
(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
Terry
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!