Class President Jim Richardson and Lang Walker, multi Farr®40 and super yacht owner, exemplifying the lifestyle of Farr 40 owners at the sponsor’s party in Skagen, graciously hosted by Susse and Philip Sørensen.
OPUS ONE WINS!
Drenched in persistent and heavy rain, which was driven by 20-25 knot winds, Opus One deservedly won the Dexia Farr 40 Skagen 2007 Regatta.
Photo by Per Heegaard
As we entered the final day’s racing, yesterday’s 3 bullets had left Opus One in as strong as a position as they could wish for. However, with Hooligan, Kokomo and Barking Mad on their heels one could hardly describe the situation as comfortable. Taking 8th place in the first race of the day (race 7) must have increased the tension on board, (particularly as Australia’s Hooligan came 1st) but they nailed the regatta with a fine 2nd in the 8th and final race. Four 1st places and two 2nd places in an eight race regatta of this quality is an excellent achievement.“It’s a step on the path” says skipper Wolfgang Stolz “ I am delighted with the win; the conditions were tricky today, it was impossible to see the shifts and with the big choppy waves steering wasn’t easy.”
Wolfgang continues, ”Crew work was the key in these conditions; you might say that the kiwi connection came in to play. Kelvin (Harrap, Opus One’s tactician) has been a patient coach with me over 3½ years, bringing me on from having no competitive experience at all.”
“This is our first regatta win but for the last 12 or so regattas we have been there and there abouts in the top quarter of the field.”
Marcus Blackmore, skipper of the second placed boat Hooligan from Australia “Apart from a 12th position in Race 2 when we did a Chinese gybe we were consistently good, thing is, Opus One were consistently better!”
“I would like to say what a great job the Royal Danish Yacht Club have done here in Skagen. They haven’t just looked after the skippers or just after the skippers and crew, but they have also done a really good job of taking care of our guests and families. Well done guys”.
Other comments:The weather forecast service from North Sails has worked well and they called today’s weather flawlessly, 10-15 knots to start building to 20-25 knots with squalls and thunderstorms in the locality.
Photo by Per Heegaard
After the first six (of eight races) Denmark’s Monick had worked her way up to 5th place and given a performance along with Denmark’s Nanoq (skippered by HRH Crown Prince Frederik) that must give them more confidence going in to the Rolex Pre-Worlds and World Championships to be held at the end of August, Tuborg Harbour Copenhagen, Denmark.
Germany’s Struntje Light must surely rue the results in Races 3 & 4 (15th and 12th places respectively) without which they would have been able to seriously challenge Opus One and the other leaders. Finishing with a win perhaps underlined how one or two poor races can dis-rail an otherwise satisfying campaign.
Provisional Results (awaiting Protest Hearings)
1 OPUS ONE/Wolfgang Stolz 1 5 2 1 1 1 8 2 21
2 HOOLIGAN/Marcus C. Blackmore 7 12 1 2 2 2 1 4 31
3 KOKOMO/Lang Walker 5 2 4 3 4 3 7 6 34
4 BARKING MAD/Jim Richardson 4 1 3 7 12 6 2 3 38
5 STRUNTJE LIGHT/Wolfgang Schaefer 2 4 15 12 3 10 3 1 50
6 NANOQ/HRH Crown Prince Frederik 6 11 19 5 5 5 5 12 68
7 MONICK/David Holm 3 8 7 8 10 8 9 16 69
8 NORWEGIAN STEAM/Eivind Astrup 20 OCS 6 4 6 4 6 5 75
9 CALVI/Carlo Alberini 11 9 11 9 13 11 12 8 84
10 GROOVEDERCI/Deneen Demourkas 14 3 5 6 17 14 16 15 90
11 PHISHFOOD/Alexis Michas 22 13 10 10 7 17 4 9 92
12 INFINITY/John B. Thomson Jr. 13 6 9 17 8 18 10 ZFP 96
13 SILVER BULLET/Henrik Jansen 15 10 8 20 14 9 11 14 101
14 JOE FLY/Giovanni Maspers 17 7 18 11 9 16 13 11 102
15 BACKBONE/Thomas Kiær 9 18 14 19 16 7 14 7 104
16 LE RENARD/Stephen B. Phillips 18 14 13 16 15 15 20 10 121
17 BALOO 110/Jens Erik Høst 10 16 16 14 11 13 19 ZFP 122
18 MONKEY CLASS 2/Ole van der Heide 16 15 12 15 19 20 15 19 131
19 WOLFPACK/Grant Larsen 21 17 17 13 20 19 17 17 141
20 TEAM BERGEN/Sverre Valeur 19 DSQ DNC 18 18 12 18 18 151
21 MASCALZONE LATINO/Vincenzo Onorato 8 OCS DNF DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 173
22 SIRAGUSAWA/Olli-Pekka Lumijarvi 12 DNF DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 177
23 HAPPY HAPPY/Per Arne Nilsen DNF DNC DNC 21 DNC DNC 21 20 182
Full result list and further information on www.farr40.kdy.dk
For more information on the Dexia Farr 40 Skagen 2007 please contact:
Gordon Smith - Mobile: +45 26355186 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it