J/Fest San Francisco Preview
by J/Boats 5 Apr 2019 11:48 BST
6-7 April 2019
2018 J/Fest San Francisco © St. Francis Yacht Club
The annual J/Fest San Francisco is hosting one-design fleets of J/70s, J/105s, and J/111s, hosted by St Francis Yacht Club and hosted on San Francisco Bay.
Given the recent trends for weather patterns, the fleet is hoping for more traditional Bay area weather patterns, with some fog in the morning, but sunny out to the east over the valley to produce the classic westerly sea breezes for the weekend of sailing.
The largest one-design fleet by far is the J/105 class, with twenty-five boats participating off the San Francisco waterfront. A crowded starting line it will be for many of the top "locals" that have won various major events over time. Those J/crews include Adam Spiegel's Jam Session, Jeff Littfin's Mojo, Nicole Breault's Arbitrage, Phil Laby's Godot, Rolf Kaiser's Donky Jack, Ryan Simmons' Blackhawk, and Tim Russell's NE*NE.
The J/111s will have tight racing by some of the top dogs in the Bay area, such as past J/111 World Champion Peter Wagner on Skeleton Key, Dick Swanson's Bad Dog, and Nesrin Basoz's Swift Ness.
Leaders of the eight-boat J/70 class may include Chris Kostanecki's Jennifer, Chris Snow and John Bridgen's Cool Story Bro, Pete Cameron's Kangaroo Jockey, the trio on 1FA (Scott Sellers, Harrison Turner, Geoff McDonald), and Tracy and Christine Usher's Christine Robin Racing.