Although Blade Runner has been putting on the pressure, Golden Moon is holding their own in the nine-boat Express 37 division, as we go into the final day and the final race of the 2009 Rolex Big Boat Series, a major production put on by St. Francis YC. After six races, only three points separate the two leaders, so the 1-2 positions are still up for grabs in that division.

Other close races include out-of-town freshman Melges 32 Rougarou, ahead of local sophomore Viva by four points. Philippe Kahn’s Pegasus, another local boat, had technical difficulties yesterday and had to retire from racing. They hoped to be back today for the final race.

Also ahead by four points over Ay Caliente! is Pat Patterson’s Beneteau First 36.7 Summer and Smoke.

The second closest match-up is between Vincitore, driven by Kiwi America’s Cup/Whitbread vet Chris Dickson, and Flash, driven by Jeff Thorpe with Paul Cayard calling tactics. Only one point separates the two boats.

The tightest competition, not surprisingly, is in the J/120 fleet, where Chance and Desdemona are tied with 15 point apiece. These boats tend to round marks in a clump, and finish in a clump.

By contrast, in the clinched-the-regatta-yesterday department, is Bill LeRoy’s beautifully restored Cal 40 Gone With the Wind, with eight points over runner-up Shaman, owned by Steve Waterloo, which won neighboring club Golden Gate YC’s Seaweed Soup Cup in 2008. GWTW will be racing today anyway, carrying one of our cameras onboard, as will a couple of other Cal 40s. We are quite taken with the sixties Lapworth design, and thrilled to see the local boats get a fleet together.

We’ve posted a movie shot on Friday, including footage of racing with commentary from the racers. We’ve also posted a photo gallery. Much more, including full results, can be found at www.big-boat-series.com.