Rolex Big Boat Series - Voodoo Chile’s good start on San Francisco Bay

by Peter Campbell on 13 Sep 2014 Tasmania’s Voodoo Chile is a close fifth overall and the leading boat in the Corinthian division after day one of racing for the Farr 40 class in St Francis Yacht Club’s Rolex 50th Big Boat Series on a windy San Francisco Bay.

Steered by Andrew Hunn with David Chapman his tactician, Voodoo Chile began the series with a seventh but revelled in the stronger winds of race two to finish close astern of overall leaders, the US boat Plenty (Alex Roepers) and Italy’s Infante Terrible (Alberto Rossi).

The Big Boat Series is the first regatta for Hunn at the helm of the Farr 40 previously owned by Prince Frederik of Denmark which he and fellow Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania member Lloyd Clark bought several months ago.

Fellow Australian team aboard Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master from Sydney’s Middle Harbour Yacht Club are seventh overall after placings of sixth and eighth.

The San Francisco Big Boat Series is regarded as a ‘dry run’ for next month’s Farr 40 worlds which St Francis Yacht Club will host on San Francisco Bay.

The opening day of the Big Boat Series began with a heavy fog layer and fickle breeze and ended in howling 20-25 knots southwesterly winds for which San Francisco Bay is notorious.

Race one saw a win for top American boat Flash Gordon 6, the 2012 world champion boat skippered by Helmut Jahn, but the thrill of a first-up victory turned sour at the start of race two when Flash Gordon 6 and Groovederci collided.

Flash Gordon 6 retired with a punctured mainsail but is expected to compete on day two.

Race officers set the Farr 40s a demanding course for race two, past the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz to a spectacular finish directly in front of the St Francis Yacht Club.

At the end of day one, Plenty was on three points from 2-1 score followed by Enfante Terrible on six points (4-2), Nightshift (USA) eight points (3-5), Groovederci (USA) nine points (5-4), Voodoo Chile (AUS) 10 points (7-3), Flojito y Cooperando (MEX) 14 points (8-6) and Estate Master (AUS) 14 points (6-8).

Voodoo Chile leads the Corinthian team scoreboard with 10 points, ahead of the Turkish entrant Asterisk-Uno on 16 points and Canada’s Honour on 22 points.