March 2010

Sydney (AUS) – The highly competitive Farr 40 class put everything on the table today when the fleet sailed four races on day one of the 2010 Farr 40 Australian Championship.  Defending champion Guido Belgiorno Nettis and his team on Transfusion started the day out with a win in the first race. 

Place    Sail No        Boat Name     Skipper                              Score    Race 6    Race 5    Race 4    Race 3    Race 2    Race 1
1         98888          Limit             Alan Brierty              RP63     9.0       2.0       [4.0]       2.0          2.0         2.0         1.0
2         AUS60000    Loki              Stephen Ainsworth    RP62     10.0     3.0        1.0         3.0          1.0       [9.0F]       2.0
3         6952            Shogun         Rob Hanna               TP52     14.0      5.0        2.0        1.0          5.0         1.0        [5.0]
4         52566          Black Jack     Peter Harburg           RP66     18.0     4.0        3.0         4.0          4.0         3.0        [4.0]
5         R55              Living Doll    Michael Hiatt             Farr 55  21.0     1.0        5.0         9.0F        3.0       [9.0F]       3.0
6         GBR7236R    Ran              Niklas Zennstrom      JV72     45.0     9.0C     9.0C        9.0C        9.0C      9.0C       [9.0C]
6         NZL80          Alfa Romeo   Neville Crichton         RP100   45.0     9.0C     9.0C        9.0C        9.0C      9.0C       [9.0C]
6         AUS1836      Yendys         Geoff Ross                RP55     45.0     9.0C     9.0C        9.0R        9.0R      9.0R       [9.0R]

Estate Master stars in Rolex Trophy

 Martin & Lisa Hill (Estate Master) scored three wins from three races in the Farr 40 class this afternoon.

Estate Master stayed one step ahead of their adversaries on the Manly Circle today and will take some beating, with tomorrow being the final day and only three more races to be sailed.

Estate Master’s win gives them a handy four point lead of the Farr 40 class, with just three races to be sailed tomorrow to decide the winner.

Although he broke the start in Race 3, Lang Walker and his Kokomo crew pulled together to make a stunning recovery and finish third.

Guido Belgiorno-Nettis and the Transfusion crew have held on to third place overall, but were not able to overcome Estate Master to advance up the board.

“What a great day, but we had to fight every inch of the way,” Hill said.  “The lead changed between the three top boats – it was very tight – you couldn’t let your guard down,” he added.

Hill said the Rolex Trophy was training for Farr 40 Worlds to be held in Sydney in 14 months time – and so far, so good. 

He is hoping to emulate the result of Sydneysider Richard Perini, who won the Worlds when they were sailed in Sydney in 2004.

To that end, the Middle Harbour YC Commodore and Farr 40 Class President and his wife Lisa have co-opted some of Perini’s winning crew: New Zealand sailor Hamish Pepper (tactics), Darren ‘Twirler‘ Jones (mainsheet), Tristam Eldershaw and Chris Cook. Add to that already impressive line-up 49er Olympian and double world champion Nathan Outteridge as strategist and you have a gun crew.

"Already Hamish and Nathan are a close-knit team; whispering away together,” Hill says of the crew he will have aboard for the Worlds.

"We’ve just been in Miami competing and the competition here is just as good. We’re in countdown mode for the Worlds,” he said.

 Estate Master gets early jump in Rolex Trophy One-Design series

In some close racing on The Sound at the entrance to Sydney Heads, Martin and Lisa Hill and their Estate Master crew from Middle Harbour Yacht Club have come out on top after three races on Day 1 of the Rolex Trophy One-Design series.
Sailing on windward/leeward courses, five of Australia's top Farr 40s are contesting the series organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA). Estate Master's crew by no means had it all their own way today; the top three results across the board were mixed.
Hill and his crew notched up 3-1-2 results to lead on countback from Lang Walker's Kokomo, from the CYCA and to be named 'Boat of the Day'. Walker and his crew were the equal of Hill, scoring 1-2-3. Guido Belgiorno-Nettis (MHYC) and his Transfusion crew are third overall after finishing their day with a fifth, third and a win.
'The wind was from every which way and up and down in pressure, just to add spice to an already spicy day, Martin Hill said this afternoon.
'It was a tough day, you had to grind for your money's worth. Although the breeze was going left throughout the day, there were plenty of right hand shifts,' he said.
Hill agreed the regatta is not over yet, with two days and six races remaining. 'We'll have to stay very focused,' he said.
Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson described today's racing as 'really good - the racing was mostly quite close - especially Race 3, as the yachts kept crossing each other and there was a great gybing duel going on throughout the race.'
Racing started in a south-easterly with big variations in strength - from 5-20 knots, in fact, but mostly in the 12-15 knot range.
'The breeze kept going left all day, and by the time we waited for a ship to pass us going into the Harbour, the breeze had gone to the east, so we moved the marks to reflect that,' Thompson said.
Race 3 and the breeze was more north of east in the 15-18 knot range. 'It was a weird day breeze-wise,' said Thompson who plans to race the yachts offshore tomorrow in what is expected to be a typical summer north-easterly breeze.
Racing resumes tomorrow morning from 11.00am, weather permitting. The Farr 40s will be joined by the Sydney 38 One Designs which will be contesting the first races of their two day series.
Nine races will decide the Farr 40 series, while the Sydney 38 One Design series will consist of six races.

Chicago, Illinois, USA (September 29, 2009) – Flash Gordon 5, the Farr 40 owned by Helmut Jahn won the 2009 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship, held September 24-27 in Chicago, Ill. Nine teams representing the best in North American one-design racing battled on Lake Michigan beneath the skyline that Jahn’s architecture firm Murphy/Jahn has helped to define over the past three decades.  Racing was hosted at the Chicago Yacht Club (CYC), which provided race committee assistance under the leadership of Principal Race Officer Sue Reilly. At the awards ceremony held at the CYC, Jahn was presented with a specially engraved Rolex timepiece by Farr 40 Class Secretary Bunny Wayt.
 
“This title means a lot to the team because it is the culmination of a lot of hard work,” said Evan Jahn, Helmut Jahn’s son and co-helm of Flash Gordon 5.  “With the achievement there now is the added responsibility of defending it and that requires continued effort so that we can stay at the front of the fleet.  This victory solidifies us as one of the top Farr 40 teams in the country, and world, and we will use the upcoming winter events to prepare for the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds at Casa de Campo.” The younger Jahn, who is pursuing a Masters Degree in environmental management and sustainability, alternates helm responsibilities with his father, driving the boat at the race start, upwind to the mark and then trading off for the downwind legs.
 
Personally, Evan Jahn was thrilled with the victory. “This is my first National and North American championship,” he said. “I know Helmut and a couple of the other crew members have won some world championships in other classes, but for me this is a big achievement.  It is really reinvigorating to win something big, finally, as a testament to how much time, hard work, and energy our team has put in over the past three years towards not only this class, but the sport as well.
 
Conditions ranged from light to moderate wind over the four days of racing. Amazingly consistent, Flash Gordon 5 won five races in the 10-race series. “On day 2, in the first race, it became apparent that the ability to go to the left was very powerful, and in the first race Heartbreaker proved that by winning the pin end and eventually winning the race,” explained Evan Jahn. “We told ourselves that we needed the pin after that, and succeed in executing that plan in the following two races.  Also that day was the first time during the regatta that the RC decided to put in a gate and identifying that allowed us to gain a slight advantage as it seemed we were one of the few boats to recognize that.  The other races that we won were not due to great starts, but they were not bad starts either.  Day 3 was really light and shifty so those victories came down to (tactician) Bill Hardesty's patience and our boat speed.  Our starts were not decisive that day, but we ducked some boats when we had to and were able to get in phase and arrive at the windward mark in contention, and then used good downwind speed and excellent crew work at mark roundings to pick our way to the front.”
 
Understandably the second day of competition, on Friday, stands out for the team aboard Flash Gordon 5.  “Day 2 was nerve racking!” continued Jahn. “We put up our heavy, medium, and light (sails, in that order) and the result was a condition that we were never fully set-up for until the last race when conditions had stabilized.  The light air combined with the chop and little feel with the wheel required a lot of attention from everyone.  Weight placement was always changing, as was constant trimming on both the main and the jib.  It was one of those conditions where you could lose a couple of boat lengths in a minute if you hit a bad set of waves or were not able accelerate out of a tack.  After that day was over the whole team breathed a sigh of relief because they were conditions that anything could have happened with no real fault of our own, and to come out as well as we did was a big stress relief.”
 
Crew member David Gerber explained the feeling on board going into the final day of racing on Sunday. “Honestly, we felt very much in control of the regatta on Saturday evening,” he said. “I believe we had an 11-point lead.  We knew there was wind in the forecast for Sunday and there would be no light air ‘stress.’”
 
On Sunday, in honor of the late sailor Tom Neill (Chicago), who campaigned many race boats including the Farr 40 Nitemare, the Flash Gordon 5 team donned red shirts with the initials ‘TN’ embroidered on the back.
 
“The last day of racing was fantastic” said Gerber.  “It was a true Chicago pleasure – sailing in a strong, firm southwest breeze.  We knew when we left the dock we had to sail clean, keep the crew and boat safe.  There was no need to run any huge risks.  Our first two starts were very conservative and we kept ourselves clean.  I don't think this worked well for us. We never have sailed from a spot in the lead and Race 9 was our worst race.  We didn't sail well and our crew work wasn't polished.  I think the team was too reserved.  Fortunately, Helmut wanted to stay out for Race 10 and the crew wanted to go out with a win.  I feel Race 10 was one of our better, if not, best races of the regatta.  We were slightly behind, sailed fast, sailed smart and survived.

Gerber went on to explain that the goal for Flash Gordon 5 was the North American title. “Not always an easy thing to do -- say you want to win and do it,” he said. “These guys were awesome.  We stayed positive, pushed hard and sailed well.  Two other team members that deserve recognition are Kyle Kandt, the boat captain and Ed Adams, our coach.  These two men did everything they could to help us go faster and sail smarter.  Kyle had the boat in fantastic shape, the best boat in the fleet.  And, Ed was his usual self of picking up strengths of the other teams and blending them into our strengths.  There is no detail either one of these two miss.  For Helmut and Evan -- the fastest Father/Son tandem in the Farr 40 Class -- I think this is awesome.  For our team, I think this is awesome.  For many months the North Americans was our bull’s eye and we hit it.”
 
Bob Hughes Heartbreaker (Ada, Mich.), with tactician Steve Hunt and Trimmer Darren Jones on board finished in second place, with Don Wilson’s Convexity (Chicago), in third.
 
Prior to the North Americans, the fleet participated in the Windy City Match Race, hosted at the CYC, where Flash Gordon 5 won the two-day match racing regatta after a tie-break with Heartbreaker.
 
Title sponsor of the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship is Rolex Watch U.S.A.
 
The Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship joins other prestigious Rolex 2009 events including the Rolex Miami OCR, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Rolex Swan Cup, Rolex Big Boat Series, Rolex Farr 40 World Championship and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
 
2009 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship
Results (9 boats, 10 races)
 
Position, Farr 40 Name, Owner/ Helmsman, Hometown, Race1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, Total Points
 
1. Flash Gordon 5, Helmut Jahn, Chicago, Ill., 2-3-1-1-2-1-1-4-2-1, 18 points
2. Heartbreaker, Bob Hughes, Ada, Mich., 3-1-3-5-3-5-2-3-3-3, 31
3. Convexity, Don Wilson, Chicago, Ill., 1-2-4-2-5-2-7-6-2-2, 33
4. Defiant, Grant Wood, Toronto, Ontario, CAN, 4-6-2-6-1-6-3-1-1-10/DNF*, 40
5. Inferno, Phil Dowd, Chicago, Ill., 8-4-7-3-6-3-4-5-5-4, 49
6. Hot Lips, Chris Whitford, Chicago, Ill., 7-5-5-7-4-4-6-8-8-7, 61
7. Spaceman Spiff, Rob Ruhlman, Cleveland, Ohio, 6-7-8-8-7-7-5-4-6-6, 64
8. Virago, Stuart Townsend, Chicago, Ill., 5-8-9-9-8-9-8-7-7-5, 75
9. Pendragon, Brian Jackman, Chicago, Ill., 9-9-6-4-9-8-9-9-10/DNF, 10/DNC**