Hasso Plattner with "Morning Glory" in front of the field
In a difficult race with strongly increasing winds off Sydney / Australia, the "Morning Glory" of Hasso Plattner (Walldorf) sailed into third place at the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship and moved up to the same place in the overall standings.
Richard Perini's "Evolution" took the lead by winning the day ahead of Matt Allen's "Ichi Ban" (both from Australia), who only finished 14th after their double victory at the beginning and is now two points ahead of the Germans in second.
The prerequisites were extremely explosive: At noon a bad weather front with strong gusts from the south was to cross the regatta area in front of the Sydney Heads. In the port of the World Cup organizer Cruising Yacht Club of Australi (CYCA) in Rushcutters Bay, the teams played poker with the settings of the rig trim. When the wind actually increased from force three to six during the first race, it quickly became clear who had gambled too high.
The "Morning Glory" team had found a good compromise. When the breeze was still moderate, the owner Hasso Plattner steered his boat across the starting line at a good speed exactly at the start, drove far out to the left and was therefore in the lead right from the start. Together with the "Evolution", which immediately caught a favorable wind turn at the starting buoy, the German team was the first to round the windward buoy.
Tactician Russell Coutts then decided to cover the following field conservatively. His opponent on the "Evolution", of all people, Hamish Pepper, the tactician of the Coutts (then Alinghi) in the America’s Cup final of the 2003 defeated team New Zealand, took the opportunity and took the lead on the other side of the regatta course. The same fate befell the "Morning Glory" again towards the end of the race, when they let the "Shockwave" (Australia) pull under Neville Crichton to keep the crowd of pursuers under control.
the current overall leader "Evolution" (USA)
Crossing the finish line every second confirmed how quickly five or ten places can be lost at the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. There were tons of overtaking opportunities and tactical challenges. The conditions demanded man and material - but in all position battles an important goal was to keep the mast up and the keel between the waves. "The class is currently the toughest competition in yachting," said Coutts after the race. He was not annoyed about the lost places to the "Shockwave" and the "Evolution". "We consciously accepted that."
Fourth was the "Mascalzone Latino" from Italy, although Vincenzo Onorato had an early start and had to cross the starting line again. "That was the best race of the year," enthused Onorato, who is now three points behind Plattner in fourth place. The local John Calvert-Johns on the "Southern Star", world champion from 2000, saved fifth place with a burst spinnaker two seconds before the "Emotional Hooligan" (also Australia) crossed the finish line. In contrast, defending champion "Barking Mad" from the US as 13th crashed again and is only in the middle of the field after three races.
In the back field some yachts got out of hand in stormy gusts. More spinnakers burst, and the risk of major damage increased by the minute. Race director Peter Reggio had no choice but to cancel the other two planned races. There was agreement from all sides: "That was a bit too much in the end," said the winner of the day Perini, "it is an exciting experience to surf with these waves and the gusts in front of the wind, but the jibes were pretty scared chasing in. " One race could be rescheduled on Thursday, but then four would have to take place. The World Cup goes on Friday with two planned races to an end
Place, yacht name, country, skipper, point
1.) Evolution, AUS, Richard Perini, 2-7-1, 10 2.) Ichi Ban, AUS, Matt Allen, 1-1-14, 163.) Morning Glory, GER, Hasso Plattner, 9-6-3, 18th4.) Mascalzone Latino, ITA, Vincenzo Onorato, 6-11-4, 215.) Team Shockwave, AUS, Neville Crichton, 4-17-2, 236. =) Kokomo, AUS, Lang Walker, 5-12-8, 256. =) TWT, ITA, Marco Rodolfi, 14-2-9, 258.) Emotional Hooligan, AUS, Marcus Blackmore, 17-4-6, Jan.9.) Southern Star, AUS, John Calvert-Jones, 13-10-5, 2810. =) Nerone, ITA, Massimo Mezzaroma / Antonio Sodo Migliori, 11-8-11, 3010. =) Norwegian Steam, NOR, Eivind Astrup, 18-5-7, 30