It was decided late Wednesday morning to call off all racing for the first day of the 2012 Farr 40 USA Circuit Championship Event #2 as high winds off South Beach gusting to around 30 knots and a very unpleasant sea state resulted in a unanimous vote by owners and the race committee to forego racing for the day and try again tomorrow. Teams anxious to race prepared their boats this morning knowing that this was the likely outcome of todays forecast, but in the end the safety of the crews is not worth risking by racing in conditions like these.

Owner Demourkas earns first victory since joining class in 2004

As Groovederci pulled into the docks at Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard, crew members from the other Farr 40 programs stopped what they were doing, stood and applauded. It was a testament to how popular owner John Demourkas has become within the class.

Demourkas scored his first victory since joining the Farr 40 class in 2004, and boy was it a big one! The California skipper and his crew aboard Groovederci put forth a consistent performance over four days of racing on the Chesapeake Bay and captured the Farr 40 East Coast Championship.

Top six boat separated by just seven points as regatta comes down to last day

Three days, three different leaders in the Farr 40 East Coast Championship. California skipper John Demourkas jumped to the top of the standings with a strong Saturday on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

Demourkas steered Groovederci to second and third place results in three races to seize the lead with 33 points, one better than Annapolis entry Ramrod. Just seven points separate the top six boats in the fleet so the championship will come down to the final day of the regatta.

“Contrary to forecasts, the breeze has been great and Annapolis has turned on a blinding regatta so far and I’m looking forward to a ridiculously close finish tomorrow,” said class manager Geoff Stagg. “With six boats still in contention, it’s going to make for spectacular racing. It’s the usual Farr 40 down-to-the-wire, dramatic last day of racing.”

Reigning European Champion takes 1-2 scores in today’s two races, leads pack by 3 points

Annapolis, MD – Alberto Rossi and his crew on Enfant Terrible turned in an outstanding 1-2 performance today to take the lead in Day 2 of the 2012 Farr 40 East Coast Championship. If his lead holds for the remaining two days of the event, it would help solidify his lead in the four-event Farr 40 US Circuit leading into this year’s Rolex Farr 40 World Championship held in Chicago in September.

Rossi is no stranger to success: besides his prowess in Farr 40 Class racing, he and his team are also the reigning ORCi Offshore World Champions, having won the Class A title last year in Cres, Croatia in conditions that often replicated what the Chesapeake offered today.

Perfect conditions yield three races, yet over half the fleet is still within one point in overall scores

Annapolis, MD - Local knowledge sprinkled with some world-class talent allowed Annapolis-based Rod Jabin and his Ramrod team to take an early lead in today's first of four days of racing in the 2012 Farr 40 East Coast Championship. After three races, Ramrod leads the 11-boat fleet by three points.

"We're happy to be in the lead at this stage," said Jabin, "but it sure wasn't easy. We had some new sails delivered a few days ago, and no breeze to learn how to get them set up, so when the breeze came up it was a big scramble. But the class is also very tough, and it's been a while since we've been racing these boats at this level."

In fact, the last Farr 40 event Jabin sailed was here in Annapolis at the Rolex 2010 North American Championship, which he won decisively in a mostly-local 9-boat fleet. But with teams from Germany, Italy, Monaco, Turkey and the US here this week, the fleet is of higher caliber and on a mission: the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship held in Chicago in September. No wonder the next six places in the standings are bottle-necked in tie-breaks for 14 and 15 points.