J/120 Smokes Class, J/105s Battle!
(Richmond, CA)- The Big Daddy 2019 Regatta marks the 34th year of mark racing on Saturday and a Pursuit race on Sunday hosted by Richmond YC. All mono-hulled keelboats with a Northern California PHRF rating of 280 and below were invited. Fleets over 5 boats may be given one-design starts on Saturday. The Sunday Pursuit Race is always a scream. Then, après’ racing is perhaps the most popular part of the regatta; a great dinner and party with live band on Saturday night and breakfast for all on Sunday morning!
The sailing on San Francisco Bay in the late winter/ early spring is often not something to write home about. It can be light, foggy, drifty, cloudy, ugly, rainy. Or, it can be simply a spectacular 10-15 kts sunny day at 70 degrees! Such is the rights of spring-time weather on the infamous Bay, where “summer” in July can be 52 deg on the water blowing 30 kts (e.g. windchill way, way lower than light air cool days in the spring!).
Enduring the challenging scenarios were a flock of J/crews ranging from J/24s up to J/111s. In the PHRF B “big boat” class, it was David Halliwill’s J/120 PEREGRINE from San Francisco YC that took class honors with straight bullets. Second was last year’s class winner, Nesrin Basoz’s J/111 SWIFT NESS from Richmond YC that took three deuces to secure the silver.
In the J/105 one-design class, Chris Kim’s VUJA STAR from Richmond YC swept the series with straight bullets. Taking second with all deuces was Eric Patterson’s KESTREL from San Francisco YC and taking the bronze was Dick Maclay’s YELLOWFIN from Berkeley YC.
George Sirogiannis’ J/35 MOJO from Richmond YC sailed consistently to take 5th place in PHRF C Class.
Then, in PHRF E Class, the J/70s were doing battle with other sportboats, with the J/70s ultimately ruling the roost. Winning was Mark Thomas’ J/70 KANGAROO JOCKY from Richmond YC with a 1-2-2 for 5 pts, with Tom Thayer’s J/70 RAMPAGE from Richmond YC posting a 7-1-1 for 9 pts to grab the bronze.
Finally, a classic J/24 won PHRF F Class! That honor went to Richard Stockdale’s FROG LIPS taking the gold with a 1-2-1 for 4 pts. Sailing photo credit- Rolex/ Kurt Arrigo. For more Big Daddy Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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