Victory for Barking Mad in San Francisco

Jim Richardson and his Barking Mad team entered the history books at the conclusion of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in San Francisco by becoming the first team in the history of the class to win the coveted world championship title for a second time.

In the first race yesterday Barking Mad got into trouble with Norwegian Steam in a port/starboard incident at the end of the first beat, dropping it to the middle of the fleet. It was exactly the type of incident Richardson’s team has strenuously managed to avoid all week. Tactician Terry Hutchinson said that this came about due to a miscommunication. “We had a 35 point lead,” he said. “I screwed up what I was thinking, but we put the hammer down in the second race and sailed like we know how to sail.” Hutchinson will soon go to Valencia, Spain to serve in the afterguard of the Emirates Team New Zealand America’s Cup challenge, but will continue to sail with Barking Mad.

In the second race, Barking Mad took a commanding lead and was fifth to round the top mark. Up the long final beat, as the San Francisco Bay fog shrouded the race course, the team lost the charge to be first to the finish line by five seconds. This did not matter to Richardson. “It was close going up that last leg,” he said. “but it doesn’t matter whether you win by one point or one hundred.”

With 47 points total and an exceptional single digit scoreline -counting a ninth place in the first race as its worst finish – Barking Mad finished 40 points ahead of the defending World Champions Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio sodo Migliori (Rome, Italy) on Nerone.

Overall Results

1. James Richardson, Boston, Mass./Newport, R.I., Barking Mad, 9-2-1- 4-2-8-7-5-7-2, 47pts

2. Massimo Mezzaroma, Rome, Italy, Nerone, 10-3-3-8-6-10-11-22-4-10, 87pts

3. Steve & Fred Howe, San Diego, Calif., Warpath, 15-5-2-11-17-5-18-8-11, 103 pts

4. Steve Phillips, Arnold, Md., Le Renard, 17-10-2-26-9-3-6-14-6-12, 104 pts

5. Marco Rodolfi, Comasco, Italy, TWT, 2-16-20-23-3-4-3-10-20-8, 109 pts

6. Chuck Parrish, Hillsborough, Calif., Slingshot, 16-9-15-5-7-1-13-3-10-6, 110 pts

7. Vincenzo Onorato, Naples, Italy, Mascalzone Latino, 21-25-13-7-8-2-1-6-27-3, 112 pts

8. Marc Ewing, Glencoe, Ill., Riot, 8-19-8-6-10-11-26-12-11-4, 114 pts

9. Peter De Ridder, Monaco, Mean Machine, 7-1-10-12-4-26-19-11-25-7, 122 pts

10. Erik Maris, Paris, France, Twins 2-5-3-6-10-25-12-8-17-17-13, 125 pts

11. Eivind Astrup, Oslo, Norway, Norwegian Steam, 1-5-21-18-19-5-21-19-9-18, 135 pts

12. Scott Harris/Alex Geremia, Santa Barbara, Calif., Crocodile Rock, 14-26-16-11-16-7-16-21-2-9, 137 pts

13. John Kilroy, Los Angeles, Calif., Samba Pa Ti, 26-4-9-22-22-24-20-9-3-1, 139 pts

14. Robert L. Hughes, Ada, Mich., Heartbreaker, 13-22-7-14-14-19-9-2-13-32, 144 pts

15. Richard Perini, Sydney, Australia, Evolution, 12-11-11-20-1-13-4-24-26-23, 145 pts

16. Philippe Kahn, Soquel, Calif., Pegasus, 6-27-4-3- 30-21-23-15-5-16, 149 pts

17. Giovanni Maspero, Milan, Italy, Joe Fly, 20-8-18-17-18-23-2-4-22-21, 152 pts

18. Deneen & John Demourkas, Montecito, Calif., Groovederci, 25-14-25-9-24-18-14-1-12-17, 158 pts

19. Peter Stoneberg, Orinda, Calif., Shadow, 11-6-24-1-12-14-28-16-31-20,162 pts

20. Arien van Vemde, Loosdrecht, Holland, Sotto Voce,19-29-14-16-5-22-10-25-19-5, 164 pts

21. Takashi Okura, Tokyo, Japan, Sled, 3-17-22-13-17-16-25-29-21-15, 177 pts

22. Lang Walker, Sydney, Australia, Kokomo, 29-24-28-25-21-15-18-8-16-14,197 pts

23. John MacLaurin, Los Angeles, Calif., Pendragon V, 27-28-12-24-23-30-15-7-15-19, 199 pts

24. Stuart & Marrgwen Townsend, Chicago, Ill., Virago, 28-20-29-19-13-29-24-20-1-24, 206 pts

25. David Thomson, Woodside, Calif., Peregrine, 31-15-17-15-26-9-17-27-24-28, 208 pts

26. Wolfgang Schaefer, Luneberg, Germany, Struntje Light, 22-23-23-30-15-20-12-13-29-26, 212 pts

27. Mary Coleman, Los Gatos, Calif., Astra, 30-7-26-21-20-6-27-31-14-32, 213 pts

28. Alan Field, Los Angeles, Calif., Temptress, 4-21-19-28-27-27-31-26-18-27, 227 pts

29. Tom Neill, Berkeley, Ill., Nitemare, 24-18-27-27-29-25-29-30-28-22-258 pts

30. David Voss, Marina del Rey, Calif., Piranha, 23-32-30-31-31-31-22-28-23-25, 275 pts

31. Helmut Jahn, Chicago, Ill., Flash Gordon, 18-30-32-29-28-28-30-23-30-29, 276 pts