February 3, 2011
Dear Farr 40 Owners,
Welcome to 2011! It should be a very exciting year for all of us with our 14th Rolex Farr 40 World Championship fast approaching and a fun schedule of racing around the world thereafter. There are currently 20 boats registered for the Worlds in Sydney and we are looking forward to a great event there. We have a very strong fleet led by the defending champions, Nerone. We are happy to welcome back to Farr 40 racing, Marcus Blackmore’s Hooligan and 2002 Farr 40 World Champions, Steve and Maxine Phillips’ LeRenard. Former Class President, Life Member, and 2000 World Champion, John Calvert-Jones has also chartered a boat and it will be great to see him in Sydney. There are other boats available for charter so if you are sick of the cold wintry weather, come on down. We expect to have some racing take place in Sydney Harbor during the Australian Nationals and the Worlds which will be a great way to showcase the Class and attract spectators. Additionally, Rolex is placing trackers on all boats and showing the racing live on Virtual Eye. Daily video clips highlighting the action will be available on the Class website, as well as on the Rolex website, RegattaNews.com. Many thanks to Australian Class President, Martin Hill, Sam Crichton and of course, Geoff Stagg and Tink Chambers for their efforts in putting together what will surely be a spectacular event.
We are attaching the international calendar of racing for the upcoming year (PDF).
There are a lot of great events on the calendar and hopefully they will be well supported. Some of the highlights include the Rolex Farr 40 North Americans, which will be held in Long Beach, California. Dave Voss has done an amazing job in fleet building in Southern California, and we expect a strong turnout for the North Americans. The European Championship is scheduled for Istanbul, Turkey, where there is a budding local fleet. We are excited to bring Farr 40 racing to such a wonderful and exotic venue.
Geoff Stagg and I have done a considerable amount of traveling over the past several months with trips to Los Angeles, Chicago, Annapolis, Istanbul and Sydney and we are pleased with how dedicated our owners are to the boats and the Class. Fleets in Annapolis and California continue to grow. The Canada’s Cup scheduled for later this year is spurring revived interest in the Great Lakes as is the impending announcement of Chicago as the site of 2012 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds. Doug DeVos recently purchased Infinity which he renamed Heritage, to participate in the Canada’s Cup and we are thrilled to welcome him to the Class. Interest in brokerage boats is increasing and the inventory of available boats is running low. We are hopeful that a three boat run of new boats will be commenced in the near future.
In Sydney, we will convene our Annual General Meeting. On the agenda is a vote to add a Corinthian Class of Membership for owners who sail in the local fleets and do not travel to major events. We are pleased with the support this proposal has received. We are confident that class membership will significantly increase and that together we can promote and market the Class in ways which will not only sustain us but to grow our numbers.
Wishing you all a very happy New Year. I am looking forward to seeing you in Sydney next month.
Jim Richardson, Class President
