(San Francisco, CA)- No doubt this year’s 50th Rolex Big Boat Series
will be a time for celebration and reflection. A fixture of the West
Coast offshore and one-design racing circuit for a long enough period of
time that 2-3 generations of sailors will be enjoying the festivities
shoreside as well as the amazing sailing on San Francisco Bay. The “Big
Boat” series has evolved with the times, going from the days of IOR
Maxi’s (think KIALOA, BLACKFIN & ONDINE) to masses of J/70s, J/105s,
J/111s and J/120s criss-crossing the straits in front of Alcatraz
Island. With over 100 boats participating in this year’s event, the fact that 43 are J/Teams is no coincidence (over 43% of the fleet!). The combination of fast offshore racer-cruisers and strong one-design fleet participation developing over the past decade has meant that many more sailors with a broad spectrum of talents and interests are participating in Bay sailing— most of them on J/Boats!
In
recent years, the stalwarts of big boat one-design offshore sailing in
San Francisco have been the J/105 and J/120 fleets. Renowned for having
close-quarters racing at every single turn on the race course, both
fleets have seen the top teams all exchange class leadership (and
winning Rolex Submariner watches!). The J/120s will have Steve
Madeira’s MISTER MAGOO, Barry Lewis’ CHANCE and Timo Bruck’s TWIST
holding up the “legends” torch for this year’s competition. However, up
against them will be several new teams challenging the old guard,
including Yasuhide Kobayashi’s JULIAN crew from Tokyo, Japan, Tom
Grennan’s KOOKABURRA team from San Francisco, Dave Halliwill’s PEREGRINE
from New York, and Ludovic Milin’s SAETTA from Redwood City. The J/105s have the largest single fleet in the event with 18 boats (bigger even than the Farr 40 Worlds!). Notably, all past J/105 winners are participating, amongst them are Bruce Stone (ARBITRAGE), Scooter Simmons (BLACKHAWK), Shannon Ryan/ Rolf Kaiser/ Ken Turnbull (DONKEY JACK), Phil Laby (GODOT), Adam Spiegel (JAM SESSION), and Jeff Littfin (MOJO).
Last
weekend, the J/111 class had a shoot-out in St Francis YC’s Aldo
Allessio Regatta. While it could be said the winner of that regatta,
Roland Vandermeer’s BIG BLAST!, could be the favorite for the RBBS,
there’s no question there are many pretenders to the throne in this 8
boat class. Which team will rise to the top this coming weekend, Gorkem
Ozcelebi’s DOUBLE DIGIT, Dorian McKelvy’s MADMEN, Nesrin Basoz’s SWIFT
NESS, Mike Stimson’s BLAST I, Dick Swanson’s BAD DOG or Rob Theis’
AEOLUS? Time will tell in this fleet.The J/70s on the Pacific Coast have had a great summer of sailing. And, many are looking forward to topping off that season off with a 15-18 kts starboard tack blast reach from Sausalito Bay to the Treasure Island green bell on the final Sunday classic- the “Bay Tour”, ducking Alcatraz Island along the way. If there was ever a more memorable leg of sailing, that would have to rank amongst the best ever for most J/70 crews in last year’s J/70 fleet debut in the “Big Boat Series”!! Not forgetting that epic sailing occasion are Frank Slootman’s LITTLE HAND (winner of that particular race), Chris Kostanecki’s JENNIFER, Pete Cameron’s PRIME NUMBER and Tom Jenkins/ Eric Kownacki’s DFZ. Joining them for more fun in the sun and flying around in 15-25 kts breezes will be Geoff McDonald’s 1FA, John Brigden’s COOL STORY BRO, Justin Kromelow’s LOOSE LUCY, Chris Andersen’s PERFECT WIFE, Tom Thayer’s RAMPAGE, Kermit Schickel & Patrick Carroll’s THE ONCLER and Dave Brumlik’s WHIPPET!
In the offshore side of things, fresh off crushing the Pacific Cup, Greg Slyngstad’s outrageously fast (and smart) Seattle, Washington crew on the J/125 HAMACHI will be back at it hoping to establish further primal supremacy amongst other handicap boats in the IRC/ ORR/ HPR world. Sailing photo credits- Rolex/ Daniel Forster. For more Rolex Big Boat Series sailing information
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