Estate Master had their best day of the regatta, scoring a 5th and 10th in the final two races of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in Sardinia, Italy.

We had a great start in the first race and held a long starboard tack to the favoured left side to be 7th around the top mark. With good placement from tactician Nathan Outerridge, Estate Master picked off another two boats on the next beat.

While we were a small notch off regatta winner Barking Mad and 2nd place getter Nerone in boat speed throughout the regatta, we learnt that we could hold our own against the rest of the fleet when we had clear air.

Skipper Martin Hill said ‘Wonderful, top 10 at the worlds – we’re really happy to have achieved our goal at this regatta. We are aiming to crack the top three next year and to be number one in 2011 when the Farr 40 World Championships are in Sydney.”

Full results.

Estate Master had a tough day at the office placing 21, 10, 10 in the three races today held today off Porto Cervo in 15-20 knot NW winds.

We struggled to get a good lane off each start, but were buoyed by better up and downwind speed than previous days.

We’re now lying 13th in the 26 boat fleet, equal on points with HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark aboard Nanoq. Princess Mary was also out on the course, aboard mega yacht Parasail and proudly showed a small boxing kangaroo flag to the Aussie crews as they sailed by.

Not to be outdone were our own group of 12 supporters crammed into a RIB, cleverly coming up with the chant ‘Sail higher, faster, go Estate Master!’

There are two more races scheduled for tomorrow with another forecast for a fresh mistral. Barking Mad extended their lead today and have their eye firmly on the prize. Photo by: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo

The Estate Master team finished 7th and 13th in today’s two races of the Farr 40 Worlds. The second result is increased to 16 points as a result of a 10% Z-flag penalty for a false start on one of the general recalls of that race.

Estate Master was in a pack of eleven boats that were caught over the line in race 4, each having to add 3 points to their finishing place. The fleet started successfully on the next start, however, Estate Master, starting down near the pin initially struggled for speed and was on the wrong side of a small right-hander early on the beat.

We rounded the top mark 19th and made small gains on the run and next beat. The team is learning more and more with each race, including how to consistently hold high speeds through difficult conditions.

The day was shortened when, unusually, the wind did just as forecasted and shifted left dramatically and became unstable just after boats finished the second race.

Barking Mad (USA) still leads after a 1st and a 6th today, with Joe Fly (ITA) narrowing the gap with a 4, 1. Estate Master move up to 11th.

“We’re only 3 points off 8th but 4 points ahead of 14th”, said trimmer Malcolm Page, “so I think tomorrow will be all-important to sort out who makes the top 10”.

Photo credit: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo

Three races in 15-20 knots and flat water were sailed today in the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds. Barking Mad from the USA holds a narrow lead from Italians Mascalzone and Joe Fly.

Estate Master scored an 8, 18, 10, with good starts, but we were a tad slow to get to full speed against some fast boats around us and that put pressure on for the remainder of the first beat. EM currently sits in 12th place.

Skipper Martin Hill said “It was a better start to the regatta than we had last year, but we’re looking forward to tomorrow!”

Full results are here.

The Estate Master team have attracted the interest of a film team from the BBC – they came to our Aussie BBQ the other night and are filming us as we leave the dock and return.

Photo by: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo

The Estate Master team are enjoying a day of relative rest here in Porto Cervo ahead of the Day 1 of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds. The forecast for tomorrow is for a 15-20 knot NW breeze, a regular at this venue. The forecast for Thursday is for winds about 12 knots, but more Westerly.

Tactician Nathan Outteridge said “I’m really looking forward to racing in such a high quality fleet. The fleet is full of great sailors but I think we have a great chance of making the top 10 ten - it’s only my first international Farr 40 event!”

The final entry list boasts 26 boats from 10 nations, including the USA, Australia, Greece, Denmark, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Ukraine, the United Kingdom and, of course, Italy. The best guess is that winds will continue to lighten throughout the regatta as the Mistral breeze fades.

The Italians will be very hard to beat on their home waters and have been a regular sight at the front of the practice races we’ve done. Unfortunately, the Audi Invitational Pre-Worlds regatta was blown out on the first day and then cancelled a little early on the second day when a squall went through, so we’re all eager to do some real racing.

There was more training for the EM team yesterday, this time against a larger fleet of around a dozen Farr 40s. We had a great opportinuty to continue to fine-tune our light wind set-up in a fairly steady 5 knot on-shore breeze.

The wind looks a little stronger this morning as we get ready to head out for our last session prior to the Pre-Worlds regatta which will be held over the weekend. More wind is good as the weekend forecast is for 15-18 knots.

We’re fully settled-in here, especially thanks to our wonderful chef Jenny who continues to floor us with a range of authentic local Sardinian dishes.

Wow, what a great sailing venue Porto Cervo is. Magnificent turquoise water with warm, steady winds – what you’d call Champagne sailing conditions – and when it’s windy, that’d be Champagne racing conditions.

It’s the first time a lot of the team has had a chance to sail on this boat and we’re all impressed by how well Jimmy and Deano have prepared it over the last two weeks.

We’ve got more training during Wed, Thu and Fri, then the Pre-Worlds regatta is on the weekend. We have a weigh-in on Thursday, so are on low-volume diets.

Oh, and thanks to Etihad for getting us as well as a good bunch of family and friends here safely and in good condition!