It's Barking Mad at Rolex Baltic Week

by Andreas Kling on 20 Aug 2007 Jim Richardson from the United States is the first overall winner of the Rolex Baltic Week 2007. The owner and helmsman of 'Barking Mad' and his team have won the Farr 40 competition on the Baltic Sea off Neustadt, Germany as well as the European Circuit, a grand prix series of this prestigious international class comprising five separate regattas.

Richardson beat the Australian 'Kokomo' by Sue and Lang Walker in both competitions and sent her down to place two. Wolfgang Stolz and his 'Opus One' team from Frankfurt, Germany finished fourth overall and ranked as best German team. In the European Circuit, Stolz overtook Wolfgang Schaefer's 'Struntje light' (sixth) and gained the 'bronze medal'.

'It was a great regatta with nine thrilling races. We had to give everything,' said Richardson after the last finish in which his hardest rival 'Kokomo' scored a bullet. But the US American placed second for the fourth time and thus showed the most constant performance in the 13-boat fleet. At 33 points, 'Barking Mad' was 13 points ahead of her chaser, who also lost the overall lead in the European Circuit where Richardson had the edge with 155 points over the Walker couple (162 points).

In light to moderate winds with lots of shifts race officer Eckart Reinke (Kiel, Germany) had no easy job lining fair courses for the top field. 'The very changeable conditions made it difficult, but he managed excellently,' commented Wolfgang Schaefer, who is also the president of the co-organizing European Farr 40 fleet. Praise also came from the overall winner and president of the international Farr 40 class: 'We felt comfortable not only on the water, but also ashore,' said Jim Richardson. 'The hospitality and the race village of the Rolex Baltic Week were brilliant.'

The final day once again was a demonstration of how close the races of this one-design class usually are. No discards are allowed in Farr 40 regattas. In three races three different boats snatched the victories - the 'Siragusawa' owned by Olli-Pekka Lumijaervi from Finland, who finished overall third, Matt Allen's 'Ichi Ban' and the Walkers' 'Kokomo' (both Australia). 'In the last but one race we had some problems and suddenly dropped to back of the fleet,' reported Terry Hutchinson, the tactician on 'Barking Mad'. 'But as the 'Kokomo' was with us, too, we never got really upset.'

A precious Rolex Submariner timepiece in steel was presented to overall winner Jim Richardson by Peter Streit, CEO of Rolex Germany. Manuel Cadmus, president of the organizing club Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) Hamburg, congratulated the whole crew of 'Barking Mad' by handing over special Rolex Baltic Week cups. The European Circuit trophy was presented by Wolfgang Schaefer as the president of the European Farr 40 fleet.

'I am happy we could welcome all the Farr 40 fans from overseas who have joined the first competition of our class in Germany,' said Schaefer, 'and I am sure they all will remember these waters.' Jim Richardson and his tactician Terry Hutchinson agreed: 'We definitely had to fight for our victory which is not obvious when you see the final result. The Rolex Baltic Week was the best test we can imagine for the Rolex Farr 40 World's starting in ten days.'

The European Championship of the international Melges 24 class started with a delay to due a lack of wind around midday. The first race started at 13.35 h local time, the third one at 17.55 h. The provisional results came in just before sunset and saw Italian America's Cup helmsman Flavio Favini steering the Swiss 'Blu Moon' in the overall lead. He improved from race to race scoring a third, second and a bullet and lead the British 'Team Barbarians' of Stuart Simpson by nine points.

The best Corinthian was Estonian former 470 Olympic medalist Tönu Töniste on 'Lenny' equal on nine points with Swiss Hendrik Witzmann ('Sonnenkönig'). The Rolex Baltic Week with the European Championship of the Melges 24 will end next Thursday (23 August).

Final results of the Farr 40 regatta after nine races:

1st 'Barking Mad' (Jim Richardson, USA) 33 points
2nd 'Kokomo' (Lang Walker, Australia) 46
3rd 'Sirwagusawa' (Olli-Pekka Lumijaervi, Finland) 48
4th 'Opus One' (Wolfgang Stolz, Germany) 54
5th 'Ichi Ban' (Matt Allen, Australia) 58
6th 'Struntje light' (Wolfgang Schaefer, Germany) 60
7th 'Fiamma' (Alessandro Barnaba, Italy) 60,8
8th 'Groovederci' (John Demourkas, USA) 63
9th 'Backbone' (Thomas Kjær, Denmark) 68
10th 'Sputnik' (Ivan Wheen, Australia) 75
11th 'Monkey Class' (Ole van der Heide, United Kingdom) 79,5
12th 'Flash Gordon 5' (Helmut Jahn, USA) 81,5
13th 'Baloo 110' (Jens Erik Høst, Denmark) 91

Final results of the Farr 40 European Circuit after five competitons:

1st 'Barking Mad' (Jim Richardson, USA) 155 points
2nd 'Kokomo' (Lang Walker, Australia) 162
3rd 'Opus One' (Wolfgang Stolz, Germany) 225
4th 'Sirwagusawa' (Olli-Pekka Lumijaervi, Finland) 237
5th 'Struntje light' (Wolfgang Schaefer, Germany) 240

Provisional results of the Melges 24 European Championship after three races:

1. 'Blu Moon' (Flavio Favini/Switzerland) 9 points
2. 'The Barbarians' (Stuart Simpson/United Kingdom) 15
3. 'Uka Uka' (Lorenzo Bressani/Italy) 20
4. 'Alina - Helly Hansen' (Luca Valerio/Italy) 26
5. 'Euro-Voiles' (Denis Infante/France) 27
6. 'Airis' (Sandro Montefusco/Italy) 27

Corinthian Class:

1. 'Lenny' (Tönu Töniste/Estonia) 9
2. 'Sonnenkönig' (Hendrik Witzmann/Switzerland) 9
3. 'Gullisara' (Mario Ziliani/Italy) 10

The Rolex Baltic Week is the one and only regatta in Germany which enjoys the support of Rolex. The worldwide calendar of the Rolex regattas comprises famous yachting events such as the now finishing Rolex Fastnet Race in England, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup held at the beginning of September in Porto Cervo (Italy), the Rolex Middle Sea Race at the end of October in Malta and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race starting on Boxing Day in Sydney, Australia.