Famous Breeze Frustrates

The breeze that usually makes San Francisco such a popular place for sailors was noticeably absent for the penultimate day of competition at the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.

A low pressure system had siphoned most of the air off the Bay, and with the fleet drifting around on the Berkeley Circle for several hours, the Race Committee took the decision to abandon attempts to run a race.

“Basically the breeze didn’t cooperate,” said Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio. “We had a fairly nice forecast for the day of a southerly between 8-12 knots. We got out there for a noon start and waited around until we finally got what looked like a nice sea breeze, that filled in briefly and then died and the Bay went back to glass. We brought the boats back up to the west of Alcatraz hoping that if the sea breeze came in later in the day we’d at least be closer to it.”

The ripple effect is that the starting time for the final day of racing, Saturday 18 October, has been pushed forward an hour to 11:00 local time. Regatta organizers hope to run up to three races before the 15:30 cutoff time after which, as per the sailing instructions, a race cannot be started.

Alex Roepers’ Plenty (USA) goes into the final day of the championship with a 1-1-1-6-4-1 score line for 14 points, and an almost unassailable 18-point lead on his closest competitor, Australia’s Martin Hill on Estate Master. Italy’s defending Rolex Farr 40 World Champion, Alberto Rossi on Enfant Terrible, is third overall with 33 points, followed by Andrew Hunn on the Australian-flagged Voodoo Chile, with 34 points. With 39 points, three-time Rolex Farr 40 World Champion Jim Richardson of rounds out the top-five in the 19-strong international at the helm of the Australian-flagged Kokomo.

The 17th edition of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship concludes on Saturday 18 October 18 when a champion will be crowned at the conclusion of racing.

A video review of the first two days of competition is available to view here.

Preliminary Cumulative Results Day 3 (Top 5)

1. Plenty (USA) Alex Roepers 14.0
2. Transfusion (AUS) Guido Belgiorno-Nettis 33.0
3. Estate Master (AUS) Lisa and Martin Hill 33.0
4. Enfant Terrible (ITA) Alberto Rossi 33.0
5. Voodoo Chile (AUS) Andrew Hunn 34.0

Results are available here.

Highlights from the penultimate day of ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao.

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