Nightshift takes the lead

Fog rolls in for the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds

When light air and fog delayed the start of racing for day two of the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, the race committee took the 15-strong fleet up Narragansett Bay in search of wind. Their patience was rewarded with sunshine and good breeze for race one of the day before the fog caught up to the racers and things got complicated.

“The conditions for the first race were great; we did a really good job, had a great start and led to the top mark,” said Jim Richardson, who, in 1998 in Miami, won the first-ever Farr 40 World Championship title - the first of his three class world titles (1998, 2004, 2009).

Richardson’s Barking Mad wound up between Nightshift and Enfant Terrible. “We were in the middle and eventually had to decide which side we wanted to lose to," said Richardson. "We ended up beating Enfant across the line, but Nightshift won the race. Second race we made a tactical error and started too far down the line and everyone to the right of us was ahead. We did a good job fighting back and gained boats around the course and then the fog rolled in and made things intense – where the buoys were, where the competition was, and where the wind was coming from.” With finishes of 2-6 today, Richardson’s Barking Mad moved from fourth to second in the overall standings.

Starting the day tied for third overall, Nightshift was the big mover today, vaulting to the top of the overall standings on finishes of 1-2. “We’re looking pretty good right now, but we’ve got a long way to go,” said owner Kevin McNeil (USA). “The fog was fun, we love sailing in the fog… it was pretty cool. It makes things more challenging. Our crew work was spot on; we had real good communication; we went the right way most of the time and got clean starts. We did alright. I’m pretty happy, but we’ve got a long way to go. I’ve fallen off shorter steps than this before.” McNeil’s strategy going forward will be to get ahead and work to extend the five-point lead he currently has over Richardson’s Barking Mad.

Another big mover in the overall standings today was Alberto Rossi’s Enfant Terrible (ITA). Posting finishes of 3-1 bumped Rossi up to third from fifth, just one point behind Barking Mad. In race two, Enfant Terrible led the fleet at every mark. “For us the fog was a big problem,” said Rossi. “We didn’t have the position of the new marks. During the upwind leg we couldn’t choose the right way. At the last 200 metres we saw it [the finish].”

Results

1. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 2-8-3-1-2; 16
2. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 4-3-6-2-6; 21
3. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 5-5-8-3-1; 22
4. Charisma, Nico Poons, MON, 1-1-1-11-9; 23
5. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 7-2-2-9-8; 28
6. Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 9-7-4-4-4; 28
7. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 13-10-5-5-3; 36
8. Nanoq, HRH Prince Frederik, DEN, 6-6-7-14-7; 40
9. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 3-9-12-13-5; 42
10. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, AUS, 11-4-11-7-11; 44
11. Endorphin, Erik Wulff, USA, 8-12-9-12-13; 54
12. White Knight, Zoltan Katinsky, USA, 10-14-14-10-10; 58
13. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 12-15-13-8-12; 60
14. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernard Minkow/Julian Fernandez, MEX, 15-11-15-6-14; 61
15. Oakcliff Racing, Seth Cooley, USA, 14-13-10-15-15; 67