Boats from all points of the compass are setting a course for North America’s premiere annual regatta. Acura Key West 2007, presented by Nautica will once again welcome a gathering of international grand prix boats, high profile classes, and sailing greats.

 

With less than three months before racing starts, the entry list grows daily and the marquee line-up of programs and athletes is as impressive as any in the previous 19 years.

 

“We’re very excited about the entries to date and information we’ve been receiving from boat owners and classes,” says Event Organizer Peter Craig. “An impressive grand prix component and the debut of many new designs will add plenty of excitement as we celebrate the 20th Key West Race Week.”

 

The competition in the IRC “big boat class” will present some of the most rivalrous racing in Key West. Jim Swartz’s Moneypenny’s tie breaking, final race Rolex Swan Cup win over Torbjorn Tornquist’s Artemis in Porto Cervo sets a dramatic stage for next January’s rematch of the Swan 601s.

 

Leonard Ferragamo’s Cour di Leone and Sir Peter Ogden’s Spirit of Jethou 601s will also be on the starting line racing under IRC. Other entrants in this class will include Hap Fauth’s Newport to Bermuda winner Belle Mente, three Farr 60’s, Michael Brennan’s new custom IRC 45 Sjambok and as many as three Irish IRC designs, including Colm Barrington’s Ker 50 Magic Glove (Dublin).

 

Boats making their debut at Key West will include the Annapolis 30, Beneteau 10R, NYYC Swan 42, Columbia 30, GP42, and the J/92S.

 

A design that will certainly represent a future one design class in Key West is the NYYC 42. Makoto Uematsu’s latest Esmeralda (Hull #2) will be racing under IRC.

 

Long time Key West and Miami competitor, Tom Stark is very excited about the NYYC 42 class. He expects to take delivery of RUSH XI (Hull #10) in March. "While we are not able to go to Florida this year, we are looking forward to taking the NYYC 42 to Key West and Miami in 2008. There is strong interest among the owners, and it is not unrealistic to expect at least 10 boats. Premiere Racing does a great job running the events and the venues are terrific."

 

20th ANNIVERSARY
January marks the 20th edition of race week – a big milestone for this regatta founded by Yachting Magazine back in 1988. The first year’s 59-boat fleet featured handicap racing only with one race each day. Six PHRF, IOR and IMS classes raced in one division on an Olympic triangle course. Key West Race Week has evolved into a 9-race series of windward/leeward racing for nearly 300 boats in 18-20 classes on 4 divisions.

 

NEW IN 2007
PHRF National Championship: The inaugural PHRF National Championship will take place as part of the regatta. US SAILING’s PHRF Committee Chairman Paul Ansfield and Vice Chairman Bruce Bingman are finalizing the scoring details. “We’ll have very different boats racing on different courses, with professional and strictly Corinthian crews. The challenge is to create a meaningful, logical scoring system that will crown a deserving PHRF champion,” said Ansfield.

 

PHRF racing has always been an important part race week with the last 5 years featuring an average of 9 classes, 92 boats (representing 30% of the fleet), hailing from 26 different states.

New Look for the Farr 40s: Key West will mark the debut of masthead A Sails for the grand prix Farr 40 class. Last year’s 25-boat fleet will likely be matched with current World Champion Vincenzo Onorato (Napoli, Italy) and his Mascalzone Latino crew rightfully established as the boat to beat.

 

Early Farr 40 entries from Australia, Italy, Norway and Brazil speak to the world wide appeal of this 10-year old class.

Dramatic Growth: 15-20 Melges 32s plan to be in Key West – a substantial gain over their 8-boat presence last year. This rapidly growing sport boat class will make the most of their time south with many of them also committing to the 2007 Acura Miami Grand Prix in March.

 

The J/105s are also projecting class gains with up to 35 boats vying for their Mid Winter championship. Defending champions Mike Carroll (New Wave) and Tom Coates (Masquerade) will have their hands full defending their respective 2006 titles.

Championship Fever: The Corsair 28R National Championship is on the line this January. This is the 5th year at Key West for these high performance multihulls.

 

Mid-Winter Championship titles are on the line for five one design classes - J/109, J/105, J/80 and the Melges 24s and Melges 32s.

 

Key West Home Theater: Daily video reports, courtesy of Acura, will be posted on the event web site after racing Monday through Friday. The reports, hosted by award winning broadcaster Gary Jobson, will feature on board, aerial, and on the water racing footage.

 

IRC RACING:
There is no question that there will be a superb IRC fleet in 2006. While the “big boat IRC class” (mentioned above), features some high profile overseas programs, a second IRC class will be very competitive. Returning from last year’s IRC 2 class will be Ian Maclean’s Ker 36 Software Mistress (Hamble, UK) and Tapio Saavalainen’s GrandSoleil 37 Kalevala II (Annapolis, MD). Makoto Uematsu’s NYYC 42 Esmeralda will be closely watched. France’s Sinergia 40 Paprec Recyclage is said to be joining the fray as well.