Rolex Big Boat Series - 'It's never like this in San Francisco'

by Dana Paxton on 13 Sep 2009
Rolex Big Boat Series. After a large area of thunderstorms moved through this morning, the over 1,000 sailors competing in day three of the Rolex Big Boat Series were given a new challenge: light wind and minimum visibility through the dense fog hanging low on the water.

As locals are apt to exclaim - 'It's never like this in San Francisco' - a theory confirmed by spectators lined along the sea wall and second-story viewing bleachers at St. Francis Yacht Club.

An on-time racing start by the StFYC volunteer race committee, lead by PROs Kevin Reeds (Annapolis, Md.) and Hank Stuart (Rochester, N.Y.), gave the 97 competing boats two races for a total of six races. Tomorrow's final race - known fondly as the Bay Tour - will cap off a solid four days on the water.

Flash, the TP52 skippered by Tom Akin and Mark Jones, won the day's first race, finished third in the second, and now stands in second overall in IRC A class, one point behind class leader Vincitore, the custom 52 owned by Jim Mitchell (Zurich, SUI) and driven by Chris Dickson. John Kilroy's TP52 Samba Pa Ti finished 3-1 and is now in third overall.

The fastest boat around the IRC B racecourse today was Kjeld Hestehave's (Richmond, Calif.) 73-foot Velos. Since the very first race, the largest boat entered in this regatta continues to dominate the class. It now looks untouchable with six total points. Sy Kleinman's (Saratoga, Calif.) Schumacher 54 Swiftsure is tied on 16 points with Dale Williams's (San Francisco) Kernan 44 Wasabi. 'We are more than thrilled to be there,' said Williams, who figures he has competed in at least 20 Big Boat Series in his career, winning in 1999 with a previous boat named Wasabi. However, this Wasabi is brand new, designed by the same group who created Williams' last boat the 70-foot Peligroso. 'It's really easy to sail,' he said. 'We're surprised how fast it goes. There's a retractable sprit, but no spreaders, no runners, no reaching struts and no after guys. It's fast at 12,900 lbs. with 6,700 lbs of ballast. It's everything we thought it was and more.'

Willims set up a StFYC duel for second place tomorrow between his Wasabi and Swiftsure, giving the overall nod toward Velos. 'That is a very well-sailed boat,' said Woolery. 'They deserve to be out front. It's been a lot of fun and really nice to sail against them and Swiftsure.'

Soozal, the King 40 owned by Daniel Woolery (Alamo, Calif.), continues to lead the IRC C class, with James Bishop (Jamestown, R.I.) and the J/44 Gold Phoenix moving into second overall ahead of Tim Fuller (Marietta, Calif.) and the J/122 Resolute.

'Today's first race was a pivotal race for us. We didn't know what to expect,' said Woolery. After corrected time, the relatively new boat took first place and then a second in the day's second race. 'The second one was a little more difficult,' continued Woolery. 'Our jib goes up on a jib lock and it didn't stay up on the lock. So, as we went to the bottom mark, our plan was to go into Alcatraz and through the Cone. We were behind Gold Phoenix and we thought 'Let's go into the cone.' We were right behind them and immediately the jib fell down, and that forced us to tack over to clear it. We tacked back and as soon as we did, we realized we weren't going to make the Cone, so we tacked over to the beach first. Phoenix did as well. When all was said and done we were seven seconds corrected in front of them. At that point the race became between us and TNT.

'If TNT had gotten second and not us, then that would have brought Phoenix a little closer in the gap' said Woolery. 'We were in great tacking duels, and managed to tack our way up to Phoenix. We were a minute and a half behind when that whole engagement started, and we put almost a minute and a half on them. Overall we're feeling really good.' Soozal has a four-point lead over Gold Phoenix going into tomorrow's final race. 'We're going to win tomorrow,' he predicted.

Gerard Sheridan's Elan 40 Tupelo Honey continues to dominate IRC D class with two more bullets. The San Francisco-based boat won both of today's races on corrected time and, barring any mishaps tomorrow, stands to take the overall win. 'Tomorrow we will go out and race like we like to race, which is fairly conservatively,' said Sheridan. 'We don't want to take any major risks.' This is Tupelo Honey's fifth Rolex Big Boat Series. It won its class in 2005 and finished second in the other years. 'At the start of the year I decided I wanted to win Big Boat this year,' he continued. 'It's the premier regatta on the West Coast, and here at the St. Francis, the race management is impeccable.'

In the grand-prix Melges 32 class, vying for its National Championship this weekend, New Orleans-based Rougarou looked unstoppable blazing downwind. With two more wins today - to add to a series scoreline of 1-2-1-5 - the team lead by co-owners Bert Benrud and Andy Lowell needs to finish fourth or better to win the title. Philippe Kahn's (Belvedere Cove, Calif.) Pegasus encountered trouble in the first race and dropped out to expedite repairs. The team plans to be back in the race tomorrow. Local sailor Don Jesberg and his Viva is in second overall, with Stephen Pugh and Taboo in third.

Class leaders from yesterday that held onto the lead in other one-design classes include Pat Patterson (Angwin, Calif.) and Summer and Smoke in the Beneteau 36.7; William LeRoy (Tiburon, Calif.) and Gone with the Wind in the Cal 40; Kame Richards (Alameda. Calif.) and Golden Moon in the Express 37; and Chris Perkins (San Francisco) and Good Timin' in the J/105 class.

The other two one-design classes saw a change in leadership with Barry Lewis' Chance gaining a slight edge over John Wimer's Desdemona, now in second place, in the J/120 fleet, and Gary Boell and Diablita taking over from Alex Farrell (Mountain View, Calif.) and Alpha Puppy in the 1D35 class. Alpha Puppy fell to third place, while Ebb Tide, chartered by Masakazu Toyama (Tokyo, JPN), moved into second.

This evening competitors enjoyed the regatta's traditional Saturday night crew dinner. Racing concludes on Sunday.

Event website click here