Sparks Fly as Rolex Farr 40 North Americans Get Underway

Long Beach, CA (May 14, 2014) – A brush fire fueled by the Santa Ana winds created a smoky backdrop for the Farr 40s preparing to leave the docks at Long Beach Yacht Club for the first day of racing at the 2014 Rolex Farr 40 North Americans. The breeze continued to fire things up as the 19 boats sailed three tight races on the Pacific Ocean.

The first race got off as scheduled at noon in 16 knots of breeze, and after a general recall and restart the fleet was led around the five-mile long course and across the finish by 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Champion Alberto Rossi and his Italian team on Enfant Terrible. At the first gate, Bernard Minkow and Julian Fernandez, on the Mexican-flagged Flojito y Cooperando were second, but by the finish they had been overtaken by New York’s Alexander Roepers on PLENTY.

A change in direction and drop in speed to 10 knots of breeze, dictated a change of course and the fleet was sent off on race two aimed directly for Catalina Island. Rossi continued to exhibit the form that won him the first race, with Germany’s Wolfgang Schaefer on Struntje light and Malibu’s Jeff Janov, on Dark Star, following him across the finish line.

Intense jockeying for room at the boat end of the line marked the start of the final race of the day as the breeze piped back up to 17 knots. Alexander Roepers on PLENTY was the race winner, followed by Annapolis’ Kevin McNeil at the helm of Nightshift. Demonstrating that time in the boat has paid off, with their second top-three finish of the day, was Minkow and Fernandez on Flojito y Cooperando .

“The first race, we had difficulties and got a little buried, we ended up being in 10th place, I believe, and we managed to pull it together and come back into second, which was a bit of a victory,” said Alexander Roepers who is the current standings leader with eight points. “Of course it was very nice the last race to have a good start, stay clear of everybody and win it by a nice margin.”

Action at the Rolex Farr 40 North Americans continues Thursday, May 15, and concludes Saturday, May 17 from Long Beach Yacht Club.

Day One Results (Top 10 of 19; 3 races)
1. Plenty, Alexander Roepers, USA – 2, 5, 1; 8
2. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA – 1, 1, 10; 12
3. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA – 4, 4, 4; 12
4. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER – 6, 2, 7; 15
5. Dark Star, Jeff Janov, USA – 5, 3, 8; 16
6. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA – 7, 8, 2; 17
7. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA – 8, 6, 6; 20
8. Flojito y Cooperando, Minkow/ Fernandez , MEX – 3, 16/ZFP, 3; 22
9. Blade 2, Michael Shlens, USA – 11, 9, 5; 25
10. Skian Dhu, Dirk Freeland, USA – 10, 10, 12; 32

Complete results: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=976
Class website: http://www.farr40.org
Photos: https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2014/05/16/photos-2014-rolex-farr-40-north-americans

About Rolex
Leading brand of the Swiss watch industry, Rolex, headquartered in Geneva, enjoys an unrivalled reputation for quality and expertise the world over. Its OYSTER watches, all certified as chronometers for their precision, are symbols of excellence, performance and prestige. Pioneer in the development of the wristwatch as early as 1905, the brand is at the origin of numerous major watchmaking innovations, such as the OYSTER, the first waterproof wristwatch, launched in 1926, and the PERPETUAL rotor self-winding mechanism introduced in 1931. Rolex has registered over 400 patents in the course of its history. A truly integrated manufacturing company, Rolex designs, develops and produces in-house all the essential components of its watches, from the casting of the gold alloys to the machining, crafting, assembly and finishing of the movement, case, dial and bracelet. Rolex is also actively involved in supporting the arts, sports, the spirit of enterprise, and the environment through a broad palette of sponsoring activities as well as philanthropic and patronage programs.