Please select your home edition
Edition
Musto 2023 Hikers LEADERBOARD
Product Feature
RS700
RS700

Rolex Big Boat Series at San Francisco - Day 1

by Rolex Media Centre 11 Sep 2009 11:37 BST 10-13 September 2009

In Italian, the word Vincitore means 'the winner' so Jim Mitchell and his multi-national crew took the theme to heart by winning both races in IRC A class on the opening day of the Rolex Big Boat Series. Over 1,000 sailors on 97 boats in 11 classes are competing through Sunday, September 13. "I wouldn't miss this regatta for anything," said Mitchell, who grew up in Chicago but now calls Zurich (SUI) his home. "It was one of our crew's birthdays yesterday, Dallas Kilponen, and I think our two bullets are the best present we can give him." All of the IRC class leaders - Kjeld Hestehave's Velos (Richmond, Calif.), Daniel Woolery's King 40 Soozal (Alamo, Calif.) and Gerard Sheridan's Elan 40 Tupelo Honey - joined the two-bullet club today, in the IRC B, IRC C and IRC D classes, respectively. All four divisions of IRC handicap-rated boats also are competing for the Rolex US-IRC National Championship.

The other two groups vying for national championships are the Express 37 and Melges 32 classes. For Burt Benrud, this is not only his first Rolex Big Boat Series but also his first season in the Grand-Prix one-design class. "This is our first big outing and we could have not picked a better location," he said. Benrud, with co-owner Andy Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and crew on the Melges 32 Rougarou, won the day's first race, took a second in the second and now sit in first overall in the six-boat class. "We are sailing under the Southern Yacht Club flag, and we are very proud to be able to represent our hometown." Don Jesberg (Mill Valley, Calif.), the recent winner of the class's North American championship, is in second place overall on his Viva, followed by Stephen Pugh's Taboo (Sausalito, Calif.).

"We actually had our first Express 37 National Championship regatta in 1986," said Bartz Schneider, the class fleet captain and president, and skipper of Expeditious, currently in fourth place overall. "This is our 20th national championship at the St. Francis. In 1990 we had our first National Championship as part of the Big Boat Series, and except for 2001, we have had it as part of the regatta every year." Leading the nine-boat class is Kame Richards' (Alameda, Calif.) Golden Moon, with Elan, owned by Bill Reiss (Oakland, Calif.), in third. Schneider summed up the fleet leaders: "Golden Moon will be tough, with Bay tide guru Kame Richards at the helm. Elan will be very competitive. And Blade Runner (Mick Schlens, Los Angeles, Calif.), with their name already on the trophy several times, is always a possible threat."

The largest one-design fleet is the J/105 class with 25 boats. Returning champion Donkey Jack, owned by Robert Conrads (San Francisco), took 13-6 in two races and is now eighth overall. Bruce Stone's Arbitrage won the day's first race, while Adam & Guillemette Spiegel's Jam Session won the second, putting them into second overall behind class leader, Jeff Litfin & John Case's Mojo.

While many of the competing boats are from the Bay Area and California, some hail from ports across the US and abroad. Lorenzo Berho and his J/145 Raincloud hail from Mexico City, Mexico and are in sixth overall in IRC B. "Raincloud is a Mexican family and friends boat that has changed our lives, and also has helped us fulfill several dreams," said Berho, who only started sailing five years ago. "We had a great experience in last year's Rolex Big Boat Series that we decided to come back in spite of the difficult economic times, and for most of us that means traveling from Mexico City. The organizers are great and the competing boats are really friendly. Last year we got fourth place in our fleet so we would love to get a third place this year. We know that most of the fleet is very competitive and there are many experienced sailors with local knowledge. I am turning 50 years old on September 15, so I chose this regatta as my birthday present. There is nothing better than sailing with my family and best friends in the most outstanding Bay of the world."

Jim Mitchell is another perfect example of the international aspect present here in San Francisco for racing. Now living in Switzerland, he launched Vincitore a year and half ago in New Zealand and when asked about his international crew - New Zealand's Chris Dickson and Simon Minoprio among them - considering that many of the other entries in the race are locals, he quickly said, "Not us, we're like the United Nations!"

When asked what makes him come back each year to San Francisco for the Rolex Big Boat Series, Jim said, "It's just so much fun, the competition is great, you have the city, the weather- it's always windy, constant wind. I really wanted to bring my boat to Europe and sail some races over there," he continued, "but I want to sail with family and the guys from New Zealand like sailing in Chicago, San Francisco and the Caribbean. Bringing the boat here is just so fantastic and I'm glad to be here."

Highlighting a number of regatta improvements, host St. Francis Yacht Club unveiled a new event website www.big-boat-series.com where fans around the world can go to view live video from the club's web cam, photos from official event photographer Daniel Forster and real-time GPS tracking in the IRC fleet. Compliments of Rolex, daily highlights videos produced by T2P will be available on the event website.

This evening competitors celebrated the first day of racing at the Rolex Party where the first daily video was shown. The regatta ends with Sunday's final Rolex Trophy Ceremony where specially engraved Rolex timepieces will be awarded to the St. Francis Yacht Club's six Perpetual Trophy winners.

Regarded by sailors as one of the world's premier sailboat racing events, Rolex Big Boat Series is part of the Rolex Yachting Portfolio that includes over 20 world-class sailing events that take place around the world including the Rolex Miami OCR, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Rolex Fastnet Race, Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex, Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Related Articles

StFYC repeats as Women's 2v2 Team Race Champs
Being the captain for competitive adult team sport is often a thankless task Being the captain for competitive adult team sport is often a thankless task involving a lot of emails, texts and phone calls to coordinate a group of busy people with multiple conflicting priorities. Posted on 19 May
Excellent condition at Sailing League Championship
Ethan Doyle and San Francisco Yacht Club Team qualify for finals in Kiel, Germany St. Francis YC hosted the second year of the US Sailing League West Coast Championship, an offshoot of the SAILING Champions League, an international high-level club vs. club fleet racing circuit that's been held in Europe and Australia since 2014. Posted on 6 May
Gorgeous sunny Spring Fest on San Francisco Bay
OIne-design fleets of J/24s, J/88s, and J/105s go racing The battle-hardened, hard-core sailors of San Francisco Bay, accustomed to the worst their Bay can dish out, were pleasantly surprised to contend with a very sybaritic weekend of sunny weather and light to moderate wind conditions! Posted on 21 Apr
2025 US Wingfoil Championship registration open
The National Championship set to take place at St. Francis Yacht Club St. Francis Yacht Club and US Sailing have opened registration for the second annual US Wingfoil Championship, to be held in San Francisco, California, June 20-22, 2025. Posted on 14 Apr
Nicole Breault wins California Dreamin' Series
LBYC's Shane Young wins overall series for invitation to 2026 Ficker Cup Long Beach Yacht Club Commodore Lisa Meier awarded the Barney Flam Perpetual Trophy on Sunday to Nicole Breault from the St. Francis Yacht Club for her first-place finish in LBYC's final stop of the 2025 California Dreamin' Series. Posted on 9 Apr
Registration open for 2025 Rolex Big Boat Series
This legendary regatta rewards the best in West Coast racing The Notice of Race is posted and registration is open for the 61st edition of Rolex Big Boat Series, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club. Posted on 27 Feb
St. Francis YC announces 2025 Regatta Season
With national and world championships in multiple classes St. Francis Yacht Club, one of the world's premier sailing venues, has announced its action-packed 2025 regatta season. Posted on 22 Jan
2025 California Dreamin' Match Race Series Preview
Four stops planned at West Coast, a path to qualify for Ficker Cup and Congressional Cup Four stops planned at West Coast yacht clubs and a path to qualify for Ficker Cup and Congressional Cup. Posted on 22 Nov 2024
Relive the action of 2024 Rolex Big Boat Series
Mark your calendars for September 10-14, 2025! Sixty years, one excellent regatta! Take a moment to watch a recap video from the 2024 Rolex Big Boat Series, and mark your calendars for next year. We look forward to seeing you on the water September 10-14, 2025, at St. Francis Yacht Club! Posted on 18 Oct 2024
Awesome, epic Rolex Big Boat Series!
J/Teams sweep top five- ORC C Division! One of the best sailboat racing venues in the world, the iconic San Francisco Bay, lived up to its reputation for the 60th edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series at St. Francis Yacht Club, September 11th to 15th, 2024. Posted on 22 Sep 2024