Carnage At Rolex Big Boat in San Francisco - Day 3

The sailors competing at the Rolex Big Boat Series knew they were in for another wild ride today  when the arrived the St. Francis Yacht Club this morning and it was blowing 20-25 knots. Gusts neared 28 before the start of the first race at 11 a.m and there was going to be blood.

Blackhawk before it all went pear shaped Photo: Rolex/Daniel Forster

The day's first victim was Blackhawk who was t-boned after a classic port/starboard crossing went awry. Leading the 21-boat J/105 fleet going into today skipper Scooter Simmons wasn't expecting to limp back to the dock with a port-side gash in his boat's hull topped by a tumble of stanchions.

“Whisper was on port and looked to be ducking us, but I guess his mainsheet got stuck or something and he couldn’t avoid hitting us,” said Simmons.

“Our goal is to seek redress for both of today’s races and get this fixed before tomorrow.”

RIO Photo: Rolex/Daniel Forster

Redress was later granted, and Blackhawk added a 2-2 to its score, having turned in finish positions of 4-1-2-1 over the last two days. The team still sits atop the scoreboard with Risk in second, a full 12 points behind.

Expeditious suffered from a horrific spinnaker broach in race one and had to call it a day.

Eight Ball Photo: Rolex/Daniel Forster

“Golden Moon and Blade Runner both crashed in front of us so we passed them and were in first and thought, ‘if we could just hang on’, ” said crew member Rhim Fleischman.

But they didn’t, and when the boom hit the water, Expeditious almost pitch-poled. By the time the crew got sorted, there was no time left to avoid running aground just yards away from the observation decks at the St. Francis Yacht Club. To make matters worse, a spinnaker sheet wrapped around the propeller when the decision was make to start the engine. Golden Moon went on to finish 1-2 for the day and maintain her lead from yesterday while Blade Runner posted a 2-1 to move into second. Expeditious fell to third scoring a DNF for both races.

Mayhem and Vesper Photo: Rolex/Daniel Forster

Having an awesome day in the IRC A class was Jim Swartz, Owner/Skipper of the IRC 52 Vesper who racked up two wins from two starts and nudged out his two closest rivals, Powerplay and Mayhem. Leading at the top mark in both races took some pressure off but having five 52s in the divisions kept the racing tight and exciting.

IRC A start off the Bay Bridge Photo: Rolex/Daniel Forster 

“It has been a fun regatta,” Swartz said. “I’m just blessed with this awesome crew, and we didn’t break anything. We talked a lot about preserving assets and taking it easy, that was of incredible importance. It has been like one-design racing. The rating differences are very slight.”

Double Trouble Photo: Rolex/Daniel Forster

Despite the carnage on the Bay, Double Trouble racked up another perfect 1-1 score today to continue leading the IRC C class. Eight Ball maintained its lead in the Farr 30 class with finishes of 3-2, as did  TNT in IRC B, with a 2-2, and Chance in J/120 class, with a 1-3.

RESULTS – Day 3

IRC A (IRC - 8 Boats)
1. Vesper, TP 52 52, Jim Swartz , Park City, UT, USA - 1, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, ; 9
2. PowerPlay, TP 52 52, Peter Cunningham , George Town, Grand Cayman, CAY - 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 2, ; 13
3. Mayhem, TP 52 52, Ashley Wolfe , Calgary, AB, CAN - 2, 1, 3, 2, 4, 3, ; 15

IRC B (IRC - 9 Boats)
1. TNT, Custom Tripp 43 43, Brad Copper , Pt. Richmond, CA, USA - 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, ; 9
2. Swiftsure ll, Sloop 54, Sy Kleinman , Saratoga, CA, USA - 2, 1, 5, 2, 1, 1, ; 12
3. BustinLoose, Sydney 38 38'6, Jeff Pulford , Salinas, Ca, USA - 3, 4, 2, 4, 3, 3, ; 19

IRC C (IRC - 8 Boats)
1. Double Trouble, J 125 41, Andy Costello , Pt Richmond, CA, USA - 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ; 6
2. Resolute, J 125 41, Tim Fuller , Murrieta, CA, USA - 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, ; 15
3. Timeshaver, J 125 41, Viggo Torbensen , Laguna Beach, CA, USA - 3, 2, 4, 5, 3, 4, ; 21

IRC D (IRC - 8 Boats)
1. Dayenu, J 120 40, Donald Payan , Hillsborough, CA, USA - 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, ; 8
2. Tupelo Honey, Elan 40 40, Gerard Sheridan , San Francisco, CA, USA - 3, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1, ; 16
3. Mirthmaker, Archambault A35 35, Douglas Holm / Kirk Denebeim , Corte Madera, CA, USA - 2, 2, 1, 2, 9/DSQ, 4, ; 20

J 105 (One Design - 21 Boats)
1. Blackhawk, J 105 34.5, Scooter Simmons , Belvedere, CA, USA - 4, 1, 2, 1, 2/RDG, 2/RDG, ; 12
2. Risk, J 105 34.5, Jason Woodley / Scott Whitney , Tiburon, CA, USA - 7, 3, 8, 2, 3, 1, ; 24
3. Godot, J 105 34.5, Phillip Laby , San Francisco, CA, USA - 8, 6, 5, 6, 2, 4, ; 31

J 120 (One Design - 7 Boats)
1. Chance, J 120 40, Barry Lewis , Atherton, CA, USA - 3, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, ; 10
2. Mr. Magoo, J 120 40, Stephen Madeira , Menlo Park, CA, USA - 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, ; 15
3. Peregrine, J 120 40, David Halliwill , New York, NY, USA - 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 1, ; 18

Express 37 (One Design - 9 Boats)
1. Golden Moon, Express 37 37, Kame Richards , Alameda, CA, USA - 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, ; 8
2. Blade Runner, Express 37 37, Michael Shlens , Palos Verdes Est., CA, USA - 4, 3, 4, 2, 2, 1, ; 16
3. Expeditious, Express 37 37, Bartz Schneider , Crystal Bay, NV, USA - 2, 1, 3, 3, 10/DNF, 10/DNF, ; 29

Farr 30 (One Design - 12 Boats)
1. Eight Ball, Farr 30 30, Scott Easom , San Rafael, CA, USA - 2, 4, 1, 5, 2, 3, 2, ; 19
2. Barking Mad, Farr 30 30, James Richardson , Boston, MA, USA - 3, 1, 5, 3, 4, 2, 3, ; 21
3. Groovederci, Farr 30 30, Deneen Demourkas , Santa Barbara, CA, USA - 7, 8, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, ; 22

Lulu Roseman