ROLEX BIG BOAT SERIES ALL PHOTOS LATITUDE / CHRIS EXCEPT AS NOTED
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t. Francis Yacht Club's Rolex Big Boat Series on September 16-19 had a full bucket: bone-chilling wind, the ubiquitous fog, drizzle, gusts and shifts, blowing mist, calms, sparkling sun, rainbows, puffy clouds, ebb chop and sea spray. It even rained on Saturday night. Although the first race of each day is usually held in lighter wind, Thursday's Race 1 had plenty of pressure, in the low to mid-teens, and it built from there. The windy conditions continued on Friday, taking a toll on spinnakers. As we shivered in the late afternoon breeze at the Mt. Gay Rum Party, Pearl Prisco from the Melges 32 Nuckelavee told us, "It's been wet, with wave after wave washing over us." After two days of teeth-chattering temperatures, Saturday was strangely warm, misty and humid as a weak trough advanced on the Bay Area, and the racers had to wait for the westerly to fill in order to race. After the overnight rain, Sunday dawned bright and blue.
Championship. Frequent winner Golden Moon is up for sale. Bob Walden of the Cal 39 Sea Star chartered Bob Harford's Stewball. Eclipse sailed with an allfemale crew. Loca Motion came up from
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brightly colored plastic wristband to wear for the duration of the event. Masks were required inside the clubhouse, but not outdoors or on the docks. The big parties went ahead but were held in and around
The Express 37 'Limitless' won her division and her class's Pacific Coast Championship.
a big tent set up on what used to be the East Lawn before the drought. Shawn Ivie and Roland Vollmann
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The club adapted to COVID-19, following San Francisco's strict health protocols. They required a one-time proof of vaccination (plus photo ID), in exchange for which visitors received a
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Express 37 PCCs This was the 30th year for the Express 37 one-design at BBS, and the class was competing for their Pacific Coast Below: 'Blackhawk'. Right: Kristin and Ryan Simmons won another Rolex.
Monterey, and Limitless came from Los Angeles. Limitless won four out of seven races and never placed worse than third. Skipper Shawn Ivie credits the win to boat preparation, including addressing any issues that come up, and the goal to have fun. "Part of preparation is checking all your equipment. Then we try to sail as fast as we can. We did a lot of testing down in San Pedro with Blade Runner, one of our competitors. He had planned to come up and
