One race to decide Big Boat series winners

by Susan Maffei Plowden on 17 Sep 2007
After three days of racing at the Rolex Big Boat Series, competition is so close that tomorrow's final race - the Bay Tour scheduled for 11am - will decide the fortunes in each of the 10 classes sailing here: four for IRC handicapped boats and six for one-designs.

One skipper, Dave Kirby (Los Angeles, Calif.) on TKO almost had the regatta sewn up, but when his crewmember fell overboard during the start of the second race it cancelled any hope of taking tomorrow off.

'At about 40 seconds to go before the start, we tacked and our crewmember slipped off the boat,' said Norman Davant, tactician onboard Kirby's J/122 TKO. 'We came around and picked him up, but it took some time with the breeze at 20-22 knots. He was fine, wearing his PFD and was fully conscious in the water. Once he was onboard, we still had to go across the starting line. It took us a few minutes to complete the whole maneuver and we had to work hard to catch up to the fleet.'

TKO finished seventh out of 13 boats, but had enough of a lead going into the final race, with a win in the first race today that the team currently leads IRC C class. 'It worked out in the end,' said Davant. 'Going into tomorrow, we need to beat White Dove.' Mike Garl's (San Carlos, Calif.) Beneteau 40.7 White Dove and TKO have 15 cumulative points; with defending champion John Siegel's (San Francisco) Wylie 42 Scorpio in third with 20 points.

John Kilroy's TP52 Samba Pa Ti continues to lead the IRC A class, with a slim two-point margin over Rosebud, Roger Sturgeon's (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). The newly-launched STP65 put in a spectacular effort, scoring two first places. Only two more points back in third place is Sjambok, the Reichel/Pugh 45 helmed by Larry Ellison.

Although Lani Spund's (Los Gatos, Calif.) SC52 Kokopelli2 continues its lead in the 10-boat IRC B class, it is tied on 13 points with Michael Diepenbrock's (Sacramento, Calif.) Swan 45 Rancho Deluxe; while in the 10-boat IRC D class, defending champion Gerard Sheridan's (San Francisco) Elan 40 Tupelo Honey also maintained its lead and is now three points ahead of Acabar, owned by Jean-Yves Lendormy (San Francisco).

For Barry Lewis, the leader of the J/120 class on Chance, today's racing included some drama. 'Our highlight today was breaking two jib sheets in the second race,' said Lewis (Atherton, Calif.). 'Then we lost the spare overboard. So, we had to swap the others end-for-end and by the time we got it sorted, it put us back into sixth or seventh place. We used the rest of the race to claw back to a fifth-place finish.

'This is what happens in this fleet during Big Boat,' said Lewis. 'It gets more and more competitive each day. The entire fleet converges at every mark rounding. I think it really speaks to the competitive level of this class.'

For Lewis and his crew on Chance, the overall regatta win will be decided in tomorrow's final race. Chance is tied for first overall with Steven Madeira's (Menlo Park, Calif.) Mr. Magoo. Madeira, a three-time Perpetual Trophy winner, won both of today's races. Whichever boat beats the other will win the nine-boat J/120 class. 'It will be game on,' said Lewis.

Philippe Kahn (Santa Cruz, Calif.) continued his winning ways in the Melges 32 class winning both races and establishing a five-point lead over the second-place boat Red, owned by Tim Edwards (Torquay, U.K.) and helmed by Joe Woods.

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In the 34-boat J/105 class, Chris Perkins (San Francisco) scored a 3,1 on his Good Timin' to hold onto his lead over Scott Sellers (San Francisco) on Donkey Jack. Only six points separate the two and tomorrow's final race will decide who of the two, both repeat winners of this now-classic Rolex Big Boat Series one-design class, will win.

Racing concludes Sunday with the final Bay Tour, followed by the Rolex Trophy Ceremony. Coveted prizes for the fleet are the St. Francis Yacht Club's 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.

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