Rolex Big Boat series -San Francisco winds

by Susan Maffei Plowden on 15 Sep 2007 Despite a mild start to racing on day two of the Rolex Big Boat Series, competition was anything but easygoing. The wind quickly picked up to 15 knots and gave the 112 boats competing in four IRC and six one-design classes a challenging two races. For the hundreds of spectators lining the sea wall of the St. Francis Yacht Club, the boats were almost close enough to touch as they short-tacked upwind along the shore.

Sydney 38 One Designs's - 'We came off the line really strong in the start and we were able to dictate in the short tacking and that's where everyone would want to be,' said Michael Kennedy (Chicago, Ill.) of racing in the Sydney 38 class course which took the fleet close into shore.

'We put in 40-plus tacks going up the city front, which is really classic Big Boat Series. I think we tacked until the crew couldn't do it anymore.'

Kennedy's Copernicus, the defending class champion, struggled a bit in the first race, but came back to win the second. 'We went the wrong direction on Berkeley Circle,' said Kennedy about race one. 'We missed the first shift and it was all over for us.'

Copernicus did remarkably well in yesterday's two races, taking a second in both. What most of its competition didn't know at the time was that the boat's wheel was broken. It held for the first race, but as Kennedy went to put the helm down, steering hard, he heard it completely break.

'We steered with the sails and rigged the emergency tiller,' explained Kennedy. 'Since the tiller is so small, about a foot and a half, I had to lie down in the cockpit and Jud (Smith, the tactician) was my eyes telling me to 'come up two degrees, down two degrees.'

The wheel was replaced in time for today's racing.

Copernicus is currently in second overall behind Jeff Pulford's (Coral de Tierra, Calif.) Bustin' Loose with local sailor Bill Erkelens onboard calling tactics. With three first places and a third, Bustin Loose will be the boat to watch in that class tomorrow. 'Bustin' Loose and Howl aren't going to let us get away with anything,' said Kennedy.

For the crew on Copernicus, tonight will be for rest and preparation for tomorrow, which is predicted to have higher wind speeds. 'My wife Kate trims the jib and she's the one who probably needs the most rest,' said Kennedy.

In the 1D35 class, Andy Costello (Point Richmond, Calif.) repeated his winning ways from yesterday, earning two more first places to lead the seven-boat class. With tactician Jim Barton, Olympic Bronze Medalist (1996, Soling), the team edged out Peter Stoneberg's (Belvedere, Calif.) Shadow. Stoneberg's team, which includes big boat expert Katie Pettibone and 1D35 class originator and Olympic Silver Medalist (1984, Finn) John Bertrand, is only one point behind overall.

In IRC A, John Kilroy's (San Francisco) TP52 Samba Pa Ti leads Roger Sturgeon's (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) STP65 Rosebud; while in IRC B, Lani Spund's (Los Gatos, Calif.) Kokopelli2 leads the 10-boat clas with a win in the day's first race. Dave Kirby's (Manhattan Beach, Calif.)

J/122 TKO has a one-point lead in the 13-boat IRC C class over Mike Garl's (San Carlos, Calif.) Beneteau 40.7 White Dove. And in the 10-boat IRC D class, defending champion Gerard Sheridan's (San Francisco) Elan 40 Tupelo Honey leads the class by two points over Acabar, owned by Jean-Yves Lendormy (San Francisco).

Racing continues Saturday with two races planned. 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 - and a Rolex Submariner timepiece for each winner.

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 2007: the Rolex Fastnet Race, the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the Rolex TP52 Global Championship and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.


Rolex Big Boat Series 2007- IRC
Series Standing - 4 races scored (Thursday & Friday)
Information is provisional and subject to modification

Division: IRC A (5 boats)

PosSail Boat Skipper Home Town
Total
Points Pos
1 13131 Samba Pa Ti John Kilroy, Jr. Los Angeles, CA 1 1 2 1 5.00 1
2 45045 Sjambok Michael Brennan Annapolis, MD 3 2 1 3 9.00 2
3 60065 Rosebud Roger Sturgeon Ft. Lauderdale, FL 2 3 3 2 10.00 3
4 7552 Mayhem Ashley Wolfe Vancouver, BC 4 4 4 4 16.00 4
5 28909 Ocelot Kevin Flanigan Portland, OR 5 5 5 5 20.00 5

Division: IRC B (10 boats)

PosSail Boat Skipper Home Town
Total
Points Pos
1 43717 Kokopelli2 Lani Spund Los Gatos, CA 1 3 1 3 8.00 1
2 52445 Rancho Deluxe Michael Diepenbrock Sacramento, CA 2 2 3 2 9.00 2
3 16 Swiftsure Sy Kleinman Saratoga, CA 6 1 2 1 10.00 3
4 41718 Heartbeat Lou Pambianco Saratoga, CA 4 4 4 5 17.00 4
5 80808 Piranha David Voss Playa del Rey, CA 3 5 5 7 20.00 5
6 22208 Velos Kjeld Hestehave Temecula, CA 8 6 10 4 28.00 6
7 888 White Knight Zoltan Katinszky San Pedro, CA 5 8 6 9 28.00
8 51507 Secret Squirrel John Cladianos Santa Cruz, CA 9 9 7 6 31.00 8
9 3883 Zamazaan Charles Weghorn San Rafael, CA 10 7 9 8 34.00 9
10 40079 Astra Mary Coleman Los Gatos, CA 7 10 8 10 35.00 10

Division: IRC C (13 boats)

PosSail Boat Skipper Home Town
Total
Points Pos
1 60122 TKO Dave Kirby Manhattan Beach, CA 1 2 1 3 7.00 1
2 50758 White Dove Mike Garl San Carlos, CA 2 1 3 2 8.00 2
3 28900 Scorpio John Siegel San Francisco, CA 5 4 5 1 15.00 3
4 46085 Finale Roger and Connie Hills Tacoma, WA 3 7/30% 2 7 19.00 4
5 3632 Encore Daniel Woolery Alamo, CA 4 10 6 5 25.00 5
6 67205 Aleta Keith Brown San Francisco, CA 11 7 4 4 26.00 6
7 28423 Inspired Environments Timothy Ballard San Rafael, CA 10 6 7 6 29.00 7
8 40646 Jeannette Henry King Oakland, CA 6 5 9 10 30.00 8
9 28187 White Fang Mark Howe Richmond, CA 8 8 8 9 33.00 9
10 38407 Phantom Mist Gary Massari Danville, CA 9 9 10 8 36.00 10
11 3510 Recidivist Ken Olcott Los Altos, CA 7 11 11 11 40.00 11
12 41212 Infinity Gary Gebhard El Cerrito, CA 12 12 13 12 49.00 12
13 77220 Infrared Ray Lopez/Bob Doscher Burson, CA 13 13 12 13 51.00 13

Division: IRC D (10 boats)

PosSail Boat Skipper Home Town
Total
Points Pos
1 28908 Tupelo Honey Gerard Sheridan San Francisco, CA 1 2 1 2 6.00 1
2 38007 Acabar Jean-Yves Lendormy San Francisco, CA 4 1 2 1 8.00 2
3 18441 Mintaka 4 Gerry Brown Sunnyvale, CA 2 3 3 5 13.00 3
4 39 Josie Don Sellers Center Harbor, NH 5 4 4 4 17.00 4
5 28394 Mistral Ed Durbin Point Richmond, CA 3 7 5 6/30% 21.00 5
6 38747 Ay Caliente! Aaron Kennedy Richmond, CA 7 6 7 6 26.00 6
7 28719 Bufflehead Stuart Scott Novato, CA 6 8 6 7 27.00 7
8 168 KNOTS 2 John Notman Stockton, CA 8 5 9 8 30.00 8
9 28475 Serendipity 2 Thomas Bruce Berkeley, CA 9 9 8 11/DNF 37.00 9
10 51984 El Jefe Richard Green San Francisco, CA 10 10 10 9 39.00 10


Division: 1D35 (7 boats)

Pos Sail Boat Skipper Home Town
Total
Points Pos
1 35018 Double Trouble Andy Costello Point Richmond, CA 5 1 1 1 8.00 1
2 35024 Shadow Peter Stoneberg Belvedere, CA 3 2 2 2 9.00 2
3 35045 Great Sensation Mario Yovkov San Francisco, CA 1 3 5 8/DNF 17.00 3
4 35043 Jazzy Bob Turnbull Sunnyvale, CA 2 6 4 5 17.00 4
5 35035 Sweet Sensation Gary Fanger San Francisco, CA 4 4 7 3 18.00 5
6 35029 Diablita Gary Boell Richmond, CA 6 5 3 4 18.00 6
7 35017 Zsa Zsa Stanley Glaros San Francisco, CA 7 7 6 6 26.00 7


Division: Exp 37 (10 boats)

Pos Sail Boat Skipper Home Town
Total
Points Pos
1 18478 Expeditious Bartz Schneider Crystal Bay, NV 2 2 4 1 9.00 1
2 18488 Golden Moon Kame Richards Alameda, CA 1 1 1 7 10.00 2
3 87700 Elan Bill Riess Oakland, CA 3 3 5 2 13.00 3
4 US 87549 Blade Runner Michael Shlens Palos Verdes Estates, CA 5 4 2 3 14.00 4
5 40311 Bullet Michael Maloney San Jose, CA 4 5 3 4 16.00 5
6 18305 Spindrift V Larry Wright Benecia, CA 7 6 7 5 25.00 6
7 18278 Stewball Bob Harford Sacramento, CA 8 7 6