If Friday was windy in this year’s Rolex Big Boat Series, Sunday more than balanced the scales. The race committee tried to start IRC-A on time in light air, but then recalled them as the wind shifted 40 degrees. Finally, around noon, IRC-A got going again. They made it up the windward mark, set their spinnakers and were all headed back by 1245, only to have the wind die and their race abandoned. No one else had started yet. Eventually, the Cityfront RC gave up entirely, which meant no Race 7 for the IRC divisions, J/120s, and 1D35s.

The North Course fared slightly better. The Melges 32 fleet went off first and were the only division to sail the complete course. The RC took pity on the rest and shortened their course.

While we waited to see if there would be any racing at all, observers back at St. Francis YC speculated as to what it would mean to each class if no race was held. As it turned out, Saturday’s standings were cast in stone (etched in glass) for the IRC divisions, the J/120s and the 1D35s. If they hadn’t been able to race, Golden Moon would have clinched the Express 37 fleet. They went into Sunday a mere three points ahead of Blade Runner. In Race 7, Expeditious won, Blade Runner got second, and Golden Moon third, so GM held onto the top spot.

An Express 37 crewmember sums up the series: “After Thursday's two bullets, the nine-boat fleet was loaded up to get Kame Richards and Golden Moon. Thereafter he had horrendous starts and had to work his way back through a fleet that delighted in making him a camping ground. 

Blade Runner was the faster boat this series. They notched up three firsts and two seconds, but having to eat a fifth and a sixth in the first two races  held them back.

“Consistency (worst finish was a third), cautious tactics, flawless crew work and really good boat speed gave Kame and co-owner Bill Bridge a two-point edge in the series. Bullet took a third.”

In the J/105 division, nothing short of disaster would have cost Good Timin’ the win; the battle was really for second place. Arbitrage and Aquavit were tied, with Arbitrage winning the tie-breaker. If they didn’t race on Sunday, those would have been the 1-2-3 positions. But the 105s did race, and Aquavit and Streaker bumped into each other at the start. They both did penalty turns, and Aquavit wound up surprisingly far back in the 25-boat pack, finishing the shortened course in 22nd place and netting a fifth for the series (there are no throw-outs). Mojo sailed really well in the final race, finishing it second after Arbitrage, thus taking over the #3 spot at the podium.

In the Melges 32 fleet, Rougarou had done a few horizon jobs on the rest of the five-boat fleet. On Sunday, they did a horizon job - at the opposite end of the horizon. Pegasus won that race, recovering from their troubles on Saturday, but Rougarou still won the series.

As we mentioned yesterday, Gone with the Wind had already clinched the Cal 40 division. But a Cal 40 is made to go sailing, not to sit at the dock basking in glory. So GWTW raced on Sunday, owner Bill LeRoy gave everyone a turn at the tiller - and they won again!

A short movie about the Cal 40 fleet has been posted. We also posted a movie shot on Friday, and a photo gallery. Complete results - and the complete cast of characters - can be found at www.big-boat-series.com.

TracTrac put little trackers on all the IRC boats. Weighing just 100 grams, they are about the size of a small cell phone and use GSM cell phone technology to transmit. Back at the club, diners in the Grill Room could watch the action on a big screen. You can replay the races as recorded by TracTrac at www.tractrac.com/?page=2009BigBoatSeries.