Melges 24 Europeans at Neustadt, Germany - Overall
by Andreas Kling 24 Aug 2007 12:08 BST
18-23 August 2007
The initials "BM" seemed to be the key to success at this fourth edition of the Rolex Baltic Week. They stand for the Farr 40 "Barking Mad" from the USA as well as for the Melges 24 "Blu Moon" from Switzerland. Both boats won their competitions at the international sailing week in Neustadt/Holstein (Germany) on the Baltic Sea. By winning the event Jim Richardson's US yacht with tactician Terry Hutchinson on board also turned out to be the glorious winner of the European Circuit, the grand prix regatta series of the prestigious international Farr 40 class. Italian helmsman Flavio Favini brought Franco Rossini's "Blu Moon" to win the European Championship of the international Melges 24 class.
"It was an absolutely successful opening for our class in Germany," praised Richardson, president of the international Farr 40 class association. "The race committee managed the difficult conditions on the water with shifting winds in an outstanding way. The support ashore and the general conditions were perfect." Nine races in three days saw a superior "Barking Mad" ahead of the Australian "Kokomo" owned by Sue and Lang Walker, who also finished second in the European Circuit. The Farr 40 "Opus One" placed fourth being the best German yacht with Wolfgang Stolz (Frankfurt, Germany) at the helm behind Olli-Pekka Lumijaervis "Siragusawa" from Finland. The "Struntje light" by Wolfgang Schaefer from Lueneburg, Germany came sixth.
Also Richardson's pendant of the Melges 24 class, Henri Samuel from Paris, praised: "Unfortunately we couldn't manage all the scheduled races, but we had a great race week in Neustadt." For the sport boats, the Rolex Baltic Week closed with a final race in moderate winds. During the European Championship the Bay of Neustadt had challenged the fleet with a wide range of wind conditions. Undoubtedly the sixth race with stormy gusts was the highlight of the week and will enter the class' annals as the windiest race so far. The fleet provided spectacular sailing pictures, especially when acting under spinnaker.
Finally the sailing number "SUI 521" lay clearly ahead of the two Italian boats. The "Airis" by Sandro Montefusco placed second followed by Lorenzo Bressani's "Uka Uka". Franco Rossini, the owner of "Blu Moon", was presented a Rolex Submariner timepiece in steel. Race officer Walter Mielke presented the Giorgio Zuccoli Trophy to Rossini's helmsman Favini.
The Corinthian Trophy for the best amateur crew went to "Lenny" skippered by Toenu Toeniste from Estonia. It was personally presented by its sponsor Menno Meyer from the Netherlands, who was a member of the jury of the Rolex Baltic Week. Best Germans were Marcus Brennecke from Munich with "Alethea" on position 19 in the overall open ranking and Lennart Briesenick-Pudenz (Flensburg) with "Ferun", who placed 14th among the amateur crews. Eddy Eich (Munich), previous title holder of the amateurs with "No Women No Cry" and his helmsman Albert Batzill from Lake Constance had to contend with rank 17 this year.
The overall winners of the Rolex Baltic Week had both relied on America's Cup (AC) professionals onboard. Flavio Favini had been the helmsman of the Italian AC yacht of the Mascalzone Latino Team Capitalia. Terry Hutchinson was the tactician in charge on the "Barking Mad", and so he had been as part of the Emirates Team New Zealand team, the finalist in the latest AC. "The Farr 40 competitions in a fleet of top boats are always thrilling, because the team ambitiously battle for positions," explained Hutchinson. The fleet races require different tactics than in match race duels.
The Farr 40 yachts, too, had performed high level sailing off Neustadt. 13 yachts from seven nations including boats from overseas (USA and Australia) took the Rolex Baltic Week as an important training regatta for the tenth Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, which will be held from 29 August through 1 September in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. His Royal Highness Prince Frederik, owner and skipper of the Farr 40 "Nanoq", has invited the anniversary regatta to be raced in his home country. Part of the social program will be a welcome reception for the yacht owners at the Royal Castle Amalienborg. Vinzenzo Onorato's "Mascalzone Latino" is the title defender. The Pre Worlds races are due to start on Friday (24 August) off Copenhagen.
Melges 24 European Championship after seven races (one discard):
1st "Blu Moon" (Flavio Favini, Switzerland) 17 points
2nd "Airis" (Sandro Montefusco, Italy) 21.8
3rd "Uka Uka" (Lorenzo Bressani, Italy) 27
4th "Alina - Helly Hansen" (Luca Valerio, Italy) 42
5th "Euro-Voiles" (Denis Infante, France) 53
Corinthian Trophy (one discard):
1st "Lenny" (Toenu Toeniste, Estonia) 15 points
2nd "Gullisara" (Mario Ziliani, Italy) 22
3rd "Rocad Racing Team" (Ingemar Sundstedt/Sweden) 29
Farr 40 regatta (from Sunday, 18 August):
1st "Barking Mad" (Jim Richardson, USA) 33 points
2nd "Kokomo" (Lang Walker, Australia) 46
3rd "Siragusawa" (Olli-Pekka Lumijaervi, Finland) 48
4th "Opus One" (Wolfgang Stolz, Germany) 54
5th "Ichi Ban" (Matt Allen, Australia) 58
6th "Struntje light" (Wolfgang Schaefer, Germany) 60
7th "Fiamma" (Alessandro Barnaba, Italy) 60.8
8th "Groovederci" (John Demourkas, USA) 63
9th "Backbone" (Thomas Kjær, Denmark) 68
10th "Sputnik" (Ivan Wheen, Australia) 75
Final results Farr 40 European Circuit after five regattas:
1st "Barking Mad" (Jim Richardson, USA) 155 points
2nd "Kokomo" (Lang Walker, Australia) 162
3rd "Opus One" (Wolfgang Stolz, Germany) 225
4th "Siragusawa" (Olli-Pekka Lumijaervi, Finland) 237
5th "Struntje light" (Wolfgang Schaefer, Germany) 240
The Rolex Baltic Week is the one and only regatta in Germany which enjoys the support of Rolex. The worldwide calendar of the Rolex regattas comprises famous yachting events such as the just finished Rolex Fastnet Race in England, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup held at the beginning of September in Porto Cervo (Italy), the Rolex Middle Sea Race at the end of October in Malta and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race starting on Boxing Day in Sydney, Australia.