Alberto Rossi and his crew aboard Enfant Terrible have ended each day of racing at the Farr 40 Midwinter Championship on the top of the scoreboard. In a class where consistency is key, Enfant proved day after day to be the most consistent competitors in the class. The Italian crew raced a beautiful regatta against some very serious competition, and now they will head into the rest of the Farr 40 circuit as the Midwinter Champions.
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| Alberto Rossi and the Enfant Terrible crew |
On the third day of racing, San Diego offered the Farr 40 Midwinter Championship sunny skies, flat waters and a steady breeze. “The sailing conditions have just been spectacular, we could not ask for more,” said Geoff Stagg, manager of the Farr 40 Class. “We’ve had two beautiful days of racing in the bay and now we’re going to get three more gorgeous races on the ocean.”
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| The Farr 40 fleet and the USS America |
With competition this tight, consistency is key
If there was any takeaway for competitors in the regatta's first three races, it's that walking away with the title of Farr 40's Midwinters Champion is not going to be an easy feat.
The day started with a one hour postponement, as the Race Committee and the competitors waited for the winds to fill in over San Diego Bay. Competitors took to the starting line at 12:30 on a W4 course of 1.1 nautical miles with approximately 7 Knots of breeze.
History seemed destined to repeat itself as Alex Roepers and his crew, last year's Farr 40 World Champions, led the class throughout the entirety of the first race. After last year's successes the Plenty crew picked up right where they left off.
Close behind the first place finisher was Enfant Terrible, who held on to second place even after an aggressive move at the gate mark. The incident took place when Enfant tacked immediately after rounding the leward mark, surprising Struntje light who was still sailing downwind. "We decided to make the tack move as we were approaching the gate mark," said Enfant skipper Alberto Rossi.
Enfant Terrible continues reign as scoreboard leader
Going into the second day of racing at the Farr 40 Midwinter Championship, the Italian crew aboard Enfant Terrible faced the near impossible task of maintaining their lead against a class with some serious talent. The impossible must be an Italian special, because not only did they remain the overall scoreboard leaders, but they did so by placing 1st in two of the races and 4th in the last.
Day Two of the Farr 40 Midwinter Championship was the Maserati of San Diego Race Day, and it took place in San Diego Bay. The 11 teams took center stage on the busy waters, as harbor cruises, military vessels and spectator boats scurried along the outskirts of the racing course. “You all are providing the sailing fans on the 19th floor of the ESET building downtown with some truly exciting racing,” said Robin Dishon, whose office overlooks the course.
At the end of a short and intense Farr 40 One Design Trophy regatta on Sydney Harbour, the fleet beat the southerly burst moving up the NSW coast at 35 knots and Lloyd Clark’s Voodoo Chile beat the fleet by three points having taken Transfusion to the protest room, where both boats were disqualified from a game changing race six.
Guido Belgiorno-Nettis’ Transfusion and Voodoo were scrubbed by the jury from race six for a mark incident and in the re-sorting process Voodoo moved from second by one point to first by three points.
“Guido and myself and Andrew (Voodoo co-owner) have a great rivalry, but we are good friends. After the hearing result was announced Guido and I had a little hug and a chat,” Clark stated. “We always prefer the results to be sorted out on the water, but that’s part of the sport.