Rolex Big Boat Series Day One - Class leaders emerge

by Dana Paxton on 11 Sep 2009
In Italian, the word Vincitore means 'the winner' so Jim Mitchell and his multi-national crew took the theme to heart by winning both races in IRC A class on the opening day of the Rolex Big Boat Series. Over 1,000 sailors on 97 boats in 11 classes are competing through Sunday, September 13.

'I wouldn't miss this regatta for anything,' said Mitchell, who grew up in Chicago but now calls Zurich (SUI) his home. 'It was one of our crew's birthdays yesterday, Dallas Kilponen, and I think our two bullets are the best present we can give him.' All of the IRC class leaders - Kjeld Hestehave's Velos, Daniel Woolery's King 40 Soozal and Gerard Sheridan's Elan 40 Tupelo Honey - joined the two-bullet club today, in the IRC B, IRC C and IRC D classes, respectively. All four divisions of IRC handicap-rated boats also are competing for the Rolex US-IRC National Championship.

The other two groups vying for national championships are the Express 37 and Melges 32 classes. For Burt Benrud, this is not only his first Rolex Big Boat Series but also his first season in the Grand-Prix one-design class. 'This is our first big outing and we could have not picked a better location,' he said. Benrud, with co-owner Andy Lovell from New Orleans, La. and crew on the Melges 32 Rougarou, won the day's first race, took a second in the second and now sit in first overall in the six-boat class. 'We are sailing under the Southern Yacht Club flag, and we are very proud to be able to represent our hometown.' Don Jesberg, the recent winner of the class's North American championship, is in second place overall on his Viva, followed by Stephen Pugh's Taboo.

'We actually had our first Express 37 National Championship regatta in 1986,' said Bartz Schneider, the class fleet captain and president, and skipper of Expeditious, currently in fourth place overall. 'This is our 20th national championship at the St. Francis. In 1990 we had our first National Championship as part of the Big Boat Series, and except for 2001, we have had it as part of the regatta every year.' Leading the nine-boat class is Kame Richards' Golden Moon, with Elan, owned by Bill Reiss, in third. Schneider summed up the fleet leaders: 'Golden Moon will be tough, with Bay tide guru Kame Richards at the helm. Elan will be very competitive. And Blade Runner, with their name already on the trophy several times, is always a possible threat.'

The largest one-design fleet is the J/105 class with 25 boats. Returning champion Donkey Jack, owned by Robert Conrads, took 13-6 in two races and is now eighth overall. Bruce Stone's Arbitrage won the day's first race, while Adam & Guillemette Spiegel's Jam Session won the second, putting them into second overall behind class leader, Jeff Litfin & John Case's Mojo.

While many of the competing boats are from the Bay Area and California, some hail from ports across the US and abroad. Lorenzo Berho and his J/145 Raincloud hail from Mexico City, Mexico and are in sixth overall in IRC B. 'Raincloud is a Mexican family and friends boat that has changed our lives, and also has helped us fulfill several dreams,' said Berho, who only started sailing five years ago. 'We had a great experience in last year's Rolex Big Boat Series that we decided to come back in spite of the difficult economic times, and for most of us that means traveling from Mexico City. The organizers are great and the competing boats are really friendly. Last year we got fourth place in our fleet so we would love to get a third place this year. We know that most of the fleet is very competitive and there are many experienced sailors with local knowledge. I am turning 50 years old on September 15, so I chose this regatta as my birthday present. There is nothing better than sailing with my family and best friends in the most outstanding Bay of the world.'

Jim Mitchell is another perfect example of the international aspect present here in San Francisco for racing. Now living in Switzerland, he launched Vincitore a year and half ago in New Zealand and when asked about his international crew - New Zealand's Chris Dickson and Simon Minoprio among them - considering that many of the other entries in the race are locals, he quickly said, 'Not us, we're like the United Nations!'

When asked what makes him come back each year to San Francisco for the Rolex Big Boat Series, Jim said, 'It's just so much fun, the competition is great, you have the city, the weather- it's always windy, constant wind. I really wanted to bring my boat to Europe and sail some races over there,' he continued, 'but I want to sail with family and the guys from New Zealand like sailing in Chicago, San Francisco and the Caribbean. Bringing the boat here is just so fantastic and I'm glad to be here.'

Highlighting a number of regatta improvements, host St. Francis Yacht Club unveiled a new event website www.big-boat-series.com where fans around the world can go to view live video from the club's web cam, photos from official event photographer Daniel Forster and real-time GPS tracking in the IRC fleet. Compliments of Rolex, daily highlights videos produced by T2P will also be available on the event website.

This evening competitors celebrated the first day of racing at the Rolex Party where the first daily video was shown. The regatta ends with Sunday's final Rolex Trophy Ceremony where specially engraved Rolex timepieces will be awarded to the St. Francis Yacht Club's six Perpetual Trophy winners.

Regarded by sailors as one of the world's premier sailboat racing events, Rolex Big Boat Series is part of the Rolex Yachting Portfolio that includes over 20 world-class sailing events that take place around the globe including the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Rolex Fastnet Race, Rolex Farr 40 World Championship and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. For more information visit www.regattanews.com the online press portal for Rolex yachting events.

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.