Farr 40 European Championship - Nerone holds firm

by Jill Campbell on 3 Oct 2010 Farr 40 European Championship is organized by the Yacht Club Porto Rotondo in conjunction with the Farr 40 Class Association and the Farr 40 European Fleet.

PRO Peter Reggio was able to fit in three races today in the championship.

Nerone (ITA), owned by Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio Sodo Migliori, retains the top spot in the overall classification at the Farr 40 European Championship at the conclusion of the penultimate day of racing. Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad (USA) also holds on to second place while a bullet and a second place today helped Wolfgang Schaefer’s Struntje Light (GER) push Alex Roeper’s Plenty (USA) into fourth place.

While Struntje Light and Barking Mad both took their second bullets of the series, overall leader Nerone - with Vasco Vascotto calling tactics - chalked up her first win. A further two windward-leeward races are scheduled for tomorrow and with just eight points separating the top four boats and no discards coming into play, the battle for the podium is still wide open.

Racing was delayed slightly as the fleet waited for the predicted easterly breeze to arrive. At 1 p.m. Race Six of the series started in approximately eight knots of wind from 060°. Struntje Light, with tactician Jes Gram Hansen, chose the right hand side of the course and it paid off as the German boat led from start to finish. Tactician Hamish Pepper took Barking Mad into second place on the first downwind leg and held the position to cross the line ahead of Andrea Canavesio’s Mangusta Risk who, despite an average start, steadily gained ground on each leg to finish third.

Race Seven saw current Rolex Farr 40 World Champion Nerone lead the fleet from the start and build on the lead throughout to commence the final downwind leg over one minute ahead of Charisma (MON), owned by Nico Poons, and Alessandro Barnaba’s Fiamma (ITA). All three crossed the finish line in the same order.

The breeze shifted slightly left for the start of the third and final race of the day and remained at approximately eight to nine knots. Leaders from the off were Barking Mad, Struntje Light and Nerone and they remained undisturbed for the duration.

Wolfgang Schaefer, who won the European Championship in 2003; commented on the day: 'We won the day but we are still four points behind. We had a very good first race today, on the correct side and we had nice pressure lines and we got round the first upwind mark first and were lucky to hold it for the whole race. The second race was a little bit more difficult we had one bad mark rounding but we recovered a bit to finish fifth and the last race was good again. It was another very shifty day but we had enough wind to get in three races. It was tactically very difficult but it was also not easy to trim quickly so it was a big challenge, but that is exactly what this class wants and likes.'

Antonio Sodo Migliori, co-owner of Nerone also found the condition’s challenging: 'It was a difficult day because when you have light wind and unstable conditions it is always very hard to choose a side of the course and also to control your opponents. We believed in the right side of the course and the sirocco that was supposed to come in but didn’t, so sometimes we went right and it didn’t go so well. We managed to recover though and a first, a third and a fifth is not bad.'

Sodo Migliori heads into the final race day in first place but is aware he needs to be consistent tomorrow too: 'With two more races and no discard a four point lead is not much, we need to sail well . Here you can take a seventh or an eighth place before you know it.'

Racing is scheduled to conclude tomorrow, Sunday October 3rd with the first signal at 11 a.m. The final prize giving is due to take place at 5.30 p.m.

This event closes the Farr 40 racing season in the Mediterranean and several of the participating boats will now travel from here to Australia to compete on the Farr 40 circuit there in preparation for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship 2011 scheduled to be held in Sydney from 23rd to 26th February 2011.

Provisional results 2nd October 2010

1) Nerone, (ITA), Massimo Mezzaroma, pt. 24 (3-4-2-3-3-5-1-3)
2) Barking Mad, USA, James Richardson, pt. 28 (2-1-4-7-4- 2-7-1)
3) Struntje Light, (GER), Wolfgang Schaefer, pt. 32 (8-5-3-1-7-1 -5-2)
4) Plenty, (USA), Alex Roepers, pt. 32 (1-6-5-4-2-4-4-6)
5) Charisma, (MON), Nico Poons, pt. 39 (6-8-1-2-5-7-2-8)
6) Fiamma, (ITA), Alessandro Barnaba, pt. 42 (5-7-7-9-1-6-3-4)
7) Mangusta Risk, (ITA), Andrea Canavesio, pt. 53 (10-2-9-8-8-3-6-7)
8) Monick, (DEN), David Holm, pt. 54 (4-10-6-6-6 8-9-5)
9) Enfant Terrible, (ITA), Alberto Rossi, pt. 63 (9-3-8-5-9 -raf-8-10)
10) Hooligan VI, (GBR), Edward Broadway, pt. 74 (7-9-10-10-10-9-10-9)

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