ROLEX BIG BOAT SERIES NEWS


Daily Debrief: Day 3

Information in this debrief is based on provisional results found at http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=1308. Final results are subject to change.

Heat

Spectators were decked out in shorts and sundresses today at the St. Francis Yacht Club as temps reached 81 degrees on the City Front. What was good for watching was bad for starting on time for the Race Committee, who delayed the start of the first race from 1100 to 1400. The Bay didn’t fail RBBS though, delivering a late-afternoon westerly as predicted, starting around six knots and topping out around ten. With the very late start, the StFYC race managers decided to run only a single lengthy race, rather than attempt two shorter ones as was called for in the schedule.

Breakouts

Slightly less consistent conditions today opened the doors for new faces at the top of many of the fleets today:

  • Donald Payan’s Kernan 44 VOLPE scored its first win in the HPR class after previously finishing no better than fourth.
  • Peter Wagner’s J/111 Skeleton Key finally led across the finish line, staying one point behind Madmen and two points behind Aeolus overall.
  • Duane Yoslov’s Melges 24 Looper took her first bullet today after twice finishing second. Wilco finished fifth but remains three points ahead, in the lead.
  • Richard Courcier’s Farr 36 OD Wicked Sister got her first gun and the win on corrected time in PHRF Sportboat to pull into second, now tied with Courageous.
  • Jeff Pulford’s Sydney 38 BustinLoose closed the points gap significantly with her first win in ORR C.

Five Rounds With Jose Cuervo

The leader of the J/105 North American Championship coming into today was Shawn Bennett’s Jose Cuervo, with a score of 4-1-1-1. In Race 5, JC found herself back in the second tier early on, passing Alcatraz in fourth, but continuously made gains throughout the race, picking off boats on each leg and eventually taking the gun to ensure a ten-point lead going into the final day.

Pressure

With hot weather forecasted for the final day of racing, it’s possible that tonight’s standings will indeed be the final standings, but should a final race be sailed, the game will change for a few boats vying for hardware:

In the J/120 class, Peregrine leads Chance by only one point, with all other competitors out of contention for the win. For Chance to win, she will need to either win the race or put a boat between the pair, or both. This presents the possibility of a match race before the start and will guarantee that neither boat’s crew will take their eyes off the other.

Similarly, both the Express 37 and ORR B classes have two boats vying for the win in close contention: Eclipse and Golden Moon in the Express 37 class and Swiftsure and Boomerang in ORR B, though the tactics in the latter may be more complex due to corrected time.

Racing, or quite possibly waiting, begins at 1100. Watches will be awarded in the late afternoon.