Windy Welcome

While the skies were threatening, the winds were welcoming as 301 sailboats took to the emerald waters off Key West.

Terra Nova Trading Key West 2004 got underway yesterday beneath dark clouds that brought one brief shower then plenty of breeze.

All four divisions got in two good races and there were no major incidents, which made for a lot of happy competitors.

"For a first day, you couldn’t have asked for anything more. There was good velocity the whole time and it was shifty enough to provide opportunities for passing," said Terry Hutchinson, tactician aboard the Farr 40 Barking Mad.

Barking Mad, owned by Jim Richardson of Newport, stands third in the 25-boat class after posting a second and an eighth. Joe Fly, an Italian entry skippered by Maspero Giovanni leads the Farr 40 fleet, which managed to avoid the collisions and near-misses that are commonplace in the highly-competitive class.

"Everybody was on their best behavior today… let’s hope it stays that way," Hutchinson said.

Race 1 was sailed in a 7-10 knot southwesterly, which built to 13-15 knots then clocked around to the right during Race 2. As an added bonus, the storm clouds gave way to brilliant sunshine that heated up the temperature to a balmy 76 degrees.

"It was nice to be racing in warm weather. It’s been cold, dark and rainy in England," said Jez Fanstone, British-based tactician aboard AERA.

After months of anticipation, planning and preparation for Key West 2004, all 3,000 participating sailors were no doubt thrilled to finally get going.

"It’s always great to get out on the course and start racing. A lot of time, money and effort goes into a major regatta _ it’s days like this that make all worth it," Fanstone said.

DIVISION I

Maspero Giovanni and his Joe Fly crew from Lecco, Italy, won the first Farr 40 race they ever sailed and smoked that tough crowd with first- and fourth-place finishes. The Joe Fly guys also sail a mean Melges 24 (fourth here a year ago) and a Mumm 30 on the European circuit, but they hadn't seen their new Farr 40 until last week. They got in four days of practice, then went out Monday for real.

"The difference with the Farr 40 is that it's easy," said Giovanni, who was at the wheel in the owner-driver class, with Luca Santella matching tactical wits with a flock of superstars.

In the second race, with the wind building to 15 knots, they were 15th at the first mark but picked off enough boats to put four points between themselves and three-time Key West winner George Andreadis' Atalanti XII (Robbie Haines), followed by Jim Richardson's Barking Mad (Terry Hutchinson) and defending champion Alexandra Geremia's and helmsman Scott Harris' Crocodile Rock (Vince Brun).

For sheer elegance, the Swan 45s stepped out in style for the first time with an eight-boat fleet and, appropriately, the Nautor's Swan brothers swapped wins as the elder Leonardo emerged atop the fleet on the day, while Massimo stood fourth.
San Francisco's Dee Smith, tactician for Craig Speck's second-place VIM from Newport, R.I., liked the ride. "All the boats seem to go the same speed," he said, "although it's too early to tell after two races. They're great boats to race against other Swans."

DIVISION 2

AERA, a Ker 55 owned by Nicholas Lykiardopulo of Cowes, is positioned atop the PHRF 1 standings on the strength of a first and third. This is the third Key West for Lykiardopulo, who previously competed with a Swan 46 and Bashford 41.

PHRF 1 is a diverse class consisting of such varying designs as a Reichel-Pugh 75 (Titan 12), Swan 70 (Strabo) and Transpac 52 (Rosebud). Chippewa, a Swan 68, collected the bullet in Race 2.

"It’s a good mix of boats, very interesting and competitive racing," Fanstone said. "We’re kind of in the middle range of the fleet. The bigger breeze clearly favored the Swans, but we were competitive."

Racing is equally as tight in PHRF 2, where the 1D48 Sjambok and the Reichel-Pugh 43 Storm are tied with three points apiece. Sjambok skipper Michael Brennan was beaming about the performance of his Annapolis-based team.

"This is a boat that needs a bit of breeze to get up to power. What we had this afternoon was just perfect," said Brennan, who grabbed a bullet in Race 2.

Brennan, who has never done better than fourth in three previous appearances at Key West, credited the tactical calls of Jim Allsopp for yesterday’s solid effort.

"This is a tricky place to sail, it takes time to learn the conditions," Brennan said. "Fortunately, we have some real veterans onboard this time to help me out."

Englishman Markus Fiala has raced Tazo in only one regatta since the Farr 36 debuted at Key West 2003. Despite the lack of time on the water, Fiala turned in a strong initial day with a line of 3-1.

Tazo was the highest-rated entry in PHRF 3 a year ago, but is now the lowest-rated boat in PHRF 4. Quantum boss Farley Fontenot, based in Houston, is calling tactics for Fiala this week.

Bob Harkrider (Bad Boys) took the gun in both Corsair 28 starts while Mike Rose notched a pair of bullets in PHRF 3 aboard his J/133 Raincloud.

DIVISION 3

Philippe Kahn and his 14-year-old world champion son Samuel (a.k.a. Shark) from Santa Cruz, Calif. and Hawaii are first and third among 58 Melges 24s. They are separated by Britain's unheralded John Pollard in second.

The Kahns claim they aren't team-racing the fleet but that it's every man and boy for himself. "We're always racing in-house," Philippe the father said.
Morgan Larson, a member of Philippe Kahn's crew, noted that "we jibed on (Shark's) wind a couple of times and passed him downwind to get second in the first race."

Shark the son was asked if he felt his rivals regarded him differently on the race course since he won the class Worlds convincingly at San Francisco last September.

"Not really," he said.
Well, does anybody yell at you? he was asked.

"My dad," he said.

Philippe Kahn had a right to shout. His Pegasus 575, with a pair of seconds, won Nautica Day Boat of the Day honors.

Philippe Ligot's French entry, the P&P Sailing Team with Sebastian Col driving, won the first race but took an OCS hit in the second and is 28^th overall.

It figures to be another nip-and-tuck affair in J/105, which is packed with outstanding programs. Zuni Bear, which captured class honors, by a mere point in 2003, got a great mid-line start and walked away with Race 1. However, skipper Richard Bermann and his San Francisco-based team missed a 60 degree shift in Race 2 and finished 19^th.

"We went right and it was wrong," Bergmann deadpanned. "The wind indicator showed something that wasn’t true. We should have compressed with the fleet and we didn’t."

Max Power, owned by Gerrit Schulze of Cape May, N.J., leads the 29-boat fleet with finishes of second and fifth. Bergmann figures there will be numerous lead changes before the week is through.

"There are a lot of fast, evenly-matched boats out here," said Bergmann, mentioning Masquerade, Flame, Wet Leopard and Planet B in addition to Max Power. "We know who the main competition is and feel good about our speed. Getting good starts and playing the shifts properly will be a key all week."

DIVISION 4

Robert Remmers and his crew aboard Breaking Wind had an impressive day _ although the results won’t reflect it. The team from Des Moines, Iowa took the gun in both Corsair 24 races, but had one of those firsts changed to a 10^th as a result of rounding the wrong leeward mark.

"I’d rather be fast and go around the wrong mark then slow and go around the right one," Remmers said. "We drew a lot of encouragement from our performance today and are optimistic we can rebound from this setback."

Jim Hightower was the standout on the Division 4 circle yesterday, winning both starts in PHRF 8 class. Hightower, out of Houston, Texas, is a returning class winner who steered his Farr 37 to five bullets in eight races last season.

Lydia King-Rayner also got off to a strong start, steering her Wavelength 24 Outtasight to a 2-1 line in PHRF 11. However, two other boats _ Circus (J/30) and Lucky Ducky (Wyliecat 30) _ are within three points of the lead as competition is stiff in the 12-boat fleet.