"Big" Boat Series 2013

[Photoboy]

Big Things Come in Small Packages


The 49th edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series will take center stage on San Francisco Bay as the first sailing event succeeding the 34th America’s Cup, and spectators will once again have front row seats to watch some thrilling racing action. Running from September 26-29, the event is hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club and this year serves as the HPR National Championship, the J/120 North American Championship and the IRC West Coast Championship as well as the Melges 24 Pre-World competition, which immediately precedes the Melges 24 World Championship (hosted by San Francisco Yacht Club, Sept. 30 - Oct 5).

“With 37 Melges 24s already registered plus a strong contingent of High Performance Rule (HPR) boats and a first-ever class for the J/70, this year’s Rolex Big Boat Series is shaping up to be the sport boat regatta of the year,” said St. Francis Yacht Club Commodore Jim Cascino, who has owned and raced a J/120 at prior Rolex Big Boat Series events but will skipper his new J/70 EOS this time. “You could say that much of the ‘big’ in Big Boat Series for 2013 is about big fun and big speed coming in small (boat) packages.”

Regatta Chair Norman Davant reflected that in sailboat racing as a whole there has been a migration from one-off designs in the 50-60 foot range to smaller one-design boats and light displacement production boats. For almost five decades, the Rolex Big Boat Series has embraced new developments in the sport while continually working to expand the diversity of its fleets. Last year, for example, the event added Performance Multihulls to its mix of IRC, HPR and One-Design racing.

“There is still plenty of ‘big’ in the Rolex Big Boat Series, even though several smaller classes have been invited this year,” said Davant, explaining that the minimum boat length at the Rolex Big Boat Series traditionally has been 30 feet, but with the America’s Cup racing filling up the bay with so much activity in August and September, lots of sailors with smaller boats have been feeling “squeezed out.” “There’s only so much racing runway out there,” said Davant, “and we felt it was the right time to allow these fleets to join our event and do what they love: race in San Francisco. We’ve developed new courses based on computer-generated models to provide the sport boat fleets challenging racing that will also give spectators fantastic viewing.”

A dedicated spectator-friendly race track has been set up for the J/70s and Melges 24s. “It will be fast, exciting, racing along essentially the same track as the America’s Cup race courses, with the starts and finishes in front of the club and major viewing areas,” said Davant, adding that the regatta’s two other popular courses have undergone a complete overhaul, featuring a mark just outside the Golden Gate Bridge and another starting area off of Alcatraz Island.

Recognized as one of the premier West Coast regattas, the Rolex Big Boat attracts professional and corinthian sailors from around the world. With 75 boats currently registered, over 100 boats are expected to compete in the 2013 event. The four-day regatta includes daily prize givings for all classes, and six coveted awards--accompanied by Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepieces for skippers--are given for best performances in specific classes. The trophies, which remain on display at St. Francis Yacht Club, are: the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, City of San Francisco Trophy, Richard Rheem Perpetual Trophy, Keefe-Kilborn Perpetual Trophy, Atlantic Perpetual and Commodore’s Cup.

For the NOR and more information, go to www.rolexbigboatseries.com. Find us on facebook at St. Francis Yacht Club – Racing, and follow @bigboatseries. Regatta registration and competitor details can be found HERE!

[El Capitan]

bump

[Tonapah Low]

Looks like they are dismantling the bleachers west of the YC.

[familysailor]

That was yesterday. They're working on the private bar/restaurant enclosed things to the east of St. Francis this afternoon.
oh, yea.... Oracle won both races today.

[Photoboy]

The latest and greatest from poeple in the know at the StFYC..IF for some reason the America's Cup is NOT decided
on Wednesday, and they need the City Front to complete the America Cup, The StFYC will postpone the start of the BBS until
after racing is complete on Thursday, then run 1 race. This will allow BBS competitors the chance to watch the final final then race.

Earlier in the week, the YC had been informed no rafting up on non StFYC docks by the harbormaster, which would have pinched the already
beleaguered club to find how else to host the boats. That issue has been since resolved and there will be space o'plenty for all competitors at the
marina. Parking...That a horse of a different feather...The stands have all been removed from the west lot, and crews were working hard to get the
other temp buildings and stands from the east lot...

[Donut Town]

Most important part of the docking plan is the city docks area utilization. Full berthing plan.

Registration proceeds as normal tomorrow. Boats will have full access to the basin. Somehow I think the registration desk will be busy about noon so folks can come inside and watch the racing from the club and on the army of TVs.

The west lot will be open. Overflow parking at: Crissy Field, Mason St. parking lot which is just west of the Presidio sheds on Mason across from Crissy, and at the Palace of Fine Arts.

[Donut Town]

Here's who's racin'
Division splits will be up tomorrow. There will be four IRC divisions. IRC-B will the HPR folks.

[Wet Spreaders]

Woo-hoo!!!! Racing, racing, racing.......

[ursus]

Flashback to 2012
Enjoy
http://youtu.be/bFniyWrw0i4

SIG 45
http://youtu.be/bFniyWrw0i4

[Photoboy]

BBS 2013 Day1: Hurry Up And Wait



Absolutely stellar conditions with warm breeze, unlimited visibility and nice breezes.

The only caveat was the delivery of the westerly, which was slower than a reluctant prom date, not filling in until the 2:00 hour. But when it did it came in with a fervor giving teams who patiently waited out the stubborn northerly, and postponed post race cocktails till near kick off time!

The four-day Rolex Big Boat Series kicked off with two races today in light to moderate breezes and a strong flood tide that kept 107 sailing teams in 10 classes working hard to outwit each other. The annual regatta, in its 49th running, has long been the benchmark for spectator-friendly racing on San Francisco Bay, and today there was plenty of action to catch on courses emanating from four strategically placed starting areas, including one directly in front of the St. Francis Yacht Club’s observation deck, which takes in grand views of the Golden Gate Bridge just to its west and Alcatraz Island to its east. In addition, the race deck serves as one end of the finish line for all classes in their final race of each day, making for downwind conclusions that are colorful and oftentimes dramatic in the Bay’s typically breezy conditions.

The two largest monohulls here—Isao Mita’s (Kanagawa, Japan) TP 52 Beecom and Jim Swartz’s (Park City, Utah) TP52 Vesper, a defending champion here—battled one-on-one today in IRC A. Vesper gave Beecom a caning in race one, handicapping out with more than a six-minute lead after nearly two hours of racing, and then another victory played out for Vesper in race two.

In the six-boat IRC D class, for the smallest of the IRC entrants, the margins on finishes were much narrower, especially for David Halliwill’s (New York, N.Y.) J/120 Peregrine, which finished 2-1 to Tad Lacey’s (Belvedere, Calif.) 1-2 aboard the A35 Mirthmaker.

Lacey, who calls this “one of the greatest regattas” is Commodore of the San Francisco Yacht Club and has the second longest record (38 years) racing in this event. “The breeze filled in quite quickly today, but I think lighter winds are expected this weekend,” said Lacey, explaining that light winds caused short postponements this morning but built in horsepower to reach mostly high teens by late afternoon.

In IRC B, Sy Kleinman’s (Saratoga, Calif.) Schumacher 54 Swiftsure put two bullets on the scoreboard, making his early play for West Coast IRC champion, which will be determined at the end of this event.

Other teams to win their first two races of an anticipated seven-race series were Randy Miller’s (Orinda, Calif.) Marstrom 32 Gradient Vee in the High Performance Catamaran Division and Daniel Thielman’s (Tiburon, Calif.) RP 44 Tai Kuai in HPR, which is contesting its North American Championship here.

“We’ve been at this for seven years but with different boats, and today was our first day that we got some actual victories on the course,” said Thielman. “We saw 20 knots (of wind) on this boat, and that means a lot of speed. We were hitting 16/17 knots going downwind, so San Francisco is great for the big wind and the fast boats. As the wind lightens up this weekend our competition is going to get a lot closer, so we really needed to maximize what we did today in the big breeze. “

On the HPR, which is a relatively new handicapping system, Thielman added, “I think this is where it’s growing right now. I think the 40 foot range is going to be really hot for sailboats, and instead of rules that favor slower boats, people want things that get them around the course with real speed and excitement.”

One-design classes for Melges 24, Express 37, J/120, J/105 and J/70 (which sailed three races today) are also sailing. The J/120s are sailing their North American Championship, and the Melges 24s are sailing their Pre-Worlds.

New this year are first-place trophies for daily races and Boat of the Day awards. (The J/70 Little Hand, owned by Frank Slootman of Pleasanton, Calif. won the latter award today.) Six St. Francis Yacht Club Perpetual Trophies, which are coupled with the awarding of Rolex timepieces, have been designated to go this year to IRC A (St. Francis Perpetual Trophy), IRC D (City of San Francisco Trophy), HPR (Richard Rheem Perpetual Trophy ), J/120 (Keefe-Kilborn Perpetual Trophy ), J/105 (Atlantic Perpetual), and Melges 24 (Commodore’s Cup).

2013 Rolex Big Boat Series
Place, Yacht Name, Type, Owner/Skipper, Hometown, Results, Total Points

HPR (HPR - 8 Boats)
1. Tai Kuai, RP 44, Daniel Thielman, Tiburon, Calif., USA - 1, 1 (2)
2. Whiplash, McConaghy 38, Donald Payan, Hillsborough, Calif., USA - 3, 2 (5)
3. Rock & Roll, Farr 400, Bernard Girod, Santa Barbara, Calif., USA - 2, 4 (6)

IRC A (IRC - 2 Boats)
1. Vesper, TP 52, Jim Swartz, Park City, Utah, USA - 1, 1 (2)
2. Beecom, TP 52, Isao Mita, Yokohama, Kanagawa, JPN - 2, 2 (4)

IRC B (IRC - 5 Boats)
1. Swiftsure, Schumacher 54, Sy Kleinman , Saratoga, Calif., USA - 1, 1 (2)
2. Twisted, Farr 40, M. Tony Pohl, Alamo, Calif., USA - 2, 2 (4)
3. BustinLoose, Sydney 38, Jeff Pulford , Salinas, Calif., USA - 3, 4 (7)

IRC D (IRC - 6 Boats)

1. Peregrine, J 120 40, David Halliwill, New York, N.Y., USA - 2, 1 (3)
2. Mirthmaker, A 35, Tad Lacey , Belvedere, Calif., USA - 1, 2 (3)
3. Tupelo Honey, Elan 40, Gerard Sheridan , San Francisco, Calif., USA - 4, 3 (7)

J 70 (One Design - 7 Boats)
1. Eos, J 70, Jim Cascino , Lafayette, Calif., USA - 2, 1, 1 (4)
2. Little Hand, J 70, Frank Slootman , Pleasanton, Calif., USA - 1, 2, 2 (5)
3. Red, J 70, Mark Howe / Cameron , Richmond, CA, USA - 5, 3, 3 (11)

J 105 (One Design - 22 Boats)
1. Blackhawk, J 105, Scooter Simmons , Belvedere, CA, USA - 1, 2 (3)
2. Mojo, J 105, Jeff Littfin , San Mateo, Calif., USA - 2, 3 (5)
3. Risk, J 105, Jason Woodley / Scott Whitney , Greenbrae, Calif., USA - 6, 1 (7)

J 120 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Chance, J 120, Barry Lewis , Atherton, Calif., USA - 1, 2 (3)
2. Desdemona, J 120, John Wimer, Half Moon Bay, Calif., USA - 3, 1 (4)
3. Grace Dances, J 120, Dick Swanson , Los Altos Hills, Calif., USA - 2, 4 (6)

Melges 24 (One Design - 38 Boats)
1. Blu Moon, Melges 24 24, Franco Rossini , Rovio, Svizzera, SUI - 4, 1 (5)
2. FULL THROTTLE, Melges 24 20, Brian Porter , Fontana, WI, USA - 3, 2 (5)
3. Rock N' Roll, Melges 24 24, Argyle Campbell , Newport Beach, CA, USA - 2, 4 (6)

Express 37 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Golden Moon, Express 37, Kame Richards , Alameda, CA, USA - 2, 1 (3)
2. Expeditious, Express 37, Bartz Schneider , Crystal Bay, NV, USA - 1, 2 (3)
3. Elan, Express 37, Jack Peurach, San Francisco, CA, USA - 4, 3 (7)

Multihull (ToT - 7 Boats)
1. Gradient Vee, Marstrom M32, Randy Miller, Orinda, Calif., USA - 1, 1 (2)
2. BridgeRunner, SL33, Urs Rothacher , Oakland, Calif., USA - 2, 3 (5)
3. Orion, MOD 70, Tom Siebel , Redwood city, Calif., USA - 6, 2 (8)


Results

[Photoboy]

Video from Day 1

[Ballard Sailor]

Well, I hoped to see Ian Foiling, but instead I saw Kevin Welch on Mikey hit the offset mark!

[Photoboy]

A Well-Played Day

A one-hour postponement ashore, followed by another hour of waiting on San Francisco Bay, neither dashed spirits nor inhibited competition at the four-day Rolex Big Boat Series, which started yesterday for 107 sailors in ten classes. In fact, just as it did yesterday, the wind faithfully filled in as a westerly—light at first but packing the same punch, at 18-20 knots, by the end of the day—to overpower the morning easterly and accommodate two races each in the four handicap classes (HPR, IRC A, B and D), a performance multihull class, and four one-design classes (J/105, J/120, Melges 24 and Express 37). In a fifth one-design class for J/70s, a second set of three races was added to three races from yesterday and began to tell a story of “consistency pays off.”

“You’ve got to be in the right place with full speed and clear air,” said St. Francis Yacht Club Commodore Jim Cascino, who skippers the J/70 Eos, currently leading in that class. “If you do that, as we were fortunate enough to do over these two days, it makes a big difference.”

Sailing on Cascino’s four-person crew was Stu Johnstone, whose family developed the J/Boat line of boats (there are 40 total sailing here, the majority in one-design classes and the others in HPR and IRC) and this latest class, which has become wildly popular in the short year and a half since its launching. His description of the Eos team’s “little scare” in today’s second race, when the team rounded a mark the wrong way, captured the excitement and variety built into the design of multiple race courses used here.

“We started in front of Alcatraz Island and beat all the way up to the Sausalito side of the Bay towards the Golden Gate, and then took off on a screaming plane, reaching, then running all the way down to Treasure Island,” said Johnstone, explaining an approximately eight-mile race that took about an hour and a half to complete. “That was where we rounded the mark first and saw the entire fleet round the other way on starboard, so we went around and corrected ourselves. We were last at the bottom mark.”

The Eos team fought back to second by playing the famous “current cone” alongside Alcatraz and then screaming along the waterfront off of Crissy Field to catch boats. “We hung in there, and then we had this crazy jibing back and forth to the finish (off the race deck at St. Francis Yacht Club).”

As they have for over 20 years, J/105 class sailors have shown up en masse for the Rolex Big Boat Series, fielding 22 teams. Skippers and crew members were discussing light-air strategies on the dock this morning, but were hopeful the breeze would pick up, as it did.

“These boats are built for heavy breeze,” said Scott Whitney, a co-owner of Risk (currently in third) with Jason Woodley, who says there are 65 J/105s that regularly sail in the San Francisco Bay area. “In light air we have to shift gears, but basically we’re all in the same boat…literally.”

Today’s conditions benefitted Phillip Laby’s J/105 Godot, which finished second in both races to replace yesterday’s leader, Scooter Simmons’s Blackhawk, at the top of the scoreboard.

“Yesterday we were in fifth at the end of the day,” said Godot. “We went into today not wanting to make too many mistakes, make sure we had a game plan, and follow it the whole way through. We managed to get good starts and just stay in the game, and it turns out we made some good decisions.”

Godot added that last year, his team was in an almost identical position on the second day, and on the last day, they had to beat several boats to win. In the end, they lost a tiebreaker for first. “This year we’re back to avenge,” he said.

The only class larger in numbers than the J/105 is the Melges 24, which is sailing its Pre-Worlds and, as would be expected, sports a truly international fleet, with 13 countries represented among the 38 entrants. In that class, Franco Rossini’s Italian entry Blu Moon has a tight grip on the lead.

In the Performance Multihull class, Urs Rothacher’s SL33 BridgeRunner holds a one point lead over Jerome Ternynck’s Extreme 40 SmartRecruiters. The class has plenty of talent sailing within, including 24-year-old Kyle Langford, wing trimmer on the winning America’s Cup (Oracle) team last week, sailing aboard Peter Stoneberg’s ProSail 40 Shadow (currently fifth), and four-time Olympian and Olympic silver medalist in Tornado class (2004) Charlie Ogeltree, sailing aboard Tom Siebel’s MOD 70 Orion (currently third).

Peter Krueger’s J/125 Double Trouble, which has “three-peated” here as a class victor in the past, posted two bullets today in HPR, jumping from fourth to second place overall and tying on point score with yesterday’s leading team, Daniel Thielman’s Tai Kuai, which remains at the top of the leaderboard due to tie-breaker rules. This morning, Donald Payan, skipper of the McConaghy 38 Whiplash, which slipped a notch to third today, described Tai Kuai as the “scratch (fastest-rated) boat, which, in a nice breeze and a flood tide, can put the hammer down and go.” Yesterday he recalled beating Double Trouble by only 10 seconds. “That’s basically one tack – they are terrific sailors.”

Double Trouble was today named Boat of the Day, a new daily award instated this year. Six St. Francis Yacht Club Perpetual Trophies, which are coupled with the awarding of Rolex timepieces, have been designated to go this year to IRC A (St. Francis Perpetual Trophy), IRC B (City of San Francisco Trophy), HPR (Richard Rheem Perpetual Trophy ), J/120 (Keefe-Kilborn Perpetual Trophy ), J/105 (Atlantic Perpetual), and Melges 24 (Commodore’s Cup).

Sailed since 1964, the St. Francis Yacht Club Big Boat Series added Rolex Watch U.S.A. as a title sponsor in 2005. Six specially engraved Rolex timepieces are traditionally awarded to winners of the St. Francis Yacht Club’s Perpetual Trophies: the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy; the City of San Francisco Trophy; the Richard Rheem Trophy; the Keefe-Kilborn Memorial Trophy; the Atlantic Trophy; and the Commodore’s Cup.

For the NOR and more information, go to www.rolexbigboatseries.com. Find us on facebook at St. Francis Yacht Club – Racing, and follow @bigboatseries. Competitor details and results can be found at http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=839.


2013 Rolex Big Boat Series
Place, Yacht Name, Type, Owner/Skipper, Hometown, Results, Total Points

HPR (HPR - 8 Boats)
1. Tai Kuai, RP 44, Daniel Thielman , Tiburon, CA, USA - 1, 1, 5, 2, ; 9
2. Double Trouble, J 125, Peter Krueger , Reno, NV, USA - 4, 3, 1, 1, ; 9
3. Whiplash, McConaghy 38, Donald Payan , Hillsborough, CA, USA - 3, 2, 2, 7, ; 14

IRC A (IRC - 2 Boats)
1. Vesper, TP 52, Jim Swartz , Park City, UT, USA - 1, 1, 1, 1, ; 4
2. Beecom, TP 52, Isao Mita , Yokohama, Kanagawa, JPN - 2, 2, 2, 2, ; 8

IRC B (IRC - 5 Boats)
1. Swiftsure, Schumacher 54, Sy Kleinman , Saratoga, CA, USA - 1, 1, 1, 1, ; 4
2. Twisted, Farr 40, M. Tony Pohl , Alamo, CA, USA - 2, 2, 3, 3, ; 10
3. BustinLoose, Sydney 38, Jeff Pulford , Salinas, CA, USA - 3, 4, 2, 2, ; 11

IRC D (IRC - 6 Boats)
1. Mirthmaker, A 35, Tad Lacey , Belvedere, CA, USA - 1, 2, 1, 3, ; 7
2. Tupelo Honey, Elan 40, Gerard Sheridan , San Francisco, CA, USA - 4, 3, 3, 2, ; 12
3. Peregrine, J 120, David Halliwill , New York, NY, USA - 2, 1, 6, 4, ; 13

J 70 (One Design - 7 Boats)
1. Eos, J 70, Jim Cascino , Lafayette, CA, USA - 2, 1, 1, 2, ; 6
2. Little Hand, J 70, frank slootman , Pleasanton, CA, USA - 1, 2, 5, 3, ; 11
3. The Perfect Wife, J 70, Chris Andersen/ Tom Gilmore , Pt. Richmond, CA, USA - 4, 5, 4, 1, ; 14

J 105 (One Design - 22 Boats)
1. Godot, J 105, Phillip Laby , Oakland, CA, USA - 4, 7, 2, 2, ; 15
2. Blackhawk, J 105, Scooter Simmons , Belvedere, CA, USA - 1, 2, 1, 13, ; 17
3. Risk, J 105, Jason Woodley / Scott Whitney , Greenbrae, CA, USA - 6, 1, 8, 4, ; 19

J 120 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Chance, J 120, Barry Lewis , Atherton, CA, USA - 1, 2, 1, 2, ; 6
2. Desdemona, J 120, John Wimer , Half Moon Bay, CA, USA - 3, 1, 2, 4, ; 10
3. Mister Magoo, J 120, Stephen Madeira , Menlo Park, CA, USA - 4, 3, 4, 1, ; 12

Melges 24 (One Design - 38 Boats)
1. Blu Moon, Melges 24, Franco Rossini , Rovio, Svizzera, SUI - 4, 1, 1, 2, ; 8
2. Rosebud, Melges 24, Scott Holmgren , Edmond, OK, USA - 6, 5, 8, 1, ; 20
3. Rock N' Roll, Melges 24, Argyle Campbell , Newport Beach, CA, USA - 2, 4, 3, 13, ; 22

Express 37 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Golden Moon, Express 37, Kame Richards , Alameda, CA, USA - 2, 1, 4, 1, ; 8
2. Elan, Express 37, Jack Peurach , San Francisco, CA, USA - 4, 3, 1, 2, ; 10
3. Expeditious, Express 37, Bartz Schneider , Crystal Bay, NV, USA - 1, 4/SCP, 2, 3, ; 10

Multihull (ToT - 7 Boats)
1. BridgeRunner, SL33, Urs Rothacher , Oakland, CA, USA - 1, 2, 2, 3, ; 8
2. SmartRecruiters, Extreme 40, Jerome Ternynck , San Francisco, CA, USA - 3, 3, 1, 2, ; 9
3. Orion, MOD 70, Tom Siebel , Redwood city, CA, USA - 5, 1, 4, 1, ; 11

[Photoboy]

The Marstrom 32 California Debut




Peter Stoneberg seeking a close up




Bigger isn't always better!




Except with Trimarans




Frank Slootman's Little Hand




Bandit, right place, right time




Just a fraction of boats due for Worlds




J-70's Alcatraz start




Hey! Thats not Philippe!




Gorgeous afternoon...

[IOR Geezer]

September, early October, wonderful sailing on SF Bay.

Nice work!