Maxi boat show down

Dana Paxton previews this week's action at the Rolex Big Boat Series

After four decades of superlative competition on the San Francisco Bay, organizers of the Rolex Big Boat Series expect this year’s regatta to set a few new milestones for the historic event known to many sailors as the 'granddaddy of big boat racing". To date, there are 32 entries in the IRC fleet and a diverse fleet of one-designs that make up the 100+ boat roster competing for six historic Perpetual Trophies. At the conclusion of the four-day regatta, specially engraved Rolex timepieces also will be awarded to the perpetual trophy winners. Racing takes place September 15-18 and is hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC).

The St Francis Yacht Club has been busily preparing for the fleet which includes a handful of really big boats, including Genuine Risk, the Dubois 90 owned by Randall Pitman; Peligroso, the Dencho 70 owned by Mike Campbell and Dale Williams, Morning Glory, the maxZ86 owned by Hasso Platner with Russell Coutts and Morgan Larson sharing tactician duties; and the R/P 72 Beecom, owned by Japan's Isao Mita with Gavin Brady serving as an alternate helmsman. Beecom was built in New Zealand in 2004 and has made a name for itself in the Bay of Islands Race Week (NZ), the Coastal Cup and the Centennial Transpac Race.

Following tradition, the J/105 class is the largest fleet with 28 entries, to date. Stuart Taylor, the San Francisco’s fleet captain summarized the competition: "The Perkins/Wilson team on Good Timin’ remains the boat to beat in the fleet, however the competition is getting tougher," he said. "Tim Russell on Aquavit has been barking at their heels all season, and Scott Sellers will be driving a new boat to the fleet this year, Donkey Jack. And the fleet welcomes the return of Bergman and Bennett in Zuni Bear, Dean Dietrich’s Blackhawk and Peter Wagner's Nantucket Sleighride - absent from local competition for much of the year.

The J/105 fleet is the largest one design keelboat class on the bay. One of the keys to the class’s success is a strict owner-driver rule, the absence of professionals in the fleet and a focus on skills rather than dollars.

Coveted prizes for the fleet are six perpetual trophies: Richard Rheem, St. Francis, City of San Francisco, Atlantic, Keefe-Kilborn Memorial and the Commodore’s Cup.

Racing takes place on San Francisco Bay within viewing range of Pier 39 and the Marina District, between Treasure Island and the Golden Gate Bridge, with the finish line set off the St. Francis Yacht Club Race Deck. The IRC division will have the racecourse option of going "outside" the Golden Gate Bridge.

IRC entrants:

Boat	Type	Owner	Skipper
Acabar	45ft	JY Lendormy	JB Duler
Astra	Farr 40	Mary Coleman	Mary Coleman
Beecom	R/P 72	Isao Mita	Isao Mita
Bodacious	One Tonner	John Clauser	John Clauser
City Lights	SC 52	Tom Sanborn	Tom Sanborn
Current Obsession	J/109	Gary Mozer	Gary Mozer
El Jefe	Beneteau 36.7	Richard M. Green	Richard M. Green
Flash	TP 52	Mark Jones	Dick Watts
Genuine Risk	Dubois 90	Randall Pittman	Randall Pitman
Infrared	Davidson 44	Ray & Bonnie Lopez	Ray & Bonnie Lopez
Inspired Environments	Beneteau 40.7	Tim Ballard	Tim Ballard
Jeannette	One Tonner Frers	Henry King	Henry King
Josie	Dehler 39	Don Sellers	Don Sellers
Just In Time	First 42.7	Norman Olson	Norman Olson
Knots 2	J/109	John Notman	John Notman
Lightening	Santa Cruz 52	Thomas B. Akin	Thomas B. Akin
Marda Gras	SC 52	Shef Phelps & Marda Phelps	Marda Phelps
Mistral	Beneteau 36.7	Ed Durbin	Ed Durbin
Moneypenny	Swan 60	Jim & Susan Swartz	Jim Swartz
Morpheus		Jim Gregory	Jim Gregory
Pegasus 52	TP 52	Philippe Kahn	Philippe Kahn
Peligroso	70ft	Mike/Campbell/Dale Williams	Dale Williams/ Mike Campbell
Pendragon 4	TP 52	John Maclaurin	John Maclaurin
Phantom Mist	Beneteau 40.7	Gary Massari	Gary Massari
Scorpio	Wylie 42	John Siegel	John Siegel
Serendipity 2	Beneteau 36.7	Thomas Bruce	Thomas Bruce
Staghound		Alec Oberschmidt	Alec Oberschmidt
Surprise		Steve Chamberlin	Steve Chamberlin
Swiftsure II	Schumacher 54	Sy Kleinman	Sy Kleinman
Tupelo Honey	Elan 40	Gerard Sheridan	Gerard Sheridan
White Dove	Beneteau 40.7	Mike Garl	Mike Garl
Who's Yo Daddy		Dave Fell	Fracker/McCabe
Zamazaan	52ft	Charles Weghorn	Charles Weghorn
Zephyra	DK46	Robert Youngjohns	Robert Youngjohns