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18 February 2005, 09:34 am

Local Leads The Way

Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship

Hamilton Island, AUS

There was plenty of action on the race track on the first day of racing in the Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship. A steady Nor' East breeze that topped 20 knots, had the 23 boat fleet looking like a surfing carnival as they surfed and wiped out in the swell off South Head.

Racing was extremely close during the three races with the 23 boats finishing within three minutes of each other in the first race. Keen to get going again there were two general recalls for race two with the fleet then starting under a black flag.

The Italian teams are making their presence felt with Nerone and TWT placed second and third behind Australia's Richard PERINI. TWT made an impressive recovery after blowing a spinnaker to finish well in the second race. Lang WALKER'S Kokomo is in fourth place after three races.

Highest placed of the USA teams is Jim RICHARDSON'S Barking Mad in sixth. 'We really enjoyed the challenging conditions today, was definitely bumpy' remarked Richardson. Defending Australian Champion John CALVERT JONES is in fifth right on the heels of Barking Mad.

Perini didn't want to show his form too early in race one but it was a different story in race two and three where he manoeuvred to the lead early in these races and took the gun in both. 'We had a good day 'in the office'' commented Perini.

Vasco VASCOTTO, tactician on Nerone remarked, 'The crew (Nerone) enjoy a great day with plenty of wind, sun and waves, a perfect day. The Australian Perini is very good but we are happy with our results today'.

Warpath skippered by Steve HOWE from San Diego has Paul CAYARD calling tactics and finished an impressive second in race two. Warpath finished third overall in the 2004 San Francisco Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.

Top Ten After Three Races

Pos	Yacht Name	Nation	Owner	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Points
1	Evolution	AUS	Richard Perini	6	1	1	17
2	Nerone	ITA	Mezzaroma/sodo Migliori	1	3	9	19
3	TWT	ITA	Marco Rodolfi	4	6	3	22
4	Kokomo	8883	Lang Walker	2	9	5	22
5	Southern Star	AUS	John Calvert-Jones	3	10	4	24
6	Barking Mad	USA	Jim Richardson	12	5	2	31
7	Ichi Ban	6038	Matt Allen	5	7	10	0
8	War Path	USA	Steve and Fred Howe	9	2	11	0
9	Emotional Hooligan	615	Marcus Blackmore	13	4	7	0
10	Sputnik	6040	Ivan Wheen	17	8	6	0