Rolex Big Boat Series- Let the good times roll!

(San Francisco, CA)- More Rolex Big Boats 2014 San Francisco reports!  “Let the good times roll!,” says Erik Simonson of Pressure-drop.us.  “The 50th anniversary of the Big Boat Series will go down as perhaps a turning point where size really doesn't matter, it's the length that counts. Four days of long courses with a nice variety of conditions will be remembered long after the bruises and strains have subsided. Taking a page out of the Key West Race week where the numbers of larger handicap and one-design boats had also declined, the inclusion of high-end sportboat one-designs seems to have provided a needed shot in the arm to the Fall Classic.

Without a feeder race like the Pan-Am Clipper Cup or Kenwood Cup in mid-summer to provide a Pacific Rim contingency for the larger offshore programs, and many other interests like the TP 52 series have moved to the Med, owners have opted to keep their other assets in locations closer to warm water winter retreats and perhaps pick up a less expensive, yet just as exciting sportboat they can compete with, at a much reduced expense an time commitment. "We saw it with the Farr 40's back in the 90’s”, said Bill Colombo, sail maker at Doyle Sails Pacific, who has sailed in countless Big Boat Series in the past. "The 1st move was to the up and coming M32's and then the M24's and now the J/70's that I sailed. Owners seem to be finding just as much fun with these fast sportboats and the competition is very high.”

Bill, who sails as a regular with Frank Slootman on his RP 63 INVISIBLE HAND on offshore campaigns, was tactician with Frank during the series on Frank’s J/70 LITTLE HAND.  "We were a little off on our tactics and boat handling, as we have not practiced together in a while, but at the end of the day, it was great fun,” Frank relates! ” It was a bit of a struggle for us. We had not sailed the boat since last year's BBS, and the conditions didn't help, was rough out there, very windy in the afternoon." On the J/70 class Frank adds, "Great One-Design class, super competitive. Fast down wind. We saw 15-17 kts on a tear. Upwind in chop is painfully slow. OD sailing is a humbling experience!”

And comparing the J-70 to Slootman’s larger offshore ride:  "It is physically much more demanding, there is not a comfortable dry spot on that boat, and it gets tricky downwind in breeze (note- 25-30 kts they saw), broaches etc."  Translated, he loves it! Frank mentions the J-70 Worlds coming to SF in 2016, so expect to see much more of the LITTLE HAND on the Bay.

Another bigger boat sailor that decided late in the game to get on a J-70 was Andy Costello, who had set the bar high with 7 aces in 2011 with his J-125 DOUBLE TROUBLE, which Andy usually reserves for offshore races. This year, Andy has been absent for most of the events we usually see him and DOUBLE TROUBLE attending, due primarily to time constraints and enjoying spending time with his kids while they are still in the formative years. "I had been given the chance to deliver a J-70 prior to the Jazz Cup and took the kids along. When we set the kite and the boat popped out of the water, it was all ear-to-ear grins,” Andy explains. "On the bigger boat, the forces are just too overwhelming, but with the 70, it’s just about perfect. That got me to thinking and when I mentioned it to Jeff at Quantum Sails, he said, I think Mark Howe isn't racing in the BBS.  Anyways we ended up borrowing Mark's boat, and I gave Paul (Cayard), Nick (Cately) and James (Clappier) a call and they were all available, so we made it happen.”

What happened was a decisive win in a 13-boat one-design fleet. With only a few days to get their act together and a new set of sails which Andy plans to use on his own J-70 when that time arrives the foursome got their act together in rapid fashion after a mid pack finish in race 1, to collect a series of aces and deuces to win the regatta with plenty of room to spare. Andy acknowledges Paul's tactical calls and freely shared knowledge to making a difference on the current heavy courses, but also James's boat captaining skills, which included the tuning of the rig on a daily basis and tweaking the boat with the latest class mods and settings and Nick Catley solid trimming and bowman skills, the very same which helped with DT back in 2011.

It all came together quite nicely for Andy, who said regardless of outcome, "It was a hell of a lot of fun, the funnest sailing I have done in a long time!!” The J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE program is slated to return in 2015 with Farallones, Spinnaker Cup and a possible Transpac in the forecast!  Read more of Erik Simonson’s Rolex Big Boat Series article here.