(San Francisco, CA)- With racing set to start this weekend, the 46th annual Rolex Big Boat Series, hosted by California’s St. Francis Yacht Club, is playing host to 97 boats, including 26 IRC entrants. An innovative twist will be the inclusion of an IRC light displacement--read super-fast--sport boat class-- like the notorious J/125s! The balance of the fleet is comprised of one-designs with J's representing two of the larger classes- the J/105 class with 24 entrants followed by J/120s with 8 entrants. Total J's participating, including the two J/125s AUGUST ICE and DOUBLE TROUBLE, means 36 J's of 98 boats entered in this year's RBBS- nearly 40% of the fleet!
For the J/120 class, one of the expected leaders may be Barry Lewis's CHANCE, last year's winner of the Rolex BBS. But, CHANCE will most certainly be challenged by John Wimer's DESDEMONA from Half Moon Bay, California. Last year, the outcome of the last race determined the overall winner of this very competitive class. 2008's winner MISTER MAGOO sailed by Steve Madeira will surely be a contender as will Don Payan's DAYENU that finished third last year. BTW, the J/120's are the J/Calendar's 2010 Rolex BBS September "poster childs" (see http://www.jboats.com/sailing-calendar).Returning to defend their title in the J/105 class will be Chris Perkins' GOOD TIMIN. Also contending for the top spot will be 2009 J/105 North American Champion Bruce Stone sailing ARBITRAGE (2nd in RBBS 2009). Both of these class leaders will be challenged by other podium finishers in past RBBS's, including, Jeff Littfin's and John Case's MOJO, Rolf Kaiser's DONKEY JACK, Scooter Simmons BLACKHAWK, the Spiegel's JAM SESSION and the Laby/Pipkin team on board RACER-X. For more Rolex Big Boat Series sailing information.