January 23, 2008
by Mean Machine Sailing Team
23 Jan |
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The Farr 40 competition is hot in Miami
The real ‘boss’ in any regatta isn’t the head of the Race Committee or any of the experienced boat-owners or skippers out on the water… the real ‘boss’ is always the weather, and here at Key West, we’ve all been reminded of that with the guest appearance of a storm that decided to settle over Miami on Monday. The good news is she moved on swiftly, dropping from 27-32 knots to 20-25 knots and whilst racing was cancelled the crews were able to get some valuable practice in, including Mean Machine: “We decided to practice with Warpath and Joe Fly in a long beat back to Key West, then a run out again and beating back again home. We appeared to have a better upwind speed compared to them for the most part,” Peter de Ridder was saying.
Racing was able to get underway on Tuesday, with three spectacular windward-leeward races in the Farr 40 class.
Mean Machine’s flames have certainly been ignited, as Peter de Ridder’s team is currently holding second place in the 25-strong fleet. The Dutchman’s crew posted a fourth, a first and a fifth in the three races held in Miami waters so far.
Vincenzo Oronato’s Mascalzone Latino is leading on points, with three more than Mean Machine, but there are still three days of racing to go.
Race 1 provided something of a surprise for the fleet. Grooverderci pushed forward through the fleet to pass Mascalzone Latino, bag a twenty second lead and the first win of the week. Mean Machine took fourth, while Mascalzone Latino and Barking Mad took second and third respectively.
Race 2 had Mean Machine written all over it… with 18 knots of breeze Peter de Ridder and crew edged away from the rest of the fleet to finish in front of Mascalzone Latino and Barking Mad. Grooverderci had a bad race and finished 22nd.
Race 3 gave the fleet just 10 knots to play with, and saw a rapid change of positions during the race. Dark horse Fiamma pushed forward from the pin end, but was overlapped with Mean Machine and Nerone as they rounded the first mark, and then went on to cross the finish line ahead of the rest after a push and pull final leg. Nerone took second, Mascalzone Latino third, Barking Mad fourth, and Mean Machine posted a fifth.
Peter de Ridder was pleased with the boat’s performance so far, and thinks the benefits of this regatta are two-fold: “In terms of speed and boat-handling the boat’s performing well. It’s all certainly very good practice for our TP52 racing later in the season.”
Racing continues until Friday 25th January.
Results –after 3 races-:
1. Mascalzone Latino Vincenzo Onorato (ITA), 7 points
2. Mean Machine Peter de Ridder (MON), 10
3. Barking Mad James Richardson (USA), 10
4. Nerone Massimo Mezzaroma (ITA), 16
5. Twins Erik Maris (FRA), 19
6. Goombay Smash William Douglass (USA), 24
