Another classic Hot Rum Series II

San Diego Yacht Club's annual Hot Rum Series II © San Diego Yacht Club

Despite attempts by the weather Gods to throw another curveball for the weekend, with a large system brewing offshore that natives call "the pineapple express" (a wet, rainy, warm front with moisture flowing from as far west as the Hawaiian Islands), the sailors were instead treated to another classic day of sailing of San Diego's beautiful Point Loma.

As usual, the little boats and early starters (the lower rating boats) go off in relatively light winds as they sailed out the channel to the first turning mark. Then, with the building WNW seabreeze, the "platinum raters", the big boats, took off in a decent breeze that was starting to hit 8-10 kts off Point Loma. As a result, the "big boats" had huge advantage for the second weekend in a row as they steamed out of the channel with their enormous A5 spinnakers or double-slotting with their Code Zeros. As they barreled through the fleet, they again occupied most of the top 15 slots overall.

As a result, in the 137-boat fleet, a number of J/teams are doing well overall in this popular series, with six teams in the top 16. The top banana is Mark Surber's J/125 Derivative in 5th place overall. Just behind in 7th if John Laun's J/120 Caper, followed by Dagfish's J/105 Viggen in 8th, Viggo Torbensen's J/125 Timeshaver in 11th, Gomez-Ibarra's J/70 Vagazo in 15th and Chuck Nichols' J/120 CC Rider in 16th.

On a class basis, Surber's J/125 Derivative is also sitting in 5th place in PHRF 1 Class. Meanwhile, Torbensen's J/125 Timeshaver is in 8th place.

In PHRF 2 Class, the J/120s generally predominate over the course of the series. And, this year is no exception. Laun's Caper is leading, with Nichols' CC Rider in 3rd position, and Pennell's J/120 Mad Men is in 10th place. Chasing the top three boats hard is local America's Cup legend Dennis Conner sailing his Nelson Marek 43 Menace.

The PHRF 3 Class probably wishes the J/105 didn't exist, that is how dominating they can be in their class. However, a few missteps here and there don't have them occupying the entire top five of the leaderboard so far. Dagfish's J/105 Viggen is in 2nd; just 2 pts back from the lead. Scheel's J/105 Puffin sits in 5th place, 10 pts off the lead. And, Jan Dekker's J/105 Airboss is in 9th, but only 14 pts off the lead. All three boats have proven they can win not just class, but overall. The final race in the series will have quite an impact on this group.

The one class that has seen J/crews predominate like they never have before is PHRF 4 Class. The only three J/70s racing must be having a three-way match race to see who wins, and who has to pay-up at the bar later! So far, the Gomez-Ibarra duo on Vagazo is leading with a 1-2 for 3 pts. Then, Wyman's Nunuhunu sits in 2nd with a 2-3 tally for 5 pts. And, tied in 3rd place is Dave Vieregg's Soggy Dollar with a 4-5 for 9 pts. Any hiccup in the last race could easily flip-flop the standings amongst the three boats.

Finally, in PHRF 5 Class, the Case's are sailing the J/22 Zo Zo and have sailed fast and smart, posting a 3-6 to hold on to 4th place, only 4 pts off the lead! For more about San Diego YC Hot Rum Series and results click here.