Sydney yachtsman Richard Perini today won the Farr 40 One Design class of the prestigious Rolex Trophy on a dramatic, windy end to the international series.
Perini, who holds the Mumm 30 World championship, won the final race with his Farr 40, Evolution, as two of his rivals were forced to retire with injured crew.
Marcus Blackmore’s Emotional Hooligan had bowman Tim Wiseman washed overboard, suffering a suspected fractured leg (which later proved to be ligament and muscle injuries), while Emma Kirby, a foredeck hand on American Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad suffered a cut to the head when hit by the spinnaker pole.
With severe thunderstorms lashing Sydney and the coast, winds gusting to 30 knots, and confused seas creating difficult sailing on the course out on the Tasman Sea off Sydney, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia abandoned racing after the seventh heat, ending competition for the Rolex Trophy One Design Series.
For Perini this was his fourth major regatta win in the Farr 40 class this summer as he continues his campaign to win the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in Sydney next March.
He sailed a near faultless series, with light winds for the first two days and then today, demanding conditions on the offshore course. With New Zealander Hamish Pepper as his tactician, he finished the series with a scorecard of 1-2-3-2-10-4-1 for 23 points.
His nearest opponent at the end of seven races was Australian Farr 40 class president Matt Allen, sailing Ichi Ban with Roger Hickman as tactician, who took second place on a countback with placings of 10-3-10-7-5-3-2 to finish with 40 points. Allen also owns the grand prix ocean racer Ichi Ban in which he will contest the 60th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at the end of month.
Also on 40 points, but fourth overall, was maxi yacht owner Neville Crichton in Team Shockwave, with a scorecard of 11-4-6-5-2-5-7, while the best of the international competitors was Germany’s Hasso Plattner with Morning Glory on 44 points.
Owner/skippers of the first four Farr 40s overall are members of the CYCA, which next year will host the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship off Sydney Heads.
Emotional Hooligan, which had been second overall after winning the first race today, slumped to fifth place after being forced to retire from race seven to bring injured crewman Tim Wiseman back ashore.
Wiseman, one of the best bowmen in sailing, was on the bow of Wild Oats when it led the Australian team to victory in the 2003 Admiral’s Cup in England.
Final placings, Farr 40 OD class of Rolex Trophy:
1. Evolution (Richard Perini, NSW) 1-2-3-2-10-4-1, 23 pts
2. Ichi Ban (Matt Allen, NSW) 10-3-10-7-5-3-2, 40 pts
3. Team Shockwave (Neville Crichton, NSW) 11-4-6-5-2-5-7, 40 pts
4. Morning Glory (Hasso Plattner, Germany) 7-10-4-10-8-2-3, 44 pts
5. Emotional Hooligan (Marcus Blackmore, NSW) 2-12-11-1-3-1-16, 46 pts
6. Southern Star (John Calvert-Jones, Vic) 6-8-7-13-1-10-4, 49 pts.
