September 11, 2014

We would call it the "50th Annual Rolex Big Boat Series" if that were accurate, but it's not. With a start date only two days after 9/11, the 2001 Big Boat Series was cancelled. With that somber exception, the St. Francis Yacht Club Big Boat Series (Rolex has been the title sponsor since 2005), has been a highlight of the San Francisco racing scene since 1964, when Jim Wilhite’s Sparkman & Stephens 63-ft yawl Athene claimed the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy after a narrow victory over Jim Kilroy’s Kialoa II.

Total entries in this year's regatta now stand at 99. The J/70s, which first raced in the series last year, are back, with 13 entries. The first ever J/70 Worlds are going on this week in Newport, RI; all the boats racing here are from California. One San Francisco-based boat, Jim Cunningham's Lifted, is sailing at the NYYC-hosted championship back east.

The Farr 40 class is making a comeback in preparation for their Worlds, with 15 entries, including six Corinthian (amateur) teams. The Farr 40s will stay on the Circle Course for an attempted eight-race round-the-buoy series that serves as a dry run for next month’s Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, which will be hosted by StFYC on October 15-18. Everyone else is scheduled for seven races, including two races each on Thursday-Saturday, and Sunday's single Bay Tour.

The Express 27 fleet was invited this year, for the first time. StFYC member and volunteer Peggy Lidster also happens to be the class president of the Express 27 fleet. "A week ago, the class only had five entries, so I pulled the plug," said Peggy. StFYC originally required 15 sign-ups; Peggy negotiated that down to 12. So why did the division fail to fill up? Their Nationals were only three weeks ago, many Express 27 sailors also have a regular ride on an RBBS boat, and some Express 27 owners also have other boats that they race in RBBS. "We'd like to be invited next year," said Peggy.

The other one design classes consist of nineteen J/105s, seven J/111s, seven J/120s, nine Melges 24s, and seven Express 37s. The latter class have traditionally held their Nationals at this regatta, but this year they've split off that championship to September 26-28 at Berkeley YC.

The Farr 400 Rock & Roll and Farr 36 Racer X are racing in HPR.
©2014 norcalsailing.com

All the rest will race in three handicap divisions: HPR (High Performance Rule), ORR (Offshore Racing Rule), and, for the five fast multihulls, BAMA. ORR replaces IRC, which has been used for about the last 10 years. “The light displacement boats are having a great time with HPR," said regatta co-chair Norman Davant, "and we thought it was time to try something new for the other boats.” The idea behind ORR is to predict relative time allowances between boats to permit boats of different sizes, types and ages to compete with the fairest ratings possible.

Dan Thielman's R/P 44 Tai Kuai comes up the Cityfront on the first beat of the regatta. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

KCBS forecast 82 degrees for San Francisco today; given the fog pouring in the Gate, obscuring the bridge, and cascading through the gaps in Sausalito's Wolfback Ridge this morning, one might find that prediction hard to trust. However, the fog lifted before the first gun, and a nice westerly is fluttering the flags at the club. At 11:00, the Circle course was postponed with 5-7 knot wind, the Ft. Mason course was starting on time with 8.3 knots, and the Alcatraz course was also on time with 10-12 knots. The Circle course started Race 1 late then had to abandon all fleets due to lack of wind.

See www.rolexbigboatseries.com and follow our mini-updates on Twitter.