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Richard Perini's Evolution won the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds by a hair's breadth from fellow Aussie Neville Crichton on Shockwave. With both teams finishing equal on 66 points, it was Evolution's race win in the windy conditions two days earlier that gave her overall victory ahead of Shockwave. And just a point further behind the two Aussies was the Italian boat TWT, whose 6th place in the final race dragged her right back into contention.
So close was the championship that Perini says it was a good 10 minutes after the finish before he knew that he had won the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds. ''We like keeping the crowds in suspense,'' said a much-relieved Perini afterwards, who admitted he hadn't enjoyed the last race one bit.
Marco Rodolfi's TWT team took defeat in good spirits, but were ruing their poor start to the final day when they scored a 16th place. They were certainly one of the few overseas boats to be able to match the Aussies on their tricky home waters. Last year's World Champion Barking Mad earned themselves a consolation prize by winning the final race by almost two minutes, but the American team were deeply disappointed with their 6th place overall.
The difficult waves outside Sydney Heads called for maximum concentration from the crew, and it prevented many of the favourites from hitting their stride. It is perhaps significant that the last three World Championships - in Italy, USA and now Australia - have all been won by teams from the host nation. This was particularly the case with the rolling swell of Sydney. ''The conditions were certainly a factor,'' said Perini of his and Shockwave's success in a strong international fleet of 28 boats. ''The Aussie 1 - 2 is just fabulous. What a great result for Australia.''
After the stress of the final day's racing, Richard Perini returned to a triumphant welcome at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Richard de Leyser Managing Director of Rolex Australia presented the winning skipper with a Rolex Yachtmaster in rolesium.
Rolex Farr 40 Worlds 2005 - Results after Day 4 (Top Ten)
1) Evolution, AUS, Richard Perini, 66
2) Team Shockwave, AUS, Neville Crichton, 66
3) TWT, ITA, Marco Rodolfi, 67
4) Warpath, USA, Steve and Fred Howe, 72
5) Mascalzone Latino, ITA, Vincenzo Onorato, 75
6) Barking Mad, USA, Jim Richardson, 80
7) Ichi Ban, AUS, Matt Allen, 87
8) Southern Star, AUS, John Calvert-Jones, 88
9) Nerone, ITA, Massimo Mezzaroma/Antonio Sodo Migliori, 89
10) Morning Glory, GER, Hasso Plattner, 92
