Saturday, September 7, 2013

Top J Sailors Lead Farr 40 Worlds!?

America's Cup, TP52, Farr 40 and J/24 World Champion- Terry Hutchinson(Newport, RI)- Farr 40 Worlds a.k.a. J/Worlds!? Really?! You betcha. Look who's tactician on many of the leading boats-- most are J/Boats one-design racing alumni (J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/105) or J/24 World Champions.  Fifteen crews from eight countries are ready to fight for the title of Rolex Farr 40 World Champions.  The roll call for tacticians alone in this fleet is pretty impressive, including eleven known champion J sailors like Peter Holmberg- US Virgin IslandsTerry Hutchinson (BARKING MAD), Bill Hardesty (FLASH GORDON), Chris Larson (PLENTY), Morgan Reeser (CHARISMA), Matt Ciesicki (FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO, Max Skelly (ENDORPHIN), Ross McDonald (ASTERISK-UNO), Jens Christiansen (NANOQ), Peter Holmberg (STRUNTJE LIGHT), Erik Shampain (WHITE KNIGHT) and Gavin Brady (TRANSFUSION-- of note, Gavin's been sailing a J/70 in Martha's Vineyard all summer).

America’s Cup veteran and J/24 World Champion, Terry Hutchinson, commented about the closeness and tight one-design racing experience: “(Timing and teamwork) are directly related to each other. The better communicated the timing, the better the teamwork. If you are off, it’s amazing the impact it has on the overall performance of the boat. If the start is off by two or three seconds, the impact on the race is massive. I give a timing countdown to each maneuver because it’s so critical for everyone to start the job at the right time. Pretty much everything on the boat requires ultimate precision.”  We wish them all well, it will certainly be a case of the smartest (or luckiest) with the least mistakes will survive to tell the tale!