Farr 40s, Middle Sea Race, VOR—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 17 Oct 2014 International eyes might be riveted onto the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) fleet, which is currently sprinting from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa, but here in the States the hottest racecourse action is currently taking place on the windy waters of San Francisco Bay at the Farr 40 Worlds (October 15-18). Impressively, skipper Alex Roepers’ 'Plenty' team took the first three bullets of the regatta, placing them solidly in the pole position, followed by Guido Belgiorno-Nettis’ 'Trasnfusion' and Lisa and Martin Hill’s 'Estate Master'.

San Francisco’s fabled wind machine delivered a consistent eight to 11 knots of breeze throughout the day, with some subtle shifts that kept drivers, trimmers and tacticians on their toes-a challenge that Roepers and his 'Plenty' squad clearly mastered. 'Hopefully we are not peaking, but we need to win a world championship; that’s what I’ve been after for a long time and hopefully this is the year,' said Roepers.

While a Farr 40 Worlds win is clearly 'Plenty’s' raison d’etre for this regatta, given the cadre of professional sailors who have been called in to serve as tacticians throughout this star-studded fleet, it will take more than three bullets to claim this particular crown. Roepers, for example, has Terry Hutchinson calling tactics aboard 'Plenty', and other 'household' pro-sailing names who are calling tactics on other boats include Vasco Vascotto, Ian Williams, Cameron Appleton, Malcolm Page, Ray Davies and Tom Slingsby.

'Last year’s average (score) was 4.1 to win the regatta,' explained Hutchinson. 'That tells the story of what you have to do. It’s not so much the races you are in the lead, it's the races you are in tenth or eleventh at the top mark that you turn into a fifth or a sixth. It’s an 11-race series, a long regatta, and the first half of the event is purely survival and working for consistent finishes. That to me is the best part about it.'

Get the full Farr 40 Worlds multi-media report, inside this issue, and stay tuned to the website for more racecourse action, as it unfurls.

Meanwhile, on the Mediterranean, the Rolex Middle Sea Race is set to kick off on Saturday (October 18) and is expected to draw plenty of impressive sailing hardware to what has been widely described as the world’s most beautiful racecourse. As of this writing, some 120 boats, hailing from 24 different countries, have entered this event, which promises to be the biggest in the race’s 46-year history.

'There are many reasons why the race is proving so popular, the Royal Ocean Racing Club has a long association with the race and it is now part of their season's points championship and many of the 18 yachts that have come from Great Britain are doing so for that reason and there is a strong contingent from Italy with 33 yachts visiting from our near neighbor,' said Godwin Zammit, Commodore of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. 'However, without doubt the most important influence on the success of the race is the prestige and prominence associated with our continued support of Rolex, for which the Royal Malta Yacht Club are extremely grateful.' More, inside.

And in offshore news, VOR crews have been playing an intense game of 'snakes and ladders' that has seen plenty of leaderboard dynamics as the crews attempt to hook into the fast conditions that Leg One is typically known for. As of this writing, 'Dongfeng Race Team' was in the pole position, followed some two miles astern by 'Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing' and 'Mapfre'.

'Constant tacking, trying to be the first to get to the fresh winds, has meant no rest for the weary,' wrote Matt Knighton, the onboard reporter aboard 'Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing', in a blog report. 'After a long night fighting waves and sprinting down towards the African coastline, the guys were pushing hard and not letting up. Although the breeze lightened and the waves subsided, the fact that we could still see almost the entire fleet around us meant that those who were looking for some sleep, weren’t going to get any.'

Get the full VOR multimedia report, inside this issue.

Also inside, check out the latest news from the ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao, the Sunfish Worlds and the Argo Group Gold Cup, and-for the super-maxi crowd-don’t miss the latest changes to the Rolex Fastnet Race.

Finally, don’t miss the image galleries from the Farr 40 Worlds.

May the four winds blow you safely home,