Early lead to Nerone

As the Rolex Trophy One Design Series sets sail in Sydney

The wind gods off Sydney Heads played cruel games today with the Farr 40 fleet contesting the Rolex Trophy waiting an hour and a half for their first start.
Eleven teams from Australia, Italy, New Zealand and the USA are taking part in the three day event weekend event and utilising the time on the water in preparation for the upcoming Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in February 2011.

The fleet drifted on the Macquarie Circle course area off South Head on a glassed out ocean under a postponement flag for more than an hour while the race committee waited for a very light northerly breeze to increase to five knots so they could start the first race.

“The wind has been all over the place, it’s been the luck of the draw”, commented principal race officer Denis Thompson.

The international teams have shown they are here to win with the first two races of the day being won by overseas boats. New Zealander Brett Neill’s White Cloud took the bullet in race one and the current Rolex Farr 40 World Champion Italian team of Nerone (Massimo Mezzaroma) took the gun in race two.

After what was a very challenging day, the top two teams, Nerone and Australian Guido Belgiorno-Nettis’ Transfusion, have a sense of déjà vu after finishing in the same order in April when they last raced against each other at the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds. Maybe the light and shifty conditions similar to those the Mediterranean provides suited the Italian yacht and its tactician, Vasco Vascotto, who helped his team to a second and a win.

“It was quite crazy actually – it was hard for tacticians – one of those days it would have been better to have another job,” the Italian team's tactician Vascotto said laughing. He conceded that: “while we are very happy, the Championship has a long way to go and all the boats here are very good. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?”

The Italian said they were a bit lucky in Race 2. “We saw breeze on the right and we went there; it was the right way to go. We came to Sydney to learn (for the World’s) and I’m glad we did. We’re finding it can be a very tricky place to sail.”

The third race of the day was abandoned after the start due to the uncooperative breeze outside Sydney Heads.

Results: