San Diego YC Hosts First Hot Rum Series Event
On Saturday, Nov. 8, the San Diego Yacht Club hosted the first of three events in this year’s Hot Rum Series. The series runs through November and December, with the second and third races scheduled for Nov. 22 and Dec. 6. Eight fleets took to the water for the first event, with 110 boats competing. Of these, only 46 finished within the time limit, with the other 64 being scored as TLE [time limit expired].
Fleet 1 was won by Jim Madden’s Swan 601 Stark Raving Mad VII, with Roy Disney’s Andrews 68 Pyewacket finishing second. The two Fleet 1 boats finished first and third in the overall combined scoring, with Shampain and Plant’s Melges 30 Still 2 Crazy taking second overall and the Fleet 5 win.
Rudolph Hasl’s J/145 Palaemon, placed ninth in the overall scoring, and first in Fleet 2. The Fleet 3 winner was Steve Howe’s Melges 32 Warpath, which finished fifth overall. The overall fourth-place finisher was another Fleet 1 boat, James Nicholas’s Cookson 50 Arcturus.
Michael Hatch’s J/105 J Almighty won Fleet 4 and finished 14th overall. The aforementioned Still 2 Crazy won Fleet 5. Dan Merino’s Express 37 Juno won Fleet 6 and finished 12th overall.
Fleet 7 winner and 10th overall finisher was the J/70 Boondoggle, owned by Steve Wyman. The eighth and final fleet was won by Pog Mo Thoin, a Star skippered by Ken Henehan.
The second day of SDYC’s Hot Rum Series is scheduled for this coming Saturday, Nov. 22, with the third and final race scheduled for Dec. 6.
