Video from the Farr 40 Worlds Day 4

Three Time Farr 40 World Champion

© ROLEX/Daniel Forster
Congratulations to Vincenzo Onorato and the crew of MASCALZONE LATINO, winners of the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship for the third time!

Mascalzone in the lead Farr 40 Worlds

Photos by Rolex / Kurt Arrigo /Daniel Forster

Defending world champion takes early lead in international fleet

Miami Beach, Fla., USA - Current World Champion Mascalzone Latino charged to the head of the 33-boat fleet on the first day of racing during the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.

With three races completed in the 10-race series, there are at least a dozen boats that can win the overall title, however today belongs to the Italians. “It's a long time left to sail and we just have to enjoy ourselves on the water,” said Onorato moments after returning to the dock. “The others feel the pressure; we are two-time world champions and we are here to enjoy ourselves.”

Despite a last minute change of tactician with American Morgan Larson arriving this morning on the red eye from the West Coast to fill in for Adrian Stead who returned home for the birth of his first child, Onorato had nothing but praise for Larson's ability to jump in and assist with a 3-12-1 scoreline. “Of course he (Larson) did a very nice job and we dedicate this victory to the new Lucas Stead, born yesterday. If you look, we are sailing with a blue stripe on the back of the boat for him.”

Only two points separate Mascalzone Latino from Giovanni Maspero's second-place Joe Fly (ITA), winner of the day's second race. Deneen Demourkas's Groovederci 57 (USA) - one of two Groovederci's sailing, the other entry belongs to her husband John Demourkas - is in third place overall, with Carlo Alberini's Calvi Network (ITA) in fourth and Alinghi (SUI), helmed by Ernesto Bertarelli with the majority of crew from his America's Cup winning team onboard, in fifth. Full Report regattanews.com

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

Erenesto Bertarelli: The Big Loser

At the recent Farr 40 world championship in Copenhagen saw Italy’s defending champion Vincenzo Onorato steer his Mascalzone Latino to an emphatic, back-to-back victory over second-placed Ernesto Bertarelli in Alinghi with another former champion, Jim Richardson, third in Barking Mad.

Not surprisingly, Onorato, a typically heart-on-sleeve passionate Italian, said it had been something of a dream to beat the more Swiss, grey and cold Italian, Bertarelli, a dream he would like to repeat at the America’s Cup.

Bertarelli and his crew duly congratulated the Rascals dockside but, when it came to the prize-giving, they gave it the cold shoulder, with no senior member of the team there to pick up the trophy for second. That is not good. If there is no time in sport for grace and courtesy, then sport is the loser. It is a matter of manners and the snub was not just to the winners and the organisers but to all their fellow-competitors." - Stuart Alexander http://www.stuartalexander.eu/

Campioni Del Mondo

Mascalzone becomes the 2nd team to win the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds twice (Jim Richardson's Barking Mad is the other), though the Italian team is the first to do it back to back. Dockside the team was presented with the Farr 40 World Champion trophy, sprayed with champagne and all crew members treated to a dunking in the chilly water off the Royal Danish Yacht Club marina. Onorato, dripping wet and beaming, said, "I feel wonderful. Mascalzone first, Alinghi second. It's my dream. Next dream is to do that in the America's Cup maybe.

He continued, "Winning and defending the Worlds is just a matter of luck maybe. The secret was just to be relaxed. It is just a sail race and you must stay relaxed all the time. When things are happy you must not be so happy. When things are wrong you must not be so unhappy. This is the secret to be successful at the end. I have wonderful people on board. This world championship does not belong to me but to them. Because I have this wonderful crew we won and with this wonderful crew we will win again and I sincerely mean that." Regattanews.com

Who will it be?

Photo by: Rolex / Daniel Forster & Carlo Borlenghi

With Farr 40 Worlds starting in a few days! Who will win?

Competing in Copenhagen will be numerous Olympic talents and America's Cup sailors including Jeff Madrigali, Olympic bronze medalist, on John Demourkas' Groovederci (USA), Brad Butterworth, skipper and tactician of the 32nd America's Cup winner Alinghi on Alinghi (SUI), Jesper Bank, three-time Olympic medalist on Struntje Light (GER), Adrian Stead the accomplished British sailor on Mascalzone Latino (ITA) and America's Cup challenger Desafio Espanol's crew Tony Rey and John Cutler on, respectively, Cannonball (ITA) and the Le Renard (USA).
Volvo Ocean Race veteran Bouwe Bekking will call tactics for HRH Crown Prince Frederik on Nanoq (DEN), following Nanoq's Key West debut last January. Australian Michael Coxon, who won the 2005 Farr 40 Pre-Worlds, in Sydney, as tactician for Neville Crichton, followed by a close 2nd in the Worlds behind Richard Perini's Evolution, will call tactics on Ichi Ban (AUS) with Matt Allen at the helm, while Lang Walker's Kokomo (AUS) will again have Olympian Colin Beashel as tactician.

Farr 40 Pre Worlds

TWINS, Erik Maris, FRA leading the Pre-World races after 2

After a busy season in the Mediterranean and the Baltic, the Farr 40 fleet has moved north to Copenhagen in preparation for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. The Royal Danish Yacht Club (RDYC), host of Worlds, welcomed thirty-five boats from twelve countries to their new yacht club headquarters on Tuborg Harbour, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Friday was the first day of racing in the Rolex Pre-Worlds, a tune-up for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championships, which begins on 29 August and runs through 1 September. Teams from USA (7), Denmark (6), Italy (6), Australia (4), Norway (3), France (2), Germany (2), Switzerland (1), Ukraine (1), Finland (1), Brazil (1), and Sweden (1) took to the water today to get a feel for the local conditions with mixed results. For full results http://www.farr40.kdy.dk/uploads/After_race_2.final.htm