The Class 40 World Championships will be held this year between the 17th and 20th August 2013. These dates fall immediately after the RORC Fastnet race which finishes in Plymouth of course. The 2009 Fastnet saw the Class 40 Division enjoy very close racing between the nineteen boats that entered and the 2012 Class 40 Worlds in La Rochelle attracted a fleet of eighteen boats even without the draw of a major ocean race. The championship was eventually won by a Spanish Team with Class No. 65, a 2008 generation boat. The World Championship is an event apart in the normal ocean-going Class 40 fleet. Sitting between the crewed Rolex Fastnet race and the Transat Jaques Vabre two-handed transatlantic race at the end of the season, it is a chance for the teams to race fully crewed around the cans. Plymouth has an important relationship with the sea having been the home of the original transatlantic race to Newport Rhode Island. As a city it also has an important relationship with the Class 40 fleet, many of which have raced to and from the historic harbour over the last few years. The racing will take place over 4 days with a programme that includes up to 8-10 inshore races and at least one coastal race which will take the fleet along the breathtaking coastline of the south west peninsula. The Teams will be made up of multiple world class sailors with an expected 7-10 nationalities taking part. With a number of designers active within the Class 40 fleet and the boats optimised for ocean racing, the racing will be wide open. Who will be the 2013 World Champion? Will the Brits make a spirited defence, or perhaps the Spanish will sail to the home port of Sir Francis Drake this time and return victorious? For those sailors who are not yet part of the Class 40 family yet and who might want to try the Worlds or indeed the Fastnet Race as a taster, UK and West Country based Class 40 designers Owen Clarke Design run a service that puts charterers in touch with existing owners. OCD are in the process of attracting additional Class 40’s to charter for 2013. Charters should expect to pay between GPB 11,000 and GBP 14,000 (depending on yacht’s age/sail inventory) for either a Fastnet or Class 40 Worlds charter. www.owenclarkedesign.com/Class40OpenRacingYachtCharter OCD also have a brokerage arm, which has by far the largest number of used Class 40 listed of any yacht broker, with ten boats currently on their books. www.owenclarkedesign.com/Open_60_Class_40_Custom_and_Performance_Yacht_Br
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