Campbell Cup - Farr 40 and West Coast 70 class winners defend titles

by Rick Roberts on 11 Oct 2013 This Saturday Jeff Janov’s Farr 40, Dark Star, and Brack Duker’s Santa Cruz 70, Holua, will compete in the fifth annual Campbell Cup and defend their 2012 first place finishes in their respective classes.

The regatta, hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and sponsored by North Sails, features two of the fastest sailboat racing classes on the west coast; The West Coast 70 Class of big-boats and the West Coast Farr 40 Class.

Text Box: Jeff Janov (second from left) at the helm of his Farr 40 in last year’s Campbell Cup regatta and on his way to winning not only the regatta, but the 2012 West Coast Farr 40 Class Champioship. Janov, Cal Yacht Club, won the 2012 Farr 40 West Coast Fleet Championship six-stop series with a narrow margin of only four points over second place Bill Durant and Jeff Shew of LBYC.

Going into this weekend’s racing, LBYC is the last stop on the Farr 40s high-point series and guess who leads and who is sniffing at his heels again…?

Correct! Dark Star and Viva La Vida.

Currently, Janov has a six point lead over Durant and Shew but with five races over two days, especially with the changeable weather and sea conditions Southern California has been experiencing lately, almost anything can happen.

In 2014 the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship returns to LBYC, May 14-17, and in late summer the 17th edition of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds will be hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, California, Sept. 17-20. With two major Farr 40 regattas being held in relative close proximity to each other, and in venues both known for their consistent breeze, a big turnout is expected. Not only for the North Americans but for the Worlds as well.

When asked for his thoughts going into this weekend, Janov was reserved about commenting on their chances beforehand, but did say, 'It is exciting that we have nine boats entered and we are looking for all the time we can get in Long Beach as the North Americans will be here next year.'

Durant feels that Janov may have the season series in-hand but his team plans to give it their best effort in the regatta.

'We have to sail pretty well this weekend,' said Durant, 'but Jeff would still have to finish sixth or seventh and we would have to finish first for us to win the series. We also only have a one point lead over [Steve Murphy’s] Temptress and have to watch them as well.'

Text Box: Brack Duker (blue jacket/white hat) won the Campbell Cup for the West Coast 70 Class last year and will be one of five boats competing for that honor in the 2013 Campbell Cup.

Duker dominated the West Coast 70 class in last year’s regatta, but the Disney family has returned this year and brought their Andrews 68 sled, Pyewacket, with Roy P. Disney calling the shots.

'We are excited to be doing this regatta again,' said Disney. 'We are in a competition for the ULDB [Ultra-Light Displacement Boat] season championship and a good regatta here will help finish out the season well. We had success a few years ago and I hope we can have a repeat of that this year.

'I regret that I can’t be there but I am off to Japan this week for work. The boat, however, is well prepared thanks to Mark Callahan, Robbie Haines, Scott Easom and many others. It is in great hands.'

This year’ entries in the West Coast 70 Class are; John DeLaura’s Santa Cruz 70, Mirage; Brack Duker’s SC 70, Holua; Peter Tong’s SC 70, OEX; Edward McDowell’s SC 70, Grand Illusion and Roy P. Disney’s Andrews 68, Pywacket.

The Farr 40 class is represented by Jim Murrell, King Harbor YC, White Knight; Stanford Shaw, Santa Barbara Yacht Club, Flyer; Ray Godwin, LBYC, Temptress; Steve Murphy, Seal Beach Yacht Club, JoAnn; Gordon Leon, Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, Foil; Dirk Freeland, SBYC, Skian Dhu; Jeff Janov, CYC, Dark Star; Bill Durant and Jeff Shew, LBYC, Viva La Vida and Zoltan Katinszky, CBYC, White Knight.

Yes, there are two Farr 40s racing this weekend both named White Knight. Katinszky recently bought another Farr 40 and then sold his other boat to Murrell. Fortunately for the race committee the hulls are different colors which should help in identifying which boat is where.

The racing venue will be on the ocean course off of Seal Beach and begins each day at 12 noon, weather conditions permitting.

Victoria Campbell, wife of regatta namesake Mike Campbell, will present trophies to the top finishers at LBYC at the conclusion of Sunday’s racing. Long Beach Yacht Club thanks Victoria for her continued support of the regatta her husband inspired.

The regatta, named after legendary sailor and big-boat supporter/owner, Mike Campbell, was organized by him in 2006 as the 70s Invitational. Campbell wanted to sponsor a regatta with the purpose of bringing together big boats for a fall event.

When he passed away in October of 2008 it was decided that in 2009 the Farr 40 class would be invited and the regatta would be renamed as an appropriate tribute for the regatta Campbell started.