Farr 40's set for 'Stawell Gift' on water

11:32 AM Thu 12 Feb 2009 GMT

'Farr 40 fleet on Sydney Harbour' Sam Crichton &copy

Nine teams from New South Wales, Tasmania and New Zealand are eagerly preparing for the annual Farr 40 Sprint Series which will take place this weekend, February 14 and 15.

Racing is fast and furious as crews race on a shortened sprint style race track with the courses being set off Sydney Heads on Saturday and on Sunday will move inshore to Sydney's iconic harbour. Spectators can watch up close as boats battle it out for boasting rights while avoiding harbour islands located in the middle of the race track which adds intense moments for all.

Racing for the first time with the Australian Farr 40 fleet will be Tasmanian's Andrew Hunn and Lloyd Clark with VooDoo Chile. Named after the Jimi Hendrix song by the same name this team will make their debut appearance at a Farr 40 class event having travelled up from Hobart via Melbourne.

In a former life VooDoo Chile was Kokomo and has a respectable racing pedigree with the 2007 Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Champion title to its name.

'We're looking forward to our first time racing with the fleet in Sydney. We have five Farr 40's in Hobart and our fellow Tasmanians, Stephen Boyes and Hughie Lewis, have been up to Sydney to race with the class before but we are the 'newbies'. We've really enjoyed the class racing locally and it will be interesting to see how we go against the former owner of our boat Lang Walker', said owner and tactician Andrew Hunn.

After five regattas in the 2008-09 Australian Farr 40 Circuit, current leader Lisa and Martin Hill's Estate Master on 17 points, along with the eight other teams racing will be using this event as a warm up for the upcoming 2009 Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship which will be held February 20-22 and hosted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.

Three of the teams racing this weekend, Lang Walker's Kokomo, Lisa and Martin Hill's Estate Master and Guido Belgiorno Nettis' Transfusion, will take advantage of the second last Australian Farr 40 circuit event to work on crew work skills as they prepare to represent Australia in Porto Cervo, Sardinia in June at the 2009 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.

2008 Farr 40 Sprint Series Entry List
Boat Name Skipper Yacht Club
Easy Tiger II- Chris Way/Ian Burns -RPAYC
Edake- Jeff Carter - MHYC
Estate Master - Lisa and Martin Hill - MHYC
Kokomo- Lang Walker - CYCA
Sputnik - Ivan Wheen - RSYS
Transfusion - Guido Belgiorno Nettis - MHYC
VooDoo Chile - Andrew Hunn/Lloyd Clark - RYCT
White Cloud - Brett Neill - RNZYS
Wot Now - Graeme Wood - CYCA