After two days and eight races in wet and cold conditions on Sydney Harbour Ivan Wheen’s Sputnik has won the annual Farr 40 Sprint Series. Both days of racing were intense with soggy and shifty conditions being served up on the iconic Sydney Harbour. The swell just inside Sydney Heads made for tough tactical decisions on Saturday and the swinging breezes on Sunday created headaches for the race committee.
“I wasn’t really sure how we would go this weekend but this win is because of my crew. They did a fantastic job over two days of tough racing with every race close and hard work in the shifty and wet conditions,” said Wheen after racing.
After Saturday’s four races it was extremely tight at the top of the leader board with Sputnik and CYCA’s Graeme Wood’s Wot For tied in first on 14 points and CYCA’s Lang Walker’s Kokomo and Guido Belgiorno Nettis’s Transfusion tied in second on 15 points. Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master finished day one in third place and Jeff Carter’s Edake was in fourth.
Winning their first race in the Farr 40 class in race three of the series was Chris Way and Ian Burns’ Easy Tiger II. Easy Tiger II joined the Australian Farr 40 fleet in 2008 having a very successful track record in one design class racing in the Mumm 30 and Sydney 38 classes.
The nine teams from New South Wales, Tasmania and New Zealand displayed fantastic crew work as they raced on a shortened race track for day two with the course being set amongst the busy harbour traffic on Sydney Harbour.
Wot For took the gun for the first race of day two and New Zealander Brett Neill’s White Cloud sailed their best race for the series in race six to take the gun. Estate Master pulled it all together for the final two races to win both as the breeze built and swung through forty degrees on the compass.
After six regattas in the 2008-09 Australian Farr 40 Circuit Guido Belgiorno Nettis has moved into the lead on a count back from Lisa and Martin Hill. All nine teams will be lining up again this weekend for the final event in the 2008-09 Australian circuit, the 2009 Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship which will be held February 20-22 and will be hosted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.
2008 Farr 40 Sprint Series Results
1 Sputnik Ivan Wheen (RSYS) 25 points
2 Transfusion Guido Belgiorno Nettis (MHYC) 27 points
3 Estate Master Lisa & Martin Hill (MHYC) 33 points
4 Wot For Graeme Wood (CYCA) 33 points
5 Easy Tiger II Chris Way/Ian Burns (RPAYC) 43 points
6 Kokomo Lang Walker (CYCA) 46 points
7 White Cloud Brett Neill (RNZYS) 47 points
8 Edake Jeff Carter (MHYC) 50 points
9 VooDoo Chile Lloyd Clark/Andrew Hunn (RYCT) 58 points
– Sam Crichton
