Farr 40 Worlds: Steps toward the Goal

Alex Roepers has been a Farr 40 owner for seven years and has yet to capture a world championship. The New York skipper certainly feels a lot more confident about his chances of achieving that elusive goal after his team’s performance last week on San Francisco Bay.

Roepers and his Plenty team posted a wire-to-wire victory at the St. Francis Yacht Club’s prestigious Rolex Big Boat Series, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. The Big Boat Series provided invaluable preparation for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, which will be held Oct. 15-18 on San Francisco Bay with St. Francis Yacht Club serving as host.

America’s Cup veteran Terry Hutchinson called tactics for Roepers, who won five of eight races and finished no lower than third in the four-day regatta, finished 24 points ahead of runner-up and reigning world champion Enfant Terrible, skippered by Alberto Rossi of Ancona, Italy.

“We are extremely happy with how well the event went and feel very fortunate to win one of the world’s greatest regattas,” Roepers said. “It was one heck of a score line and the crew deserves a lot of credit for that. Nobody knows better than I how hard it is to win a race in this class. To win five in one regatta is really something.”

Headsail trimmer Morgan Trubovich, main trimmer Skip Baxter and bowman Greg Gendell were the other professionals aboard Plenty, which also included Ted Hackney (offside trimmer), Scott Holmgren (grinder), Matt McDonough (mast), Nate Reynolds and Dimitri Simons (pit).

“We’ve been chipping away at every little variable we can control and continue to take steps forward on all fronts,” shared Roepers. “It’s kind of been ‘Steady Eddie’ progress by the entire crew.”

Plenty also clinched the Farr 40 2014 International Circuit Championship – a first for Roepers. Plenty also won the Rolex North American Championship in May and the California Cup in June while placing second at the Midwinter Championship in March.

“It’s definitely been a fantastic season for the boat. I have a new crew this year and collectively they have done a fantastic job. It also helps that I’ve gotten better myself as a helmsman,” Roepers said. “Our goal for the last seven years has been to win a world championship. That is what we’ve been building toward this entire season and I can say at this point that we feel well-prepped for the worlds.”

Source: Farr 40 class