AND IT’S NOT USUALLY LIKE THIS... EITHER – Terry Hutchinson
Last month’s entry was on the eve of the 17th annual Rolex- sponsored Farr 40 World Championships. Nineteen boats gathered over four days of racing on San Francisco Bay in what turned out to be a reasonably light-air event, to the extent that for the first time in the event’s history a day of racing was missed. I can’t imagine any of the teams would have thought this possible on San Francisco Bay at this time of year...
This Farr 40 world championship was no different from years past. A talented field that included former world champions Flash Gordonand Transfusion and defending champions Enfant Terrible. As always, Farr 40 racing is a game of inches and the flat water of San Francisco Bay makes every manoeuvre critical to the end game – especially in this year’s generally lighter airs. The choreography of these teams is a mixture of athleticism and finesse, with winning being determined by the team that masters all of it most consistently.
A sweet moment and a long time coming as Ian Walker steers Azzam across the finish line in Cape Town to give Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing the win in leg 1 of the Volvo Race. Walker is among those only tempted back to the race by the switch to one-designs
extreme: either play the funnelled winds between the islands, or boot it out very far west to avoid the 80nm lee of the tallest island. Bruneland Abu Dhabichose this extreme western course, whereas Mapfre, Dongfeng and ourselves passed through the archipelago.
This choice also determined where you were going to cross the Doldrums. Again it wasn’t as normal… The road books advise a crossing between the longitudes of 25 and 28° west. This time the trades were very weak, however, and a small disturbance (called an east wave) the size of Denmark made its way from east to west to trough itself over the Doldrums. Our thinking was that you either had to be very far west to try to cross in front of it, or stay well away from it out in the east. We chose the eastern option and did OK. Bruneland Abu Dhabiwent extreme west and did best. The middle lost out big time.
After the subsequent reaching along the Brazilian coast, the next hurdle was the St Helena High and the transition to the wester- lies of the Southern Ocean (at last…). This year the St Helena High extended very far west with a big ridge blocking our way. There was, however, a small low developing off the Brazilian coast near Rio, and although it meant extra miles we thought this could be an opportunity to get further south. It turned out to be tricky with squalls and variable winds, but the move worked, and we ended up right next to Abu Dhabiand Brunel once again at the front of the fleet.
Next it was the first front of the Southern Ocean, and the three of us headed south to maximise the breeze. Dongfengcut the corner, however, and found more breeze in the north, gaining significant miles on us.
In the transition to the front of the next low, Charles Caudrelier and Pascal (Bidégorry) and their multinational team on Dongfeng trusted the prediction of the European ECMWF model and chose a course immediately south of the low, which we deemed too risky. They were proven right, we were proven wrong. An expensive mistake, as from that moment until reaching Cape Town it was the familiar rich-getting-richer scenario, with Abu Dhabiand Dongfengbeing constantly in more wind and with a better wind angle all the way to the finish of Leg 1. Early days, however.
Wouter Verbraak, Cape Town
As with any successful one-design, the Farr 40 class has evolved. The boat started life at the forefront of then (1996) modern grand prix design – some said they were even testing the bound- aries with the early adoption of non-overlapping headsails. Now the class is just another example of what attracts great sailors and that is great competition. Hard to argue with that formula! On the racecourse the event capped what for me will be a very memorable season. As part of Alex Roeper’s PlentyI can say that, while quietly confident at the start, I found it an incredibly special four days of yachting. Plentyopened up the event with three bullets and never looked back. Day 2 started off sketchy as we fouled at the first top mark, having to perform a 720 only to battle back to 6th. From there we stayed on form going 4, 1. Then day 3 and no wind! In San Francisco in the autumn…
Day 4, with three races planned, the fleet was again greeted by drifting conditions. Inevitably the bay’s westerly sea breeze did fill in but only giving the opportunity for one race, securing Plentythe title. As I sit and think about the last day, I can still feel the nervous anxiety. I am sure that the thought of winning was at the forefront of the team’s minds and yet as we festered waiting for wind none of us talked about it. Random conversations and laughter kept us at ease, and that period was a great reflection of Team Plenty. Alex and the boys provided us with good entertainment and banter that kept the team engaged and yet when we had to switch on to race we were ready. Not always an easy transition, that. The race for second and third on the podium turned into quite a battle between Martin Hill/Andrew Campbell on Estate Masterand Alberto Rossi/Vasco Vascotto on Enfant Terrible. Estate Master found a different gear on the last day and sailed a strong race after recovering from not a great start. Enfant Terriblehad a good start but, as things had gone all week for them, the shift went the opposite way allowing Estate Masterto sail away with silver. The sleeper performance of the series was Wolfgang Schaefer’s
A very pleasant way to round out a successful Farr 40 season for Plenty skipper Alex Roepers (left) and Terry Hutchinson, taking a comfortable world championship victory on an unusually light San Francisco Bay. Three wins on day one rather set the tone…
SEAHORSE 9
GILLES MARTIN-RAGET
DANIEL FORSTER/ROLEX
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