2015 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship – Day 2 More great racing
by Bob Fisher on 26 Sep 2015
Tied for first is John Demourkas on Groovederci (Bow 09) Rolex/ Kurt Arrigo
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Another day of glorious racing for the 17 boats competing for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship off Long Beach, California produced three different winners, and all three are now at the top of the leader board after six of the eleven races in this no-discard series.
The south-westerly sea breeze increased as the day progressed and veered throughout the period of racing. All starts were closely competed, but only two boats were called over all day, and those in the first race. That start was made to perfection by Wolfgang Schaefer with Struntje Light, but he admitted that he tacked on to port too soon and others reaped the benefit of the later shift and three boats beat him to the first mark after a 1.2 mile beat.
John Demourkas with Groovederci was first around, followed by Chris Vilicich steering the Cal Maritime boat and Hasip Gencer with the Turkish boat Asterisk Uno and then Struntje Light. These four pulled away from the pack and their places remained unchanged over the next three legs in the 10-knot breeze. At the finish, Groovederci was 22 seconds clear.
The breeze was up to 13 knots for the second race of the day and while Tony Pohl made the perfect start with Twisted, it was not long before Struntje Light was leading. She rounded the first mark clear ahead of Gary Ezor with Coquille and Alberto Rossi with Enfant Terrible. The Italian skipper had severe problems with kelp in the first race, finishing last, but this time he and tactician Vasco Vascotto were back in their usual form. As the race progressed, Enfant Terrible overtook Coquille, but Struntje Light was well clear.
'We said today was to be better than 'medium', declared Schaefer after the day's racing, ' 'medium' was yesterday!' His crew reacted favourably to this suggestion and as a result of another good result in the final race of the day, a second, Struntje Light tops the leader boar on level points with Groovederci. They are two points clear of Alex Roepers' Plenty, the winner of the last race.
Top Corinthian at this stage is Gary Ezor with Coquille at eighth, sharing the points with Helmut Jahn's Flash Gordon 6. Vice-President of the Class, and recently made the third life member of the class, Wolfgang Schaefer, remarked: 'The Corinthians are getting better with every regatta, and we find this very encouraging.'
The Rolex World Championship has two more days to run and a total of 11 races are planned.
2015 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship - Preliminary Cumulative Results
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