	15,0
2	BOTTADICULO	R. Mincione-G . Arrivabene	Sergey Chestov	12,0	3,0	3,0	18,0
3	BARKING MAD	Jim Richardson	Terry Hutchinson	8,0	11,0	2,0	19,0
4	STRUNTJE LIGHT	Wolfgang Schaefer	Xavier Rohart	18,0	1,0	4,0	23,0
5	WARLORD	Philip Tolhurst	Chris Main	13,0	4,0	7,0	24,0
6	KATANGA	Robin Paterson	Ian Walker	5,0	6,0	14,0	11,0
7	SEVEN	Alberto Miss.s	Chris Larson	4,0	18,0	5,0	27,0
8	RROSE	Riccardo Bonadeo	Gabriel Benussi	2,0	14,0	12,0	28,0
9	NELA	Michael Illbruck	John Kostecki	11,0	2,0	16,0	29,0
10	MADINA	Dario Ferrari	Tierry Peponnet	9,0	20,0	1,0	30,0
11	MEAN MACHINE	Peter De Ridder	S. Bannatyne	6,0	17,0	8,0	31,0
12	GROOVEDERCI	Deneen-John Demourkas	Mark Reynolds	15,0	7,0	10,0	32,0
13	GAME ON	Oswald-Bainbridge	Anthony Haines	19,0	5,0	11,0	35,0
14	VICTRIC 5	Tony De Mulder	Adrian Stead	7,0	15,0	13,0	35,0
15	NERONE	M. Mezzaroma-A.Sodo	Andy Beadsworth	3,0	16,0	17,0	36,0
16	MORNING GLORY	Hasso Plattner	Goddesses Smith	10,0	13,0	15,0	38,0
17	BREEZE	Honored Vincenzo	Flavio Favini	14,0	OCS	9,0	45,0
18	ZZENZERO 7	Renato Mazzeschi	Enrico Strong stakes	16,0	10,0	21,0	47,0
19	ALEPH	H.Lepic-P.E. Detroyat	Luc Pillot	17,0	12,0	19,0	48,0
20	ALBABLU	Renato Irrera	Alberto The Tegola	21,0	9,0	20,0	50,0
21	VALEMEZZA	V. Mezzaroma-M . Scotto	Francisco Cruciani	20,0	19,0	18,0	57,0