| Hot, hot, hot. |
| By the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds Media Team. |
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Photos by Daniel Forster for Rolex,
edited By Peter Andrews. |
| Wednesday, April 21, 2010. |
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| For the teams competing at the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in the Dominican Republic, it was a long, hot morning waiting dockside at the Casa de Campo Marina for the breeze to fill in. Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio, postponed the 11am start and kept the fleet dockside where they could find shade and stay hydrated. |
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Rolex Farr 40 Worlds' fleet, at the dock in Casa de Campo.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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After an hour and a half delay, the fleet was sent out to the race area, just a mile out from the marina entrance and racing was underway by 1pm. But the tropical Caribbean with temperatures in the 90’s F (mid 30’s C) and high humidity, concentration and focus of crews’ were pushed to their limits.
The SSW breeze was light at 6 to 8 knots for the first race. The race committee sent the fleet on a 1.7 nautical mile Windward leeward course. Transfusion (AUS) led the pack down the line on starboard and was at the pin end at the gun. |
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Guido Belgiorno-Nettis' Transfusion, leader at the end of Day
1 of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2010 in Casa de Campo.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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"We decided we wanted to go conservative at the start," said Transfusion’s owner and helmsman, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis.
"We got ourselves a nice little lane and we had a good start. And then the boat was fast and we just kept out of trouble, but Tom (Slingsby, tactician) must have felt it was just worth staying where we were. We didn’t do many tacks and we got to the top mark first. Then we just kept that gap all the way. Very light, very challenging conditions. Very exhausting, I’ve got to say it was really hard work." |
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Transfusion's Guido Belgiorno-Nettis (left) and tactician Tom
Slingsby (right), leaders at the end of Day 1 of the Rolex
Farr 40 Worlds 2010 in Casa de Campo.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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After Transfusion finished 10th in the Pre-Worlds, Nettis was quite pleased with the the first race result.
"I think the first race was very nice, it was very satisfying, particularly with the Pre-Worlds result for us. It was nice to come back and get a first in the first race and keep the good result going." |
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Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2010 Race 1 start, during day 1 in Casa
de Campo.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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As the breeze had increased slightly up to 12 knots for the second race, the race committee reset the starting line to the west and maintained a windward leeward course. At the start, the fleet were more tightly packed than they were in the first race and hard up by the pin end of the start line, and Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone (ITA) was very close to being over early.
Clearly Nerone thought they were, though there was no flag or call from the race control boat, and after a boat length, Nerone turned around, sailed back and recrossed the start line. But the team was impressive as they clawed back from last place to finish in 5th place. |
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Massimo Mezzaroma's Nerone, third overall after Day
1, seen just ahead of Alessandro Barnaba's Fiamma, fifth overall
after day 1, of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2010 in Casa de Campo.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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A frustrated Vasco Vascotto, Nerone’s tactician said, "We were supposed to be over the line, and we came back (to restart). It was a big present to everyone. We have an opportunity to do better. We made a present of four points today, I hope it is enough for the competitors!"
From the start, Alex Roepers’ Plenty (USA), overlapped and to windward of Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master (AUS), tacked away for clear air and went to the right side of the course. Transfusion, midway down the start line was in clear air and stayed left for the first beat to the top mark, slowly working they way through the fleet. At the top mark they were in third place and from there, sailed into second place by the time they got down to the leeward mark. At the second windward mark they were in the lead, which they held until the finish. |
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Alex Roepers' Plenty rounding the mark during day 1 of the
Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2010 in Casa de Campo.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| For the third and final race of the day, the breeze dropped back to 6 to 8 knots. At the start, it was Doug Douglass’ Goombay Smash (USA) at the pin end leading Estate Master, with Transfusion and Wolfgang Schaefer’s Struntje Light (GER) on their hip. Goombay Smash led the fleet all the way around the course and downwind on their last leg they finally faced a challenge for the line from Barking Mad. |
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Start of Race 3 of day 1 of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2010.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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At this point of the race, Barking Mad’s owner helmsman Jim Richardson, reflected on his thoughts at the moment.
"The wind had lightened up a bit, and when you’re out in the heat all day and it’s light, it’s hard to concentrate. People get cranky on the boat and people get cranky on other boats. But I thought our crew did a really good job of sailing in those conditions and everyone kept their focus. We realized how difficult it is to sail in those conditions, so factoring all that, we were pretty pleased." |
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Alessandro Barnaba's Fiamma rounding the top mark during
day 1 of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2010.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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Barking Mad was second around the first mark and second around the leeward gate. At the first leeward gate, they rounded the left mark, while Goombay Smash and Nerone went for the right hand mark. Heading downwind to the finish, Barking Mad started to reel in Goombay Smash.
"It’s hard to defend downwind in light air and we got inside of them a little bit, and we had a little bit of pressure," said Richardson. "We were quite a distance away from them, but we were on their air."
The finish was looking to be too close to call until Barking Mad got into a bit more pressure and they crossed the finish line just ahead of Goombay Smash. |
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Jim Richardson's Barking Mad ahead of Massimo Mezzaroma's
Nerone and Guido Belgiorno-Nettis' Transfusion, during day
1 of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2010 in Casa de Campo.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| Today was the Casa de Campo Race Day. Day One’s overall leaders after three races; Transfusion, Barking Mad and Nerone, were presented with Farr 40 boat models built by Abordage. Based in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, Abordage takes pride in the beautifully hand-crafted ship models it has been producing since 1989 |
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Guido Belgiorno-Nettis' Transfusion and Lisa and Martin
Hill's
Estate Master leading the fleet downwind, during day
1 of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2010 in Casa de Campo.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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For more information about the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, including results and crew lists, please visit: www.farr40worlds.com.
Rolex Farr 40 Worlds Results - Day 1
(Position / Name / Owner / Country / R1-R2-R3 / total Points)
1. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis (AUS), 1-1-3, 5.
2. Barking Mad, Jim Richardson (USA), 4-3-1, 8.
3. Nerone, Massimo Mezzarona / Alberto Signorini (ITA), 2-5-5, 12.
4. Goombay Smash, Doug Douglass (USA), 8-8-2, 18.
5. Fiamma, Alessandro Barnaba (ITA), 5-7-6, 18.
6. Estate Master, Lisa and Martin Hill (AUS), 7-2-10, 19.
7. Plenty, Alex Roepers (USA), 3-9-7, 19.
8. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi / Roberto Strappati (ITA), 6-10-4, 20.
9. Struntje Light, Wolfgang Schaefer (GER), 9-4-9, 22.
10. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut and Evan Jahn (USA), 10-6-8, 24. |
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| Outimage and Rolex © 2010 |
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