Images From the Weekend’s Blustery Rolex Big Boat Series
By Christine Weaver | September 16, 2024 | San Francisco, CA | 3
From sunburn Thursday to windburn Sunday, the 60th Rolex Big Boat Series delivered thrill rides aplenty on September 12-15. Hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club, this regatta’s humble origins date back to 1962, when nine boats competed for the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy. This year, 70 boats turned out for a rip-roaring good time, vying for 10 special trophies and two Rolex wristwatches. Organizers set up two starting areas: the North Course and the Treasure Island Course. They used windward marks as far west as Point Diablo, on the ocean side of the Golden Gate Bridge. For one of the in-the-Bay windward marks, they placed a MarkSetBot southeast of Sausalito’s Point Cavallo.
Even this guy was smiling. The Swan 461 Free lost a crew overboard on Saturday afternoon. He climbed onto the Blossom Rock buoy to await rescue from a race committee Protector. That’s Free in the background. And yes, it was windy enough for some boats to reef. The guy who captured this photo, Paul Kamen, was racing aboard Typon.
Speaking of Typon, at Paul’s urging, the Swan 47 flew a blooper on the last run of Day 3. They had rehearsed the old-school sail plan ahead of the regatta.
The J/88s Hijinks and Ravenette battled each other at the finish of Race 6. Both ended up wiping out. After crossing the finish line, Ravenette ran aground. Fortunately, they hit sand and not rocks. Unfortunately for them, it happened right in front of the clubhouse, within view of spectators and the media room. A Protector pulled them off. Hijinks won that particular battle, but Ravenette was able to race on Sunday and claimed third place in their class.
The respective (but very different) courses for ORC A and the Classics in Race 6 took the fastest and biggest boats right through the second leg of the 30-boat J/105 fleet, which had just rounded the windward mark and were reaching off toward Fort Mason. The R/P 52 Vasara led the way in ORC A, threading the needle between the 34-ft J/105s.
In the October issue of Latitude 38, coming out on Tuesday, October 1, we’ll feature photos and success stories from the winners in each division.
The victorious crew of the J/88 Split Water, clockwise from left: Laura Parent, Christian Lenz, Marcos McGee, Peter Cameron, Jenn Virskus and skipper Mark Howe. We caught up with them in StFYC’s Start Line Room while they were celebrating their victory between the final race and the awards ceremony on Sunday.
Update: The sailor in the first picture recorded a video about his off-boat excursion. Yes! he was wearing a life jacket. View the video here. (The image below is a screenshot from the video.)
It was a Star Class all-star and certainly a family affair in San Diego, CA as Austin Sperry and John Kostecki knocked off the Cayard clan to win the event.
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That guy on the mark was wearing a PFD: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1156150379316083?fs=e&mibextid=0NULKw&fs=e&s=TIeQ9V
Is it legal to board a nav buoy?
More legal than hypothermia in the bay.