At right: Estate Master and Wired. Photo by Rolex / Kurt Arrigo. Click on image to enlarge.
Today’s scenic four islands Sydney Harbour course for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship fleet was a relaxed entrée into what will be anything but a laid-back affair when the world title commences tomorrow.
It was all smiles among the crews today. Tomorrow poker faces will be worn when 20 Farr 40s representing five countries head into battle with three of the 10 race series scheduled off Sydney Heads signaling the opening day of competition.
After three practice starts, today’s short course exhibition race took the fleet around Shark and Clarke Islands and up under the Sydney Harbour Bridge before rounding Goat Island and heading back to the finish off the World’s host club, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.
The Farr 40 fleet experienced a gamut of conditions, rain showers which gave way to sunshine and 20 knots of SSW wind gusting out of Rose Bay which a short time later morphed into a wind wasteland on the western side of the bridge.
Crews, including America’s Cup star James Spithill, enjoyed an unobstructed view of the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal then gave workers on Goat Island a bird’s eye view as they shaved the northern tip before bunching up tightly in the island’s lee.
Tomorrow’s forecast is for south to south easterly winds 10 to 15 knots and a southerly two metre swell breaking dangerously close inshore, warns the Bureau of Meteorology.
Regattanews.com will be supporting media coverage of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship 2011 from 23 to 26 February through various multimedia tools. A 3-dimensional tracking display by Virtual Eye will allow media the opportunity to watch live or replay each race of the championship via http://www.regattanews.com
A video round-up of the news and action from the day’s racing will be available each evening. -- Lisa Ratcliff
For further information on the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship 2011 visit: www.farr40worlds.com www.regattanews.com