Farr Yacht Design

Fortissimo is on the water. 🌊

The sixth Southern Wind SW96, naval architecture by Farr Yacht Design, has just completed her first sea trials in Cape Town, and she is turning heads. Full carbon hull and deck, twin rudders, high-modulus rigging, a lifting keel ranging from 3.4 to 5.5 meters , and that striking forest green metallic hull.

Her owner put it simply at the launch: “Fortissimo comes from sheet music. It means play fast, play strong, and that’s how I feel about this boat.”

She heads to the Western Mediterranean this summer before her regatta debut at the Ibiza JoySail in September. An ambitious program of racing and cruising across the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Americas lies ahead.

Full feature: boatinternational.com

The 117th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac is in the books. 333 miles across Lake Michigan, 250 boats, overnight thunderstorms and some brilliant racing, and the Farr family showed up in force.⛵
Here’s how the fleet fared:

🔵 Mackinac Trophy Class 3: Shine Box, Farr 40 — 1st
🔵 Mackinac Trophy Class 3: Hot Lips, Farr 40 — 2nd
🔵 Mackinac Trophy Class 5: Razzmatazz, Farr 395 — 2nd
🔵 Mackinac Trophy Class 5: Old School — 5th
🔵 Cruising Division Overall & Cruising 1: Dakota, First 47.7 (Des 354) — 2nd
🔵 Cruising 1: Vanishing Point, Farr 56 — 5th

And in One Design:
🔵 Beneteau 36.7 — 1. Soulshine 2. Program 3. Nomad
🔵 Beneteau 40.7 — 1. Mojo 2. Warrior Sailing 3. Wired

Farr designs across six classes, with Shine Box and Hot Lips going 1-2 in Class 3 — that’s a result worth celebrating. Congratulations to every crew who made it to Mackinac Island! 🌊

From the Med to Maine, a Farr design doing what Farr designs do best. 🌊

The Farr designed SW96 Ammonite (Des 768) is currently exploring the coast of Maine, and we couldn’t think of a better boat for it. Built for exactly this kind of blue water adventure — and right on our doorstep here on the US East Coast. 🇺🇸

A great profile of Italian shipyard Ice Yachts in Giornale della Vela and a nice nod to the Farr connection.

CEO Marco Malgara singles out the ICE 66, a collaboration between Ice Yachts, Farr Yacht Design and Lucio Micheletti, as one of the shipyard's most iconic builds: refined design, exceptional performance, and a character all of its own.

Since 2013, Ice Yachts has built over a hundred vessels from their Salvirola facility, with carbon construction and semi-custom craftsmanship at the heart of everything they do. Well worth a read.

🔗 Full feature: giornaledellavela.com

Congratulations to Ocean Breeze-Majorica and skipper Alan Roura on winning the crewed IRC class at the 2026 Drheam-Cup Grand Prix de France de Course au Large! 🏆

Ocean Breeze is a Volvo Ocean 70 (Des 634) and led the IRC crewed fleet throughout the 600-mile course, crossing the finish line in Lorient on Bastille Day after nearly three days of racing. A fitting way to celebrate. 🗽

Roura, a three-time Vendée Globe finisher, called it a happy performance: great downwind runs, tough thunderstorms weathered, and a crew of thirteen who gave everything.

A Farr-designed Volvo 70 — still winning offshore races. 🌊
To see the the video of the crew follow the link👇️
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DvJ1KL3Z5/

What a day on the Solent! The 95th Round the Island Race was hailed as one of the best in years, over 800 boats, sunshine, good breeze, and Farr designs flying across every class. ⛵

Here's how Farr fleet fared in the top ten:

🔵 IRC 1A — Tilt, First 40 (Des 608) — 1st in class & 4th overall in IRC 1
🔵 IRC 1A — Moana, First 47.7 (Des 422) — 5th
🔵 IRC 1B — Panther, Farr 36M (Des 84M) — 5th
🔵 IRC 1B — Incognito, First 40.7 (Des 354) — 6th
🔵 IRC 1C — Challenger, First 40.7 — 3rd
🔵 IRC 2A — Hot Rats, First 35 (Des 622) — 3rd
(Provisional results)

Five Farr designs in the top ten across five classes. On a course that has humbled boats and crews for 95 years, that's a result worth celebrating.

Bravo Zulu to every Farr design crew who took on this iconic yacht race, top ten or not, and a of course a "tilt" of the hat to Tilt for the class win. 🌟
👉 🔗 Full report: sail-world.com

📸 Paul Wyeth

This is what sailing is really about. 🌊

Stride Forward, a national charity supporting people who have suffered serious physical trauma, competed in the Round the Island Race for the very first time this year — aboard Whirlwind, a Farr 65 (Des 421). Their crew included sailors with traumatic brain injuries, amputations, severe burns, and visual impairment — many of whom had never set foot on a racing yacht before.

Skippered by record-breaking circumnavigator Brian Thompson and organized by charity founder Holly King, the team didn’t race to win. They raced to prove that the water belongs to everyone.

Proud that a Farr design carried them around the Island. 💙

📸 Matt Dickens

🔗 Full story: allatsea.co.uk