Friday, December 5, 2014

Hot Rum Series #2 Report

J/125 Stark Raving Mad sailing Hot Rum off San DiegoJ/70’s Dominating PHRF 4!
(San Diego, CA)- San Diego's favorite fall racing event- the “Hot Rum Series”- continues in full swing. This fun-loving “free-for-all” generally sees the fleet starting inside of San Diego Harbor, takes them on a “tour” that heads out past the majestic Point Loma, around some buoy set offshore, then “back home to the barn” to again finish inside the channel just off Harbor Island. For those not “in-the-know”, it’s consistently one of the largest PHRF “pursuit-style” races run annually— with the little boats (like 21 footers) starting first and the big boats (e.g. over 70 foot ULDB sleds) starting last; whomever crosses first wins!

In Class 1, Jim Madden’s J/125 STARK RAVING MAD IV leads the J teams with Viggo Torbenson’s J/125 TIMESHAVER next, followed by Tom Barker’s J/145 GOOD CALL.

The top J/120 in Class 2 is Chuck Nichols’ CC RIDER, sitting 3rd overall and is followed by Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY in 5th and Peter Zarcades’ MELTEMI in 9th.

J/70s sailing off San Diego in Hot Rum seriesThe enormous Class 3 is generally the provenance of the large, aggressive J/105 class.  Sitting in 2nd overall and leading the J/105s is Dennis Case’s WINGS, followed by Dag Fish’s VIGGEN in 4th.  Third J team is Herb Zoehrer’s J/35 Z-FORCE.

Perhaps the most remarkable performance so far in the Hot Rum series has to be the J/70s in PHRF Class 4.  As a group they’re placed 3 of the top 6, with Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR leading, with Karl Pomeroy’s ZERO TO 60 in 2nd and Dave Cheresh’s FLARE in sixth.

In PHRF Class 5, several classic J’s are racing, with the top J crew so far being Dave Cattle’s pretty J/27 BLACKADDER, followed by Mark Clements’ J/24 BRIGADOON, Robert Noe’s J/30 MAD HATTER, and Chris Doolittle’s J/22 DELIVERANCE.   For more San Diego Hot Rum Series sailing information