Breeze on for 60th Big Boat Series

Right on cue, San Francisco Bay rolled out the most demanding conditions for sailors at the 2024 Rolex Big Boat Series on September 12-15 in San Francisco, CA. A steady 15-20 knots during the first race continued to build through the 60th edition for the 70 boats competing.

“The weather was tremendous, and we’ve had three great days with a very windy fourth and final day,” noted Chris Perkins, the 2024 Commodore of St. Francis Yacht Club. “Long courses and strong winds are what the event is all about and the clubhouse has been full of spectators watching the racing. It’s been a fantastic regatta and a success on many levels.

“One of the special things about the past 60 years of this event is that it’s attracted some famous yachts from all over the world. We go through cycles where we have 70-footers like Merlin, that come in a group, and then we’ll get 50-footers and this year it was a diversity of boats that came to race under the ORC rating system, which is new for our race management, so we expect the fleet to grow.”

In the 30-strong J/105 class, Ryan Simmons and his long-standing crew on Blackhawk took home a Rolex timepiece to go with his sixth RBBS win and his fourth as skipper, with a significant 11-point delta over second place NeNe, helmed by Tim Russell. Rolf Kaiser and Justin Oberbauer, owners of Donkey Jack, took third.

“While there wasn’t really a defining moment, we did have really good starts and for the most part going the right direction which really worked for us,” said Simmons. “Conditions were exactly what you would expect for Big Boat Series—high teens to low twenties with ebb chop.

“While we may have won by a good margin, it has not taken away from the incredible competition in this fleet. Racing was very tight and very fun. We’ve had a great regatta.”

The second Rolex timepiece was won by Drew Freides racing his Cape 31 Pacific Yankee in the ORC B division, with six bullets over seven races. Chris Sheehan’s Warrior Won Cape 31 was second and Peter Wagner on his J/111 Skeleton Key took third. For Freides, this was his first time sailing RBBS in his own boat, although he has raced the series plenty of times in the past, and he was treated to classic San Francisco Bay conditions.

“The competition was very tough regardless of the margin we won by,” said Freides. “Both of the other Cape 31s are very well sailed. We have been going at it with Warrior Won consistently all summer on the east coast. M2 is well sailed, and Skeleton Key with Peter Wagner and his crew do a really great job.”

In ORC A, racing came down to the wire with just a two-point differential between winner Lucky Duck, Dave MacEwen’s Rogers 46, and Vasara, the custom RP56 owned by Sameer Gandhi and Carlos Badell. Merlin, the Custom Bill Lee 68 owned by Chip Merlin took third.

“Our boat was well-prepared for this regatta,” said MacEwen. “We have a top-notch crew who has sailed over 3,000 miles together this year, so we have lots of time managing the boat in high wind speeds.”

In ORC C, Zach Berkowitz’s J/100 Feather won by a robust 13.5-point delta over Bachannal, a J/133 owned by Ron Epstein. Barry Lewis racing his J/120 Chance finished in third.

“I’m really pleased with our result,” said Berkowitz. “I have put a fair amount of work into the boat this year. We cut the rudder off by four inches, we bought a new jib, put more rake in the mast, added some weight to the boat. It all paid off and the boat is going fast.”

In the J/88 class, Mark Howe’s Split Water took first, a solid five points ahead of Tom Thayer and Robert Milligan’s Speedwell. Third went to Brice Dunwoodie’s Ravenette.

“The combination of shorter windward/leewards in the morning and the Bay tours in the afternoon requires every aspect of tactics, boat handling, sail handling, and, most importantly, endurance,” said Howe. “Crisis management has been key.

“No boat has been without incident, but keeping a cool head and staying focused is important to overcoming challenges. I’m very proud of my crew; they’ve worked hard with heartfelt enthusiasm and stayed flexible and focused even when things went sideways.”

He and his crew were also awarded the Pacific Yacht Club Association’s Jesse L. Carr Perpetual Captain and Crew Trophy, which rewards not just the skipper, but the crew as well, for excellence on the water.

Mark Chaffey and Heidi Hall’s Loca Motion dominated the Express 37 fleet with seven bullets over seven races, finishing 15 points ahead of Bartz Schneider’s Expeditious. Robert Lugliani’s Phat Jack was third. Chaffey has raced RBBS 12 times and made podium twice. He’s thrilled with this regatta’s outcome.

“Once again, Big Boat delivers. We started at the bottom in 2007 and have been working our way up!” said Chaffey. “I love the quality of the racing at this event. Race Committee sets up very challenging courses. They’re long and the racing is difficult. It’s a very challenging series and that’s what we like.”

The Storm Trysail Team Trophy went to the best scoring three-boat team, with one boat from an ORC class, one from a one-design class, and one from any other class. This year’s winners, “Team Hooligans,” comprised of Pacific Yankee, Niuhi and Skeleton Key.

Event information – Race details – Photos

Source: StFYC