NEWPORT, R.I. (July 4, 2012) – Day One of the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship in Newport, R.I. started off wet with storms predicted to loom in the forecast, but by the time the first of the fleet’s 11 teams began crossing the finish line in Race 1, the sun had burned off the clouds, and the wind had built to a consistent 12-14 knots. Like a deck of cards, the fleet was shuffled into different positions throughout the day, resulting in a different winner for each of the three races; however, none of those had made it into the top-four positions after cumulative results were tallied.
Charisma’s skipper Nico Poons (Monaco) enjoyed his first time racing in Newport by topping the scoreboard with a 5-2-4 , putting his team one point ahead of runner-up Enfant Terrible, skippered by Alberto Rossi (Italy), and three places above third place Struntje Light, skippered by Wolfgang Schaefer (Germany).
“The competition was tough like it always is in this class,” said Poons, who is enjoying his third season sailing in the Farr 40 Class and has competed in the last three events in the class’s 2012 US Circuit Championship. Poons’ current team includes tactician John Cutler and crew Joost Aapkes, Jason Currie, Gilbert Figaroa, Ivan Peute, Matt Reynolds, Dimitri Simons, Susan Toth and Rens van Arkel. “We had a nice day, and though we didn’t have a race that we won, we had consistent results. Newport is a nice place and there is a reason it is so popular for sailing here.”
Tonight sailors are enjoying Newport’s Fourth of July fireworks from the Apollo Jets Race Party at the Newport Shipyard, where the event is headquartered. The Organizing Authority is the Farr 40 Class Association in conjunction with The Storm Trysail Club.
In addition to Rolex as title sponsor, supporting sponsors are Apollo Jets and Newport Shipyard. Vanquish Boats and PURE Yachting are providing logistical assistance.
Daily race reports and photos are available on this website, along with video coverage provided by T2P.
View Day 1 Video Footage at
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(Day 1 Results Follow)
Charisma, Nico Poons, Monaco, 5-2-4 (11)
Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, Anacona, Italy, 4-6-2 (12)
Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, Germany, 2-4-8 (14)
Groovederci, John Demourkas, Santa Barbara, Calif., 6-5-3 (14)
Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, Annapolis, Md., 1-8-6 (15)
Barking Mad, James Richardson, Boston, Mass., 3-3-10 (16)
Provezza 8, Ergin Imre/Onur Erardag, Istanbul, Turkey, 10-1-7 (18)
Plenty, Alexander Roepers, New York, N.Y., 7-7-5 (19)
Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, Sydney, Australia, 9-10-1 (20)
Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, Istanbul, Turkey, 8-9-9 (26)
Yellow Jacket, Bulman Scholz Syndicate, Annapolis, Md., 11-11-11 (33)