Farr 40 Racing in Miami

Miami Beach, Florida – After a day of struggling with light and very shifty winds, the leader of the 33-boat fleet at the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds remains Mascalzone Latino, Vincenzo Onorato’s Italian entry, with Joe Fly (ITA) in second and Alinghi (SUI) moving up into the third-place slot. Two additional races were held and two races remain to be sailed in the 10-race series. There are no throwouts – or discard races – in the ultra-competitive Farr 40 Class. No one knows better than Onorato, the defending champion, and his team that a one-point lead is not a cushion.

“It was tough racing out there,” said John Kostecki, tactician onboard Mascalzone Latino’s. “To try and stay ahead of the pack in quite shifty winds, it was tricky. Joe Fly sailed well to beat us in two races. We sailed well; not as good as they did, but still did well.”

The Latin Rascals scored a 6-3, compared to Joe Fly’s 5-2 scores. “We didn’t want to separate from them too much since we’re so close on points,” said Kostecki. “We definitely wanted to go into tomorrow being close instead of them being in the lead. We’re happy with today.

For Joe Fly’s helmsman Giovanni Maspero, who has kept a low profile so as not to jinx his team, tomorrow is a chance to reach for the champion’s title.

Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi (SUI) is now one step closer to the top. “We are a little bit better today than yesterday,” said Bertarelli, the current America’s Cup champion. “Yesterday we had a bad race, which is very expensive in this regatta, so today we came back a little bit. We didn’t make any changes to our game other than working harder. I haven’t had much practice on these boats this year, so I guess every race we get a little better.”

Tomorrow will be a chance to improve again. “Anything can happen tomorrow with two races to go, we have to continue to do well,” said Bertarelli. He will count on tactician Brad Butterworth and mainsail trimmer Warwick Fleury.

The Swiss sailor has participated in the Farr 40 Class for quite a long time and is the 2001 Farr 40 world champion. “I like the world championship,” he said. “That’s almost the only regatta I do and maybe just one other during the year. It’s more for fun. I enjoy the fact that it is very competitive and I have a lot of friends here too.”

For Barking Mad (USA), Jim Richardson’s Newport-based boat came second in the first race and saw its chances of moving up the leader board improve. The increase was not to be in the last race; Barking Mad found itself stuck in the wrong position and scored a 24, causing them to drop out of the top three into fourth overall.

-- Rolex Farr 40 World Championship - 2008 --

Preliminary Results – Top 10 of 33

Two races held April 18
(8 races total completed in 10-race series)

Boat Name (Country), Owner/Helm, Race 1-2-3, Total points

1. Mascalzone (ITA), Vincenzo Onorato, 3-12-1-14-3-5-6-3, 47points

2. Joe Fly (ITA), Giovanni Maspero, 9-1-8-15-6-2-5-2, 48

Alinghi (SUI), Ernesto Bertarelli, 8-14-6-6-7-20-9-4scp, 74

4. Barking Mad (USA), Jim Richardson, 25-5-3-2-16-6-2-24, 81

5. Mean Machine (MON), Peter de Ridder, 24-3-9-9-14-1-14-9, 83

6. Nanoq (DEN), HRH Crown Prince Frederik, 13-15-16-20-17-9-4-13scp, 107

7. Ramrod (USA), Rodrick Jabin, 22-8-17-3-10-21-10-19scp, 110

8. Warpath (USA), Fred & Steve Howe, 12-13-14-24-11-8-18-11, 111

9. Calvi Network (ITA) Carlo Alberini, 6-9-12-33-26-14-7-7, 114

10. Atalanti (GRE), Stratis Andreadis, 5-2-25-7-24-11-15-26scp, 115

Photos: 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship by Kurt Arrigo of ROLEX