2006 Results and Reports

Matt Allen and his crew on Ichi Ban have taken home the Alfa Romeo Farr 40 Sprint Series which was raced this weekend in Sydney. Racing off Sydney heads on Saturday proved to be a testing one for everyone with a very light shifty Nor‚ East breeze that topped eight knots, making hard work for the four races.

Each of the four completed races of the day had different winners with Ichi Ban taking the first race of the series. Don Telford's Rushcutter took out race two and Lang Walker's Kokomo took the honours in race three. New Zealand's Brett Neill and his team on the recently renamed White Cloud took the win in race four of the series with the race committee deciding to abandon race five due to a dying breeze. Telford's Rushcutter led the pointscore after the first day of racing with Ivan Wheen's Sputnik one point behind and on equal points with Richard Perini's Evolution who rounded out the top three after a long day on the water.

Day two and racing was on the world famous Sydney Harbour along with its famous harbour traffic. Sydney ferries, container ships, Spirit of Tasmania ferries and even an Australian Navy warship made for interesting sailing with a few Farr 40 crews having a couple of rather close encounters. The 10 knot sou‚easter had the windward leeward course set from Taylor's Bay on the harbour's north shore into Rose Bay with Shark Island acting as a backdrop for the top mark roundings.

Leon Christianakis's Cydon improved on their day one results to take out races six and seven. Race eight of the series was convincingly won by Michael Milne's Blacksnake with overall series winner Ichi Ban winning the final two races of the series to take home the trophy.

"It was great to have a win this weekend and we are looking forward to the next two events. The racing was close and hard fought over the weekend and every win was earnt by each crew," commented Allen after racing.

The next event for the Australian Farr 40 fleet will be the Inner Circle Rum Farr 40 regatta February 25 and 26 at Royal Price Alfred Yacht Club on Sydney's Pittwater. The final event for the 2005 -2006 Australian schedule will be the Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship being held March 3-5. Also being decided will be the winner of the Australian Farr 40 Circuit point score for 2005-2006.

Final Results:

For more information check the class website at www.farr40.org or contact Sam Crichton email \n // -->samcrichton@smartchat.net.auThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ph +61 (0)407 63 64 16

October 30, 2005

Current Farr 40 world Champion Richard Perini and his crew on Evolution won the 2005 Rhodes Waterside Farr 40 regatta. Racing started out off Sydney’s Palm Beach today with a light easterly breeze and a moderate swell.

Race eight was a testing one for every tactician on the course. Leon Christianakis and his team on Cydon dominated this race after rounding the top mark for the first time behind Brett Neill’s Venom, Cydon picked the side of the course that would put them in front for the rest of the race. Cydon took the gun with Lang Walker’s Kokomo sliding across the line in second. Third, fourth and fifth places crossed the line within four second of each other and overnight leader Evolution crossed in fifth behind Ray Robert’s Quantum Racing and Don Telford’s Rushcutter.

The finishing places in the previous race now had two points separating the two top places and with the breeze dying off and shifting radically the race committee eventually decided to try for a race course inside the waters of Pittwater.

A three lap windward leeward course that ran across the breadth of Pittwater had the fleet in a sprint format race. Kokomo, David Urry’s War Game and Steve O’Rourke’s Panther all had individual recalls with the rest of the fleet heading towards the western shore of Pittwater in a seven knot nor’easter.

Evolution picked the shifts well and manoeuvred to the front of the fleet and held onto her position for the entire race. Kokomo, after her restart, managed to slowly pick off boats on each leg to pull themselves back from a top mark position of eighth on the first rounding to cross the finish line in fourth. Quantum Racing held off War Games to secure third overall with class newcomer Christianakis’s day three results assisting with his fourth overall position. ‘The crew sailed well and it’s great to win a local regatta after our win earlier this year at the worlds,’ commented Perini.

The next event on the calendar for the Australian Farr 40 fleet is the Savills SORC regatta being hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club November 26 and 27.

Final Results:

For more information check the website at www.farr40.org or contact Sam Crichton email \n // -->samcrichton@smartchat.net.auThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ph +61 (0)407 63 64 16

November 27, 2005

After a weekend with a long and short day of racing, the Farr 40 title in the one design classes of the Savills SORC regatta has been won by Richard Perini’s Evolution for the second year in a row. Racing with the same crew that won the Rolex Farr 40 world championship earlier this year Perini’s score card gave him eight points for the five races over the two days of close competition. ‘We enjoyed the racing this weekend and will use this towards our training for our defence of our world championship title in Newport Rhode Island in 2006,’ said winning skipper Perini.

Class stalwart Lang Walker and his team on Kokomo maintained their day one position of second to hold off class newcomer Don Telford’s Rushcutter who sailed consistently over the weekend to finish on the podium for the first time this season. Calling tactics for Rushcutter is Cameron Miles who is better known for sailing his Sydney 38 Rush.

‘We are enjoying the close class racing and I think this weekends result is a combination of factors – Don is enjoying the boat and the racing, we are learning about the boat and the crew are coming together well. The Farr 40’s are a more powerful boat than the Sydney 38 and we are slowly learning the intricacies of the boat. Don has settled well into steering the boat and is enjoying the close class racing,’ commented Miles after racing today.

Joining the fleet for their first class event since the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in March Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban finished fifth. ‘We haven’t been on the water in eight months so have a little bit of rust,’ laughed Allen as he headed out on the water this morning.

Racing on the final day of the Savills SORC regatta proved to be a testing one with the breeze building to over 30 knots in the harbour and the race committee made a prudent decision to send the fleets back to the dock after getting one race in to finish the series with a total of five races.

The next event in the Australian Farr 40 calendar will be the Rolex Trophy Series on December 10-12 being hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Final Results:

For more information check the event website http://www.sail-world.com/savillssorc2005/ or the class website at www.farr40.org or contact Sam Crichton email \n // -->samcrichton@smartchat.net.auThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ph +61 (0)407 63 64 16

October 16 2005

After three days of close racing at the Corinthian Doors Peppers Anchorage Farr 40 regatta, Lang Walker and his crew on Kokomo won the opening regatta of the Australian Farr 40 season. Racing off Soldiers Point, inside the bay at Port Stephens, the fleet sailed in a moderate easterly breeze that reached 21 knots.

Race eight of the regatta had an early retirement of the regatta leader Ray Roberts’s Quantum Racing after they were involved in a port starboard incident at the top mark with Michael Milne’s Blacksnake. Both boats retired from the race and with Quantum Racing sustaining hull damage they called it a day. Meanwhile the remainder of the fleet continued the three lap windward leeward course. Walker led the fleet for the rest of the race to then battle it out at the end with Richard Perini’s Evolution and get the gun as he out surfed Perini to the finish line. David Urry’s War Games crossed the line one second after Evolution to take third place.

Lining up for the final race of the regatta the fleet spread out across the course as they headed to the top mark set off the breakwater at Peppers Anchorage. Kokomo locked themselves into a comfortable lead as they rounded the top mark for the first time with Evolution and Blacksnake in close pursuit. In a repeat of the previous race Kokomo maintained her lead and took the gun for race nine to win the regatta. Evolution and Blacksnake finished in the same positions as they rounded the first top mark. ‘We’ve had a terrific regatta and it’s great to start off the season with this win,’ commented Walker. ‘The racing in Farr 40’s is always close and we saw a lot of that over the last few days.’

The Rhodes Waterside Farr 40 regatta at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club at Pittwater on October 28-30 is the next event in the Farr 40 Australian season.

The Farr 40 fleet would like to thank regatta sponsors Corinthian Doors, Peppers Anchorage Port Stephens and Club Marine Insurance.

Final Results: