Big conditions for Rolex Big Boat Series

by Susan Maffei Plowden on 16 Sep 2006
Today's conditions on San Francisco Bay put the big into the Rolex Big Boat Series. 'This is what we live for,' said Andy Costello, skipper of the 1D35 Double Trouble, currently leading its class with four straight wins in as many races. 'We saw 25-28 knots plus and some puffs to 30 knots. The wind has been a lot of fun; the boat likes the breeze. Our boat speed is definitely a little bit faster than the others.'

Costello credited his tactician Jim Barton, 1996 Olympic Bronze Medalist (Soling), for his strategy of loosely covering the fleet, and to main trimmer, Patrick Whitmarsh for keeping the boat's speed at its best. 'The guys are all skiff sailors and have been sailing together for a long time.'

Going into tomorrow's race, Costello has his eye on second-place Yeofy, owned by Eliel Redstone and Outlaw, owned by Mario Yovkov. 'They both really know how to sail those boats, especially Mario. They've done Transpac Races on that boat. For us, we focus on getting clean air and getting out to the right side of the course. Staying relaxed, having fun, it's a good time for how windy it was today.'

Other significant leads include John Siegel's in IRC B class. His Wylie 42 Scorpio sits in first, eight points ahead of Mark Howe's (Richmond, Calif.) First 40.7 White Fang. 'We think we have a good chance of winning,' said Siegel. 'Interestingly enough, we thought we sailed pretty well, but not great. We sailed exactly the same courses as IRC A did yesterday, so if we had sailed IRC A we would've had a third and a fifth.' Scorpio corrected out to a 1,2 for five points overall.

Citing the two First 40.7s - White Fang and Timothy Ballard's Inspired Elements - as well as the One Tonner Jeannette, owned by Henry King as his team's main competition in the 7-boat fleet, Siegel is looking for a second-straight victory after winning his class for the three past years.

Not everyone had a good experience with the excessive wind. John Schulze saw his debut outing at Rolex Big Boat Series disintegrate as quickly as the few seconds it took the mast on his J/109, Linstar, to break. Tactician Norman Davant explained the circumstances.

'It was blowing 24-25 at the time and within 100 yards of the finish line, we jibed and the mast snapped at the deck, right in two pieces,' he said. 'It was moving down the deck, toward the bow, so we quickly dropped the spinnaker to keep the rig in the boat. We put the motor on and motored into smooth water, got the mainsail down and put a bunch of lines around the rig. We took off to KKMI, the local boat yard, where they were waiting for us. They are going to weld the mast and get us back in tomorrow. We're not out, everyone is fired up and we'll be back out there tomorrow. Unfortunately that'll put us out of the top end of the regatta, we were right in there, so now our goal is to see if we can get a fifth or so..'

The 36-boat J/105 class continues to be led by Scott Sellers' Donkey Jack. However, it's not as easy as it looks to string together a 4,2,2,1 scoreline among such a talent-deep fleet, especially when you have Chris Perkins and his Good Timin' crew tied with you on 9 points. Perkins almost saw his hard work slip away in the start.

'It could have been a regatta killer,' he said. 'We started behind Scott, in the second row. We couldn't tack away. We were behind this group of boats and it was brutal. We feel very fortunate that for the rest of the race we were able to make it up. My brother Jon, our tactician, worked us to the front and up to about fifth at the first weather mark. We continued to pick off a few boats and rounded in second at the leeward mark. We tried to pick off Scott but couldn't get there.'

Perkins keeps the entire fleet as competition, in his view, but singled out Sellers' team and Philip Lotz on Indefatigable. 'They are sailing really well, doing a great job. Scott and I have sailed out here all summer. This is all about getting a good start and going the right way. Tomorrow, the regatta starts all over again. We're both tied and it's going to be fun.'

Three class leaders maintained their leads. Caleb Everett on Stewball leads in the Express 37 class with today's 1,2 finish for five point. While in the J/120 class Barry Lewis on Chance scored a 1,3 for an overall score of six points in the 10-boat fleet. Gerald Sheridan on Tupelo Honey in continued to lead the IRC C class, scoring a 2,1 for five points, just three points ahead of second-place Acabar, owned by Jean-Yves Lenolormy.

Racing continues tomorrow at 11:00am on San Francisco Bay within viewing range of Pier 39 and the Marina District, between Treasure Island and the Golden Gate Bridge, with the finish line set off the St. Francis Yacht Club Race Deck.

Coveted prizes for the fleet are six perpetual trophies - Richard Rheem, St. Francis, City of San Francisco, Atlantic, Keefe-Kilborn Memorial and the Commodore's Cup.

Provisional leading Results - Day 2 (Sept 15)

IRC A
1. Swiftsure II, Sy Kleineman, San Francisco, 1-2-6-3, 12 points
2. Zephyra, Robert Youngjohns, Woodside, Calif., 2-1-5-4, 12
3. Morpheus, Jim Gregory, Danville, Calif., 3-4-3-2, 12

IRC B
1. Scorpio, John Siegel, San Francisco, 1-1-1-2, 5
2. White Fang, Mark Howe, Richmond, Calif., 2-8/DNF-2-1, 13
3. Jeannette, Henry King, Oakland, Calif., 3-2-5-6, 16

IRC C
1. Tupelo Honey, Gerald Sheridan, San Francisco, 1-1-2-1, 5
2. Acabar, Jean-Yves Lenolormy, San Francisco, 3-2-1-2, 8
3. Bodacious, John Clauser, San Francisco, 4-4-5-3, 16

J105
1. Donkey Jack, Scott Sellers, Larkspur, Calif., 4-2-2-1, 9
2. Good Timin', Chris Perkins, San Francisco, Calif., 3-3-1-2, 9
3. Indefatigable, Philip Lotz, New Canaan, Calif., 9-1-6-3, 19

J120
1. Chance, Barry Lewis, Atherton, Calif., 1-1-1-3, 6
2. El Ocaso, Rick Wesslund, Belvedere, Calif., 6-2-3-2, 13
3. Mister Magoo, Steve Madeira, Menlo Park, Calif., 2-5-2-4, 13

Sydney 38
1. Animal, Ray Pingree/Craig French, Santa Cruz, Calif., 1-3-1-3, 8
2. Copernicus, Michael Kennedy, Chicago, Ill., 2-2-4-2, 10
3. Bustin Loose, Jeff Pulford, Corral de Tierra, Calif., 3-1-7/DNF-1, 12

Express 37
1. Stewball, Caleb Everett, San Francisco, 1-1-1-2, 5
2. Golden Moon, Kame Richards, Alameda, Calif., 2-3-2-1, 8
3. Expeditious, Bartz Schneider, Crystal Bay, Nev., 4-2-4-3, 13

1D35
1. Double Trouble, Andy Costelo/Jim Barton, Novato, Calif., 1-1-1-1, 4
2. Yeofy, Eliel Redstone, Corte Madera, Calif., 2-2-2-3, 9
3. Sweet Sensation, Gary Fanger, San Francisco, 4-3-5-2, 14

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Regarded by sailors as one of the world's premier sailboat racing events, the Rolex Big Boat Series joins the list of other prestigious Rolex-sponsored events in 2006: the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

For results, photos, reports and more information about the Rolex Big Boat Series, go to www.stfyc.org. Daily highlights videos are available on T2P.tv after 9pm PST.

About St. Francis Yacht Club
Founded in 1927, St. Francis Yacht Club, within view of the Golden Gate Bridge, is a year-round host of over 40 regattas on San Francisco Bay. The club is renowned for its expertise in running world and national championships.