Farr 40 Worlds Day 3

19 boats are contesting this championship regatta in San Francisco CA.
Going into today's racing the top 2 boats are as close as possible.  Barking Mad the defending champion has won 3 of the 7 races sailed but also finished 8th and 9th.  Barking Mad's 25 points are dead level with Mascalzone skippered by Vincnezo Onorato.  The Italian contender has only 1 win, but has not dropped as far in her off races with worst finishes of 5 & 6.  There are no discards in this regatta.  The two races to be sailed today should decide whether the Farr 40 class has a two time champion or a new champion.

Monday saw two races sailed.  Race one saw light air.  Winner of this light air contest was Doug Monegeon's Flyer.  A windshift of 30+ degrees scrambled the fleet on the race's first beat.

The breeze was up for race 2 to the 16 knots mark.  John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti came back from a 15th in the days 1st race to win the 2nd race.  

Look to Around the World of Sailing on Wednesday for a report on the winner of the Farr 40 World Championship.

Volvo Ocean Race team from Down Under

The Oceanic Syndicate based in Australia is now registered for the 2001-2002 Volvo Ocean Race Round the World.  This is the first Australian entry in the history of the race.  This is surprising as fellow Oceanic nation New Zealand has had considerable success in this crewed around the world event.

The Oceanic syndicate has several unique features in its approach.  One, it will build a 300 foot catamaran passenger/car ferry as a support vessel.  Second, an IMAX film will be shot starting with boat building and crew selection.  The 300 foot power cat will provide a mid ocean filming platform for the IMAX film.

Syndicate head is Jim Close who sailed as watch captain on Innovation Kvaerner.  To serve as skipper of one of the two Farr designs is Nick Maloney.  Also, involved is Andrew Cape a top quality navigator.