| MIAMI, FL. USA-(19-11-2003) There is nothing like warm Florida
sunshine and steady 15-knot breezes to knock the cobwebs out of that portion
of the brain responsible for sailing a boat. Many of the international
sailors competing in the Rolex Farr One Design Invitational have come from
as far away as Brazil, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway and
have not been on a racecourse since the end of the summer season. For the 27
teams competing, a spin around the buoys just off Miami's South Beach
provided a welcome start to the winter sailing schedule. This first-ever
event combines class starts for the Rolex Mumm 30 and the Rolex Farr 40
North American Championships where winners will be awarded specially
engraved Rolex timepieces. An open class for Farr 395s is also being run by
the Storm Trysail Club Race Committee. The 11-race series that continues
through Sunday, November 22.
In the Farr 40 class, Virago, owned by Stuart Townsend of Chicago, Ill.,
opened with a 3-4-2 and leads the highly-competitive 17 boat fleet, but at
this stage it's anybody's game and all of the owners, tacticians and crews
will have their work cut out for them. Atalanti, owned by George Andreadis
of Athens, Greece is in second with Samba Pa Ti, owned by John Kilroy of Los
Angeles, Calif. in third.
Andreadis, vice-president of the International Sailing Federation, explained
the trouble that led to a eighth place in the first race. `We had a little
problem with weed on the propeller shaft,` he said. `We think that was the
problem. We cleaned it and then did much better.` Atalanti then went on to
score two third places. Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Ed Baird serves as
tactician onboard.
Six of the Farr 40s participated in the Rolex Farr 40 Match Race earlier
this week with Jim Richardson's Barking Mad taking honors. Richardson of
Boston, Mass., credited the two days and 10 races of that event working on
boat speed and crew work as the key to his winning today's first race. `We
got off to a really good start,` he said. `We had good boat speed and sailed
the course the way we wanted to. But it was close. There were a lot of boats
nipping at our heels!`
The Mumm 30 class is led by Off the Gauge, owned by Jack Lefort of Stuart,
Fla., who considers this week a fun sailing vacation for him and his
friends. They finished fourth in the first race, but went on to a second and
ended the day with a win. Lucky for Lefort, his `friends only crew` includes
two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year and America's Cup sailor Ken Read
sailing as tactician.
`As you can see from our scores today, `rusty` was our middle name,` Read
joked. `Jackie did a great job driving out bunch of old buddies.`
Peter Davidson's Farr 395 Shades of Gray is leading the Farr 395 class with
three straight wins.
Title sponsor is Rolex Watch U.S.A. Organizers include the Storm Trysail
Club, Mumm 30 and Farr 40 Class Associations. Avalon Majestic Hotel is the
official hotel. North Sails and Lewmar are supporting sponsors.
Daily reports, photos and results will be posted to
www.farrinternational.com/rolexinvite03.
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