2025 Rolex Big Boat Series Recap
The 2025 Rolex Big Boat Series (RBBS) was sailed between September 11 and 14 at the St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC), the 61st edition of perhaps one of the most anticipated annual events on the Bay Area’s racing calendar.
While the wind steadily built throughout last year’s RBBS, culminating with a Sunday Bay tour that saw gusts in the high 30s, this year’s Big Boat Series was much more of a light-wind affair. Thursday’s racing saw breeze around 10 knots for most of the day, building into the low teens during the Bay-tour race. Friday was even weirder, with the buoy race sailed in well under 10 knots of breeze that once again only built into the mid-teens. Both Thursday and Friday’s racing was almost exclusively in flood. With the light wind and adverse current, upwinds were long wars of attrition, where patience and focus were paramount.
Saturday and Sunday saw more classic Big Boat Series conditions, with breeze starting in the mid-teens and then building to around 20 knots. Both days saw early ebb building into flood during the Bay-tour races.
This year’s Big Boat Series featured only six classes, as opposed to last year’s seven. The Classics division didn’t make an appearance. While this was disappointing, and the Classics division hopes to make a comeback in next year’s edition, it also opened up the Cityfront course for the ORC and one-design fleets.
The regatta featured three one-design fleets (J/105, J/88 and Express 37) and three ORC fleets (A, B, and C). The race committee used two starting areas: a Treasure Island starting line and an Alcatraz starting line. Each fleet sailed seven races across the four days, with one-design and ORC fleets alternating who was at each starting area each day. The one designs started the regatta at the Treasure Island line on Thursday with the ORC fleets at Alcatraz, and then alternated throughout the regatta.
In addition to all of the on-water action, the usual off-water festivities that come with Big Boat Series were in full swing, highlighted by the Friday night Mount Gay Rum Party.
Read the full story and see more photos in the October issue.