Italian brilliance too good for local heroes

At right: Transfusiion. Photo by Rolex / Kurt Arrigo. Click to enlarge.feb25_farr40

Defending Rolex Farr 40 World Champions, Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio Sodo Migliori's Nerone (ITA), now hold a one-point advantage over the local heroes, and Nerone's tactician Vasco Vascotto believes the most relaxed will be the ultimate victor.

"Tomorrow will be a big fight," admitted Vascotto this afternoon. It's a good opportunity for Transfusion to beat us after what happened last year [when Transfusion lost to Nerone on the final day of the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds], but we will let them try to force us and we will just stay relaxed, or as we say in Italian, 'tranquilli'."

Day 3 – Top 10 provisional results (pending protests)

Place, Boat Name, Country, Owner-Helm, R1-R2-R3-R4-R5-R6-R7-R8, TOTAL
1) Nerone , ITA, Antonio Sodo Migliori & Massimo Mezzaroma, 2-1-10-8-1-1-6-1, 30 
2) Transfusion, AUS, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, 4-4-2-1-7-4-4-5, 31
3) Flash Gordon, USA, Helmut & Evan Jahn, 11-2-9-2-8-5-11-3, 51
4) Barking Mad, USA, Jim Richardson, 15-10-5-9-2-3-10-2, 56
5) Estate Master, AUS, Lisa & Martin Hill, 1-8-1-5-9-10-12-12, 58
6) Kokomo, AUS, Lang Walker, 19-5-4-7-5-9-3-7, 59
7) Struntje Light, GER, Wolfgang & Angela Schaefer, 3-13-3-21-4-13, 67
8) Hooligan, AUS, Marcus Blackmore, 13-3-6-4-16-14-8-4, 68
9) Voodoo Chile, AUS, Andrew Hunn & Lloyd Clark, 5-9-8-15-3-2-16-16, 74
10) Goombay Smash, USA, William Douglass, 9-6-17-10-11-16-1-6, 76

Some "midnight sailing", which is how Belgiorno-Nettis describes having a three point advantage with Transfusion (AUS) then waking up to find that gap had closed to a one point lead after the results of two protests shuffled the pointscore, made for a restless night.

After today's fourth and fifth over the line they are poised to challenge. "It doesn't matter whether we are in front or behind," said Belgiorno-Nettis this afternoon. "As long as we have the consistency we can challenge Nerone. We will start afresh tomorrow and try to win the war and if they sail better than us then good luck to them, they are great competitors."

Transfusion's Zen motto relates to the fact that every day is a journey and Belgiorno-Nettis has reminded his crew at this crucial juncture that they are privileged to be where they are, contesting a World Championship in their city, and in the company of champions.

Helmut and Evan Jahn's Flash Gordon (USA) worked hard under Bill Hardesty's guidance and took advantage of another under par day by Martin and Lisa Hill's Estate Master (AUS) to move into third with two races remaining.

While the frontrunners played their own game, elsewhere teams were making some moves. William Douglass' Goombay Smash (USA), with James Spithill riding shotgun, strung together her best day to date with a bullet in race seven followed by a sixth place in race eight. Wolfgang and Angela Schaefer's crew on Struntje Light (GER) dusted themselves off, after their disqualification in race four, to post a second and an eighth.

Conditions on the Manly Circle course area saw 8-10 knots out of the north, building to 12-15 for the second race of the day. Tomorrow's forecast is for nor'easterlies 10 to 15 knots increasing to 15 to 20 knots during the afternoon.

The Rolex Farr 40 World Championship is for the second year shaping up to be a two-boat contest between the black shirted Italians and the white shirted Australians. Transfusion is gunning for a home town victory and to right wrongs from last year's Worlds in the Dominican Republic while the cool class act that is Nerone will do whatever it takes to achieve back to back crowns.

Full Results: www.farr40worlds.com/2011results