Rolex IMS Offshore World Championships Day Four

Newport, Rhode Island

Italians show local superstars the way round American coastline

The two Italian boats showed local Newport sailors the way home in the long distance race of the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship 2000.

The outcome of the 128-mile race, which was given a weighting 2.5 times that of an inshore race, has changed the complexion of the regatta dramatically. The body language aboard Vim said it all as Terry Hutchinson steered the Nelson/Marek 43 across the line off Newport just before 10am. The closing stages of the race had been disastrous for them, and they knew that arch rival Idler had beaten them even before the IMS calculations had been made. Hutchinson, the mainsheet trimmer for the AmericaOne campaign in the America's Cup, was visibly upset at their loss of form. "We got ground in the last 25 miles. The breeze came in behind us which compressed the fleet, but the wind never actually reached us."

After winning the first three races and holding a significant lead over the fleet, Craig Speck's Vim now sees its lead slashed to less than three points over Idler, still second overall. Doing tactics aboard George David's Nelson/Marek 50 is another America's Cup sailor Ken Read, who was delighted with the performance of boat and crew. "Today we won an important battle. Tomorrow we will go and sail to win a world championship. That is the war we want to win."

But just fractions of a point behind Idler is Atlantico Yah Man, whose race win today has elevated Tomasso Chieffi's team to third place overall - and right back into contention for defending their title from last year's Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship in Sardinia, provided they sail well in the last two inshore races. But victory for the Italian America's Cup sailor was not all plain sailing. At one point he had to reverse the Frers 39 to get some speed-sapping kelp off the rudder. "Luckily we were far enough in front that I think we still won the race," was Chieffi's accurate prediction, as he stepped off the boat for some sleep after nearly 24 hours of non-stop racing.

The other Italian entry Mascalzone Latino, the brand new Farr 42 of Vincenzo Onorato, has now built up an unassailable lead in the crusing/racing division, with just 5.37 points overall to second-place Agincourt's 15.5 points. Only serious gear failure could prevent the Italian crew, headed up by Vasco Vascotto, from lifting the world title in their division tomorrow.

Blue Yankee, helmed by Olympic silver medallist Steve Benjamin, failed to capitalise on an excellent start to the long distance race, finishing a lowly 16th. After lying third overall, this result has put out Bob Towse's Reichel/Pugh 66 completely out of contention for the world title.

Bache Renshaw's amateur-crewed Virago had put a lot of professional noses out of joint after lying fourth overall before the long distance race. But a 14th in this race has put them far down the rankings. Like Yah Man, Virago had its own problems with kelp which it did not realise until after the race. Boat captain Scotty Bradford said: "We thought our speed problem might be due to kelp, but we didn't think it would be worth stopping for." In retrospect, he wished they had done as Yah Man had done and removed it earlier.

It was Jim Richardson's turn to surprise the IMS specialists, bringing his one-design Farr 40 home first in class and fourth in the racing division. "That was the first long distance race I've done in 20 years, so I'm delighted. Bouwe Bekking [the Dutch Whitbread sailor] did an excellent job on tactics, and the crew made the right calls at the right time." Before the race, Bekking had scoffed at the need for any local knowledge experts, and so it proved. The Italians seemed to suffer no disadvantage in lacking a high-quality Newport sailor to navigate them around the complex tidal conditions in Narragansett Bay and Block Island. Keeping your wits about you and the ability to shift gears through changing conditions appear to be the important ingredients for success at this regatta. The more relaxed approach of the Italians might have something to do with their success, too. While most crew were restricting themselves to the absolute minimum of provisions, the Mascalzone Latino (which means Latin Rascal) team were eating pasta and drinking red wine. And they have been the most dominant boat in the regatta.

Overall results after four races - Racing Division:

Pos Boat Name        Owner         Helm            Pts
--------------------------------------------------------
 1 Vim               Craig Speck   TerryHutchinson 14.75 
 2 Idler             George David  George David    17.5
 3 Atlantico Yah Man Vittorio Rava Tomasso Chieffi 17.87