Dress Rehearsal
While not a full-fledged dress rehearsal, the 15 teams readying for the 2015 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship availed themselves of the opportunity for some practice runs today, once the morning haze was dispersed by sunshine and a 10 knot west-southwest breeze.
Preparation is key in this competitive class which will see New York financier Alex Roepers, the defending Rolex Farr 40 North American Champion, attempting to fend off the assault of Italian shipping magnate and entrepreneur Alberto Rossi. Roepers’ PLENTY dominated the Farr 40 International Circuit in 2014, as has Rossi’s Enfant Terrible this current season. Racing gets underway tomorrow, August 18, and when it concludes on August 22, the title, and a specially-engraved Rolex timepiece, will reward the ultimate victor.
Santa Barbara, California (August 17, 2015) - Alberto Rossi and Rick Goebel will be looking to close out impressive seasons on the Farr 40 International Circuit when the Rolex North American Championship is held this week off sunny Santa Barbara.
Rossi and his team aboard Enfant Terrible have won all three regattas held to date, earning narrow victories at the Midwinter Championship (March 4-7, San Diego) and West Coast Championship (May 27-30, Cabrillo Beach) before running away with the Cal Cup (July 22-25, Marina del Rey).
Marina del Rey, CA (July 25, 2015) – Alberto Rossi wasn’t happy about being knocked off his perch atop the Farr 40 class in 2014.
First, Rossi and his Enfant Terrible team surrendered the International Circuit title, finishing as runner-up to skipper Alex Roepers and Plenty by 45 points. Then, the Italian team was dethroned as Rolex Farr 40 World Champions, finishing third in San Francisco behind Plenty and Estate Master.
Rossi and crew put considerable effort into improving the deficiencies that had prevented Enfant Terrible from achieving its goals. A revamped sail inventory along with some tuning tweaks to the rig were among many changes the Italians made in hopes of improvement.
Rossi and Enfant Terrible have rebounded from last year’s disappointment with a vengeance, blitzing the competition in every event on the 2015 International Circuit so far. Rossi led Enfant Terrible to its third straight regatta victory on Saturday, winning the Cal Cup in impressive fashion.
Santa Barbara, Calif. (12 August 2015) - In 1542 the first documented sailor - Portuguese explorer João Cabrilho - anchored briefly in the area of Santa Barbara, California. While Cabrilho was sailing to claim new lands for the King of Spain, another sailing claim will be at stake at this time next week: the 2015 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship title. From August 19-22, 15 teams will race in Santa Barbara for the title, and a specially-engraved Rolex timepiece.
2015 marks the second year in a row that the action for the Farr 40 class has been centralized in California, with this 2015 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship being hosted by Santa Barbara Yacht Club (SBYC). Situated on the longest stretch of south facing coastline on the west coast, Santa Barbara has a Mediterranean-type climate and is a topographically diverse stretch of coastline.
Marina del Rey, CA (July 24, 2015) - While Enfant Terrible continues to set a blistering pace, the trailing boats at the Cal Cup are tightly bunched and numerous placements will be up for grabs going into the final day.
Skipper Alberto Rossi steered Enfant Terrible to its third victory of the regatta in Race 7 on Friday then followed with a fourth and a second to further pull away. Tactician Vasco Vascotto and team have been on top of their game all week as the Italian boat has finished no worse than fourth in nine races so far.
Enfant Terrible, which has been runner-up in four races, has increased its lead every day and now has a low score of 19 points. Flash Gordon 6, skippered by Helmut Jahn of Chicago, stands second in the overall standings with 33 points.
"The Italians have new sails and we don't. That makes a difference," Jahn said when asked why Enfant Terrible has posted such a strong string of results. "Today they were not as dominant as the first two days, which tells you the sails were probably designed for the light to moderate breeze that tends to predominate in California."
Winds have consistently blown from the southwest throughout the regatta and Friday saw the highest velocity so far with 15 knots creating white caps on the Pacific Ocean. Flash Gordon 6 revelled in those conditions, winning Race 9 when the wind was at its peak.
Estate Master led around the first upwind mark, but Flash Gordon 6 showed superb downwind speed and caught up to the Australian boat. Flash Gordon 6 split with Estate Master at the gate and quickly moved into first place on the second upwind leg.
"I said yesterday that when we get the lead we need to hold onto it and this time we did that," Jahn said.