(San Francisco, CA)- The 49th edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series
sailed from the 26th to 29th, September, was yet another great event for
the history books. The RBBS took center stage on San Francisco Bay
immediately after the thrilling finale of the 34th America's Cup when
Team Oracle (expat- Kiwi version) made their unprecedented comeback to
win the Cup over Emirates Team New Zealand (real Kiwi version) against
unprecedented odds. This year's RBBS featured the HPR National
Championship (with J/125s in the mix), the J/120 North American
Championship, a great J/105 fleet and the exciting debut of the J/70
one-design class.A dedicated spectator-friendly race track was setup for the J/70s. And, as promised by Norm Davant, RBBS Regatta Chairman, it fulfilled the “fast, exciting, racing along essentially the same track as the America’s Cup race courses, with the starts and finishes in front of St Francis YC and major viewing areas.”
Recognized as one of the premier West Coast regattas, the Rolex Big Boat attracts professional and corinthian sailors from around the world. The four day regatta provided the 100+ boats just about every weather condition possible within the "classic" SF Bay westerly sea-breeze. Every day started at the light end of the range, 8-12 kts from the West with very little fog and slowly built to the expected 12-20 kts from the WSW each day at the sunny end of the range. It was idyllic, gorgeous sailing most of the time for everyone.
Thursday's sailing kicked off with two races in light to moderate breezes and a strong flood tide that kept the sailing teams in working hard to outwit each other. New this year were first-place trophies for daily races and "Boat of the Day" awards. The J/70 LITTLE HAND, owned by Frank Slootman of Pleasanton, Calif. won the latter award for the first day.
Friday's sailing started off with a one-hour postponement ashore, followed by another hour of waiting on San Francisco Bay-- neither dashed spirits nor inhibited competition for the sailors. In fact, just as it did yesterday, the wind faithfully filled in as a westerly—light at first but packing the same punch, at 18-20 knots, by the end of the day— to overpower the morning easterly and accommodate two races for everyone. In the J/70s, a second set of three races was added to three races from yesterday and began to tell a story of “consistency pays off.”
“You’ve
got to be in the right place with full speed and clear air,” said St
Francis Yacht Club Commodore Jim Cascino, who skippers the J/70 EOS,
currently leading their class. “If you do that, as we were fortunate
enough to do over these two days, it makes a big difference.”Sailing on Cascino’s four-person crew was
Stu Johnstone, whose family developed the J/Boat line of boats (there
are 40 total sailing here, the majority in one-design classes and the
others in HPR and IRC) and this latest class, which has become wildly
popular in the short year and a half since its launching. His
description of the EOS team’s “little scare” in today’s second race,
when the team rounded a mark the wrong way, captured the excitement and
variety built into the design of multiple race courses used here.“We started in front of Alcatraz Island and beat all the way up to the Sausalito side of the Bay towards the Golden Gate, and then took off on a screaming plane, reaching, then running all the way down to Treasure Island,” said Johnstone, explaining an approximately eight-mile race that took about an hour and a half to complete. “That was where we rounded the mark first and saw the entire fleet round the other way on starboard, so we went around and corrected ourselves. We were last at the bottom mark.”
The EOS team fought back to second by playing the famous “current cone” alongside Alcatraz and then screaming along the waterfront downwind off of Crissy Field to catch boats. “We hung in there, and then we had this crazy jibing duel back and forth to the finish (off the race deck at St. Francis Yacht Club).”
Saturday's racing was simply classic SF Bay sailing. As 22 J/105s came running down San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge rising from behind their colorful spinnakers, other boats sailed upwind toward them in a freshening 8-12 knot westerly that enabled the fleets to comfortably negotiate the current and wind for optimum speed. It was the third glittering day of sailing for the fleets. Jim Cascino’s EOS maintained their lead the J/70 class. In fact, Commodore Cascino's J/70 EOS was named Boat of the Day on Saturday.
For Sunday's traditional “Bay Tour” finale— the single long race that wraps up each class’s series and determines final winners— the fleet’s final push to the finish was tame in comparison to previous days when boat speeds were jacked up by brisk breezes and a strong flood tide, but the end result was all that mattered.
In
the J/70's, St. Francis Yacht Club Commodore Jim Cascino won half of
his eight races to win their class, but only after winning a tie-breaker
in overall scoring with Frank Slootman’s (Pleasanton, Calif.) LITTLE
HAND sailing with trimmer/ tactician Bill Erkelens (manager of Larry
Ellison's SAYONARA offshore program). Taking third for the regatta were
Mark & Cameron Howe on RED. The J/70 fleet were not without their
mishaps interpreting how to sail the race course and navigating certain
race amendments. In the fourth race, Cascino's team was winning and
rounded the leeward mark the wrong way, self-correcting the rounding
incorrectly, still finishing 2nd in the race, but having to withdraw for
re-rounding incorrectly (got it?-- it's called "the string theory").
In the final "around SF Bay tour" race on Sunday, Cascino's team was
winning again by a significant margin but rounded the leeward mark as a
"mark", not as a "gate", as did most of the rest of the fleet--
consequently retiring again! Lessons learned? Navigators are important
on J/70s if sailing in San Francisco Bay-- bring the GPS!In the end, another memorable Rolex Big Boat Series, punctuated by the "beer girls" serving local micro-brewery brews every evening as each team docked their boats, full trays of beers in hand for every member of the crew! And, who can forget "breakfast" served each morning at the head of the dock ramp, with fresh-made coffee, eggs cooked to your liking, fresh pastries and other sundries. The sponsor's Rolex and their partners Mt Gay Rum and the St Francis YC team ashore did a masterful job of ensuring all crews were happily taken care of in every way possible-- kudo's to Commodore Jim Cascino and the entire StFYC crew! Time for a day off, one would presume before next weekend's infamous "Stag Cruise" to Tinsley Island in the Delta!?
Sailing photo credits- Rolex/ Daniel Forster. For daily video recaps by T2P-TV with the famously gorgeous rockstar Annie Gardner. For more Rolex Big Boat Series sailing information
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