The sun never rose on this year’s Aldo Alessio race at the St. Francis Yacht Club - well, the fog never cleared as the forty boats in three divisions raced around the Cityfront course on Saturday. The Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta is a long weekend series consisting of an ocean race on Friday and Bay racing Saturday and Sunday.

This year’s fleet featured one designs J/105s and J/120s plus one IRC division with a variety of newer fast (TP52 Braveheart) and older fast (Peterson 46 IOR Aleta) boats in the mix. One of the new fast boats in IRC is Dan Woolery’s King 40 Soozal. She had a good battle for first place, as only one point separated the winning boat from Scorpio, a Wylie 42 from the ‘90s. But controversy is a-brewin' on the IRC front with Soozal opting for a powered winch system. It seems that IRC doesn't penalize powered systems very hard and even in a forty-footer the advantage of quicker tacks makes up for the rating hit. Is pushing a button to trim the sails while beating up the Cityfront on a flood the future? Getting in front by working hard is so yesterday...

Over in one design racing, the J/120s sliced through the Bay in tight formation, dodging ferries and fishing boats, with winner Mr. Magoo ahead of Grace Dances by three points.

The always entertaining J/105s were spread out, with the eventual podium finishers Racer X, Jam Session and Blackhawk in a tight group separated by four points.

Most of the fun could be seen right there at Crissy Field or Fort Mason, and a lot of tourists were enjoying the show - San Francisco racing at its best.

For results, see www.stfyc.com.