Friday, April 11, 2008

Paul Cayard on "Farr 40 Pre-Worlds"


Photo credit: Rolex / Daniel Forster
The Farr 40 fleet has reconvened in Miami for the World Championship which will begin Wednesday April 16, 2008. A preliminary regatta, "Pre-Worlds", starts Friday April 11. There will be 33 boats racing for the 11th World Championship in this class.

Most of the fleet have been here training since Tuesday this week and the racing gets underway tomorrow at 11:00 EDT with three races scheduled. The forecast is 9-13 knots from 120, very typical Miami conditions. The pre-worlds will conclude on Saturday.

As you have gathered from my reports earlier this year from Key West and Miami in March, the fleet is very competitive. There are past World Champions here, Olympics medalists as tacticians, American's Cup teams, Whitbread winners, etc. The field is deep and everyone will have good days and tough days. Coming back from a disappointing race will be a virtue that the winner will certainly possess.

The team on Warpath this time is:

Steve Howe-Helm
Paul Cayard-Tactician
Dave Armitage-Mainsail
Grant Loretz-Trim
Fred Howe-Trim
Kit Will-Trim
Kevin Kelble-Pit
Nate Reynolds-Mid bow
Kyle Weaver-Mast
Greg Gendell-Bow

We are assisted by boat Captain Clarence Olander, coach Ed Reynolds, and our two excellent chefs, Sarah and Yvonne. As in any sport, it takes a lot of preparation and support to do well.
The Official site for the event is http://www.farr40worlds.com/ The event sponsor is one of my favorites, Rolex.

We will race 16 races over the next week, that is 32 windward mark roundings... plenty of actions there when most of the 33 boats arrive at the same time.

Should be a great week of sailing... - Paul Cayard