Please select your home edition
Edition
North Sails Loft 57 Podcast

J/Teams sweep Aldo Alessio Race and Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta

by J/Boats 27 Aug 2022 15:16 PDT August 19-21, 2022
Aldo Alessio Race and Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta 2022 © St. Francis Yacht Club

The St Francis YC hosted their annual Aldo Alessio Race and Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta this past weekend.

Sailed from August 19th to 21st on the western end of San Francisco Bay between Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge- a.k.a. "the city front course"- the fleet experienced classic Bay weather with fog, intermittent sun, and plenty of breeze on! Two J/classes participated- J/88s and J/105s- plus an ORC handicap division.

Aldo Alessio Race

Sailed on Friday, the eight-boat PHRF fleet was treated to a sweep by J/Teams for the entire top five! Winning was Nesrin Basoz's J/111 SWIFT NESS, followed by Dorian McKelvy's J/111 MADMEN in second, David Halliwill's J/120 PEREGRINE in third, Dave MacEwen's J/90 LUCKY DUCK in fourth, and Zach Berkowitz's J/100 FEATHER in fifth position.

J/105 Class

As has been the case for decades, the twenty-five boat J/105 class most often has very close, tactical racing amongst the top of the leaderboard. However, there are exceptions and this year's regatta was one of them. Blasting out of the starting box on the first day to lead with a 2-1, Ian Charles' MAVERICK never relinquished their lead over the next two days. In fact, they posted an "eye-opening" three 1sts and three 2nds over the six races for a 9 pts total! It may be safe to say that no one has ever seen such a dominating performance over what is arguably the toughest J/105 fleet on the planet!

Behind the runaway winners, it was another story, as one might have expected! Different regattas, different protagonists. In this case, it was Ryan Simmons' BLACKHAWK dueling with Doug Bailey's AKULA for the next step on the podium. Both boats had less than stellar opening sequences to their regatta, BLACKHAWK with a 6-6, AKULA with an 11-2. Thereafter, having dusted off all the rust, the two boats literally traded all podium finishes for the rest of the regatta. In the end, it was Simmon's BLACKHAWK getting the better of the two, posting a 6-6-1-1-3-2 for 19 pts to take the silver. Bailey's AKULA racked up an 11-2-3-3-2-3 for 24 pts to take the bronze. Rounding out the top five was Rolf Kaiser's DONKEY JACK in fourth and John & Mike Rivlin's PEACHES in fifth place.

J/88 Class

Despite the small fleet size, the six-boat J/88 class saw an epic battle breakout for the top of the leaderboard. The three players dueling for class supremacy were Dave Corbin's BUTCHER, Andrea Ciccardi's PELAGIA, and Jim Hopp's WHITE SHADOW. Starting with a promising 1-1, top woman skipper Andrea Ciccardi was hoping to maintain their blistering pace. However, a third-race DSQ destroyed their chances for an easy win. Undeterred, she closed with a 1-3 to finish second with 13.0 pts, just a half-point off first place! Winning was Corbin's BUTCHER, posting a 2-2-2.5-2-4 for 12.5 pts. Hopp's WHITE SHADOW improved every race to compile a 4-4-2.5-3-1 tally for 14.5 pts, good enough for the bronze medal.

ORC Class

The eight-boat ORC Division was treated to a clean sweep by J/Teams! Coincidentally, the J/Mercenaries leading the way were two top J/120s on the Bay. Winning was David Halliwill's PEREGRINE with a 4-5-2-1-1 for 13 pts. Fellow 120 skipper Barry Lewis on CHANCE took the silver one point back with a 3-6-1-2-2 tally for 14 pts. Then, much to the surprise of everyone in the class, Dave MacEwen's J/90 LUCKY DUCK, the smallest and lightest boat in the class, took the bronze with a 2-3-7-6-3 scoreline for 21 pts.

More information here

Related Articles

Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club overal
Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy team claimed a decisive victory French match racing skipper Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy team claimed a decisive victory on Saturday at the 2025 Casa Vela Cup, held in the iconic waters of San Francisco Bay and hosted by the St.Francis Yacht Club. Posted on 1 Jun
Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club Day 3
Pauline Courtois will meet Nicole Breault in the final Defending women's match racing world champion Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite team from France will meet USA's Nicole Breault/ Vela Racing in the final of the 2025 Casa Vela Cup in San Francisco. Posted on 31 May
Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club Day 2
Another flawless day for top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her team Another thrilling day of racing with top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team continuing their unbeaten streak with fifteen straight wins in the qualifying round robin stage, asserting a dominant lead. Posted on 30 May
Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club Day 1
San Francisco turns it on for opening day of Women's Match Racing The opening day of the Casa Vela Cup 2025 hosted by the St Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco kicked off the 2025 Women's World Match Racing Tour in spectacular fashion with ten of the world's top all-female match racing teams Posted on 29 May
StFYC repeats as Women's 2v2 Team Race Champs
Being the captain for competitive adult team sport is often a thankless task Being the captain for competitive adult team sport is often a thankless task involving a lot of emails, texts and phone calls to coordinate a group of busy people with multiple conflicting priorities. Posted on 19 May
Excellent condition at Sailing League Championship
Ethan Doyle and San Francisco Yacht Club Team qualify for finals in Kiel, Germany St. Francis YC hosted the second year of the US Sailing League West Coast Championship, an offshoot of the SAILING Champions League, an international high-level club vs. club fleet racing circuit that's been held in Europe and Australia since 2014. Posted on 6 May
Gorgeous sunny Spring Fest on San Francisco Bay
OIne-design fleets of J/24s, J/88s, and J/105s go racing The battle-hardened, hard-core sailors of San Francisco Bay, accustomed to the worst their Bay can dish out, were pleasantly surprised to contend with a very sybaritic weekend of sunny weather and light to moderate wind conditions! Posted on 21 Apr
2025 US Wingfoil Championship registration open
The National Championship set to take place at St. Francis Yacht Club St. Francis Yacht Club and US Sailing have opened registration for the second annual US Wingfoil Championship, to be held in San Francisco, California, June 20-22, 2025. Posted on 14 Apr
Nicole Breault wins California Dreamin' Series
LBYC's Shane Young wins overall series for invitation to 2026 Ficker Cup Long Beach Yacht Club Commodore Lisa Meier awarded the Barney Flam Perpetual Trophy on Sunday to Nicole Breault from the St. Francis Yacht Club for her first-place finish in LBYC's final stop of the 2025 California Dreamin' Series. Posted on 9 Apr
Registration open for 2025 Rolex Big Boat Series
This legendary regatta rewards the best in West Coast racing The Notice of Race is posted and registration is open for the 61st edition of Rolex Big Boat Series, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club. Posted on 27 Feb
Switch One DesignMaritimo 2023 S600 FOOTERExposure Marine