Rolex Farr 40 Europeans at Mahon, Menorca - Day 1
by Rolex Media Centre 14 Jul 2006 10:12 BST
ALMOST A PERFECT DAY FOR TWT
Two points separate top three with Mascalzone Latino & Alinghi in second and third respectively
Day one of the Rolex Farr 40 European Championships got underway with three close races of around 6.5 nautical miles each. TWT came out of the blocks the fastest with two storming and virtually unchallenged wins in races 1 & 2. The third race of the day saw the potential wildcard newcomers, Enfant Terrible, post an emphatic bullet that may be a taster for the rest of the event.
For Marco Roldolfi, owner of TWT and recently a father, it was a reasonable start to the regatta despite a difficult third race, "We are very happy. The boat is very fast and we are sailing well. Not a perfect day but like a perfect day." Explaining what happened in race three where he finished fourth, Rodolfi was philosophical given the level of competition at the front of the fleet, "Unfortunately, it was not very good the last race, but boats are very competitive so the people very strong. The wind shifted a little bit just at the start so we decided to start near the committee boat and in this case it was not such a good start, but we sailed fast and picked up some places on the second windward leg".
With a win and two solid fifths, Serena Gianluigi, owner of Enfant Terrible, was well satisfied with his initiation into championship level Farr 40 racing, "The races today were a real challenge, there were many windshifts, with light wind conditions. The third race came out very well for us - we won. We showed that there is winning potential with our boat, with our team. In the two other races, the boats were all close together and we tried to always be in contact with the leading boats."
Winning a race on the opening day had clearly put a gloss on the decision to race in the Farr 40 this year, as Gianluigi happily pointed out, "it is the first time we are winning a race in the Farr 40 Class and of course it is a very emotional. The level is absolutely top and therefore all boats are able to win. Many of the sailors are competing in the America's Cup, so really absolutely top racing."
As to the secret of their success in the third race, Enfant Terrible's tactician Paolo Cian felt that the main difference was the start, "We succeeded in protecting the right side of the line. We had a very good start on the right of the fleet and the wind was shifting to the right slowly during the first beat. We opened the gauge slightly and we manage at the first rounding probably a 4 boat lengths lead. We also did a couple of good gybes in the first part of the first run. We extended enough to have control on the race, even though I would say that Alinghi, TWT and Mascalzone Latino are very fast and they were closing, closing during the race."
Despite looking easy from a spectator's perspective, the win had been anything but according to Cian; "It's been a very tough race for us. Unfortunately, the wind was dying in the last run and when you have a lead and the wind goes down everyone is coming closer. Fortunately, the beat to the finish was short. But for a moment we felt were leading in the wrong race - the longest one with the lowest wind!
Racing took place just outside Port Mahon, with the Club Maritimo de Mahon race committee laying the three windward - leeward courses into just over 8 knots of North to North-Easterly wind and a very slight chop. As the racing progressed the light, shifty breeze began to move further right necessitating a couple of course changes in races 2 & 3.
Race one saw the bulk of the nine boat fleet head to the left side of the course, with TWT, Mascalzone Latino Team Capitalia and Alinghi leading the way. At the committee boat end of the line Cannonball and Mukka Express saw things differently and headed far right, a move that did not pay off ultimately for either.
At the first windward mark, Farr 40 European Class President Carlo Alberini's Game On looked to be in row two of the fleet until a bold move allowed him to sneak in between Alinghi and Mascalzone. Unfortunately for Alberini, his crew's good work was undone on the second windward leg when Game On was passed by three yachts - proving early on that there were passing opportunities available. As it was, Marco Rodolfi and tactician Tiziano Nava brought TWT home in first almost a minute ahead of Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi, which seemed to be showing no signs of rust in their first performance in a Farr 40 regatta for some while.
The second race was almost a re-run of race one. TWT, Mascalzone and Alinghi seemed inseparable at the front of the fleet, all opting for the left-hand side. By the windward mark, TWT had a 5-6 boat length lead over Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone, with Alessandra Barnaba's Fiamma showing good form in third. At the first leeward mark, Alinghi in fourth tacked onto port immediately after the gate rounding and playing the shifts well up the second beat put her into third by the finish. TWT won handsomely again, with a 45 second gap to Mascalzone in second.
Race three started with Fiamma at the pin end, Tommaso Chieffi calling tactics for Barnaba, TWT were mid-fleet and Alinghi on the right at the Committee Boat. It soon became apparent though that Enfant Terrible, also at the right, had made some real ground on the fleet; not bad for a clearly talented, but relatively novice Farr 40 crew. At the first windward mark, Serena Gianluigi and crew were some 4-5 boat lengths ahead of Mascalzone Latino, a position they did not relinquish during the remaining legs despite being pushed hard and facing a fading breeze towards the finish. TWT looked a little shaky early on in the race, rounding the first two marks in sixth place. On the second windward leg, TWT went hard left and had pulled herself up to third by the top mark. By the finish she was in fourth, just behind Alinghi, but it could have been much worse.
Racing at the Rolex Farr 40 European Championships continues tomorrow, 14th July, and finishes on Sunday 16th July. First start each day is at 1230 CEST.
Results after Day 1:
1/TWT/Marco Rodolfi/1.00/1.00/4.00/6.00pts
2/Mascalzone Latino/Vincenzo Onorato/3.00/2.00/2.00/7.00pts
3/Alinghi/Ernesto Bertarelli/2.00/3.00/3.00/8.00pts
4/Enfant Terrible/Serena Gianluigi/5.00/5.00/1.00/11.00pts
5/Fiamma/Alessandro Barnaba/4.00/4.00/5.00/13.00pts
6/Game On/Carlo Alberini/6.00/6.00/9.00/21.00pts
7/La Marachella/Sandro Pantaleo/7.00/9.00/6.00/22.00pts
8/Cannon Ball/Dario Ferrari/8.00/7.00/7.00/22.00pts
9/Mukka Express/Manifredo Toninelli/9.00/8.00/8.00/25.00pts