Six Perpetual Trophies, Rolex Big Boat Series

by Key Partners, KPMS on 18 Sep 2006 At this evening's Rolex Award Ceremony, six skippers were awarded the St. Francis Yacht Club's six Perpetual Trophies, earned for success in each of six racing classes during the Rolex Big Boat Series. Today's final race - the Bay Tour, ranging from 14.21 to 15.44 nautical miles for the two divisions - concluded the 42nd annual regatta.

Each of the six Perpetual Trophy winners also was presented with Rolex Steel Submariner timepieces in recognition of their accomplishments.

The oldest trophy, the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, was awarded to IRC A class winner Jim Gregory (Danville, Calif.) on Morpheus. 'This is the first first in the boat's history,' said Gregory of his 2001-built Schumacher 50. 'We were second last time around and we really thought that Zephyra could not be beaten. I'm going to be celebrating.' Morpheus narrowly defeated the defending champion Robert Youngjohn's (Woodside, Calif.) DK46 Zephyra, which finished second ahead of Swiftsure II, owned by Sy Kleineman who celebrated his 26th Big Boat competition. Today's line honors in IRC A went to Lani Spund's (Los Gatos, Calif. ) Kokopelli2, which corrected to fourth overall.

John Siegel accomplished a rare feat when he won the IRC B class and the City of San Francisco Perpetual Trophy. He earned the distinction of being one of very few four-time Perpetual Trophy winners in the StFYC history. His Wylie 42 Scorpio also won its class in 2005, 2004 and 2003. 'It's a thrill to win no matter what,' said Siegel. 'whether you win it or not.' Scorpio had enough of a lead going into the final race for Siegel to not worry about today's finish. He ended the regatta with five first-place finishes and two seconds, earning a 12 point lead over Mark Howe's (Richmond, Calif.) White Fang. 'We wanted to go out and sail and stay out of everyone's way,' he said. 'We blanketed White Fang a little bit at the start, but we had a very good race. It was a flawless race.'

Gerard Sheridan won IRC C class on his Elan 40 Tupelo Honey, and with it the Atlantic Perpetual Trophy. 'Big Boat was a major goal of ours,' said Sheridan. 'We have had a very solid crew for the last year and just basically put a lot of work and focus into it.' Sheridan wrapped up the regatta with yesterday's two bullets, but went out today to compete, winning and scoring a total eight points - all first-place finishes except for one second.

The Sydney 38 class returned stronger than ever and was won by Michael Kennedy (Chicago, Ill.) on Copernicus. 'It was anyone's ballgame today,' said Kennedy. 'We went in with a two-point advantage. We only had a second or a third, and no tie-break advantages. Animal and Bustin' Loose were tied. The boats are tough. We were trading off and we never beat them to the first mark. So we were in that mind set that we had to beat those guys. We went way south at the last leeward mark. We wanted to go up inside Angel (Island). We saw more pressure and didn't think that current was much of a factor. They both went left. I think they thought we'd go follow them. It was too late to come back and we didn't meet back up. We were ahead. We won our first first and it was the one we needed to win.'

Steven Madeira (Menlo Park, Calif.) earned his third straight Perpetual Trophy - the Keefe-Kilborn Memorial - for his victory in the 10-boat J/120 class on Mr. Magoo. 'It was an unbelievable race,' said Madeira. 'Three boats could have won it. We all had bad starts and we all sort of moved up through the fleet as a pack. At the last mark, Chance was first, Desdemona was second, we were third, and El Ocaso was fourth. On the last upwind leg they went off and took a flyer. We went south of Alcatraz. Everyone but El Ocaso went south to Alcatraz so that paid off for them. They went out and won the race. In the meantime we worked our way past Desdemona.'

Down to the finish they went with Mr. Magoo needing to finish third to win the series. 'We were coning into the line on port tack,' he said. 'We jibed to starboard and forced Desdemona to jibe. They messed up their kite and I went as perpendicular to the line as we could.' Mr. Magoo crossed just ahead and clinched the overall victory. 'I love this event. I absolutely look forward to it all year.'

The Commodore's Cup went to Good Timin', owned by brothers Chris and Phil Perkins (San Francisco) as the winner of the 36-boat J/105 class. The popular crew won today's race, adding to their 14-point scoreline. In second was defending champion Scott Sellers on Donkey Jack.

Andy Costello (Novato, Calif.) and Jim Barton, 1996 Olympic Bronze Medalist (Soling), won the 1D35 class on Double Trouble, racking up an amazing six victories in seven races. The Express 37 class was won by Caleb Everett (San Francisco) on Stewball.

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

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Provisional Results - Day 4 (Sept 17)
Top 3 in each class

Boat name, Owner, Hometown, R1-R2-R3-R4-R5-R6-R7, Total points

IRC A
1. Morpheus, Jim Gregory, Danville, Calif., 3-4-3-1-1-3-2, 17 points
2. Zephyra, Robert Youngjohns, Woodside, Calif., 2-1-5-4-4/MAN-2-1, 19
3. Swiftsure II, Sy Kleineman, San Francisco, 1-2-6-3-4-1-4, 21

IRC B
1. Scorpio, John Siegel, San Francisco, 1-1-1-2-2/20%-1-1, 9
2. White Fang, Mark Howe, Richmond, Calif., 2-8/DNF-2-1-2-2-4, 21
3. Inspired-Environments, Timothy Ballard, San Rafael, Calif., 8/DNF-3-3-3-5-5-2, 29

IRC C
1. Tupelo Honey, Gerald Sheridan, San Francisco, 1-1-2-1-1-1-1, 8
2. Acabar, Jean-Yves Lenolormy, San Francisco, 3-2-1-2-11/OCS-3-2, 24
3. Josie, Don Sellers, Center Harbor, N.H., 6-3-3-5-4-5-5, 31

J105
1. Good Timin', Chris Perkins, San Francisco, 3-3-1-2-3-1-1, 14
2. Donkey Jack, Scott Sellers, Larkspur, Calif., 4-2-2-1-5-14-4, 32
3. Aquavit, Tim Russell, Novato, Calif., 2-8-4-9-1-10-3, 37

J120
1. Mister Magoo, Steve Madeira, Menlo Park, Calif., 2-5-2-4-1-1-3, 18
2. Chance, Barry Lewis, Atherton, Calif., 1-1-1-3-3-8-2, 19
3. El Ocaso, Rick Wesslund, Belvedere, Calif., 6-2-3-2-2-3-1, 19

Sydney 38
1. Copernicus, Michael Kennedy, Chicago, Ill., 2-2-2-2-3-2-1, 14
2. Bustin Loose, Jeff Pulford, Corral de Tierra, Calif., 3-1-7/DNF-1-2-1-2, 17
3. Animal, Ray Pingree/Craig French, Santa Cruz, Calif., 1-3-1-3-3-3-3, 17

Express 37
1. Stewball, Caleb Everett, San Francisco, 1-1-1-2-1-1-5, 12
2. Golden Moon, Kame Richards, Alameda, Calif., 2-3-2-1-4-3-1, 16
3. Expeditious, Bartz Schneider, Crystal Bay, Nev., 4-2-4-3-5-2-3, 23

1D35
1. Double Trouble, Andy Costelo/Jim Barton, Novato, Calif., 1-1-1-1-1-1-2, 8
2. Yeofy, Eliel Redstone, Corte Madera, Calif., 2-2-2-3-2-3-1, 15
3. Sweet Sensation, Gary Fanger, San Francisco, 4-3-5-2-5-2-3, 24