Lucifarr fights to the end

by Rob Kothe on 4 Aug 2004 Lucifarr, the IOR Farr 40, previously Queensland Made and then Simply Red, is one of a group of the same boats now popular on Central Coast.

Every sailor who has visited Mooloolaba Yacht Club has seen Ian Grant’s amazing images of this boat doing the famous Chinese gybe just off Sydney Heads at the start of the 1988 Jupiter’s Sydney to Southport race.

Lake Macquarie sailor Mark Davies and his young Lucifarr crew had a tough initiation to ocean racing, when they were becalmed off Nelson Bay for almost ten hours in the early stages of the 2004 Ingles Sydney to Gold Coast race.

The skipper explained ’ We were belted by the current and lost probably 20 places after we were sucked backwards in the current. ’

Then the conditions stayed very soft. One by one the boats around us retired and now we are last boat on the race track. But we decided we were going to finish no matter what.

Overnight last night we had 30 knots for most of the time. Now its eased and we are approaching Fingal Head with our 1 Heavy and full main. We expect to finish before noon and we are already looking forward to our next long race. ‘