San Francisco Big Boats Series

See photos of the Rolex Big Boats Series at:
http://visionnautica.smugmug.com

September 13-16, 2007

In the end, six skippers were awarded the St. Francis Yacht Club's six Perpetual
Trophies and also presented with Rolex Steel Submariner timepieces in recognition of their achievements.

The St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, dedicated in 1964, is the only one that
does not rotate among the classes each year. It was deeded to the premier
handicap division, the IRC A class in this 43rd annual regatta. Samba Pa
Ti, the new TP52 owned by John Kilroy (Los Angeles, Calif.) won the
five-boat division.

In the IRC B class, Lani Spund (Los Gatos, Calif.) and his SC52 Kokopelli2
won the City of San Francisco Trophy. Kokopelli2 won the last race and earned the one point needed to break its tie with second-place
Rancho Deluxe, the Swan 45 owned by Michael Diepenbrock (Sacramento, Calif.).

The Richard Rheem Perpetual Trophy, went to Expeditious, in the Express 37 class.

Dave Kirby (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) on his J/122 TKO won the Keefe-Kilborn
Memorial Trophy awarded to the leader of the IRC C class.

The newest Perpetual Trophy is the Commodore's Cup, established in 2004 to
be awarded to the largest one-design fleet. Chris Perkins (San Francisco)
won the 34-boat J/105 class on his Good Timin.

The 2008 Rolex Big Boat Series will be held September 11-14 at the St.
Francis Yacht Club.

Prada not to compete in the 33rd America's Cup

After ten years and three campaigns, PRADA has decided not to compete in
the 33rd America's Cup, which will be held in Valencia in 2009.

Participation in the next America's Cup was carefully analyzed, and while
significant human and financial resources are already available, it was
decided that, after three campaigns, a cycle had come to an end.

Patrizio Bertelli declared: "We challenged in three campaigns of the
America's Cup and we had ten very intense years. It has been an
unforgettable experience, both from a sports and human perspective. I want
to thank the team, the Telecom Italia Group, Intesa Sanpaolo, the other sponsors
and the Yacht Club Italiano who have constantly and enthusiastically supported us.
From a corporate standpoint, participating in these three campaigns has allowed us
to acquire and develop precious skills, experience, and visibility for our Group.
I hope that another Italian team will be able to compete in the next edition and to
keep Italy at the top of the game in the America's Cup." 

44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii.

Sailing World

And so Hollywood came to Hawaii, or so it seemed Thursday as Roy E. Disney's Morning Light project reached its climax when the Transpac 52 of the same name sailed by its crew of sailors ages 18 to 23 finished the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii.

The year-long documentary from crew selection through the race is scheduled to hit the big screen next spring, but who will believe the ending was for real? Sunrise was at 6:03 a.m. and Morning Light finished at 6:09 a.m. against a flaming orange backdrop of the eastern sky on a nautical set that even Tinsel Town wouldn't believe.

'Honest, only God could do this at the finish,' Disney said. 'He clearly understood the title of the movie.'

It hardly seemed to matter that another TP52, John Kilroy Jr.'s Samba Pa Ti, had finished in the dark more than four hours earlier to leapfrog Brack Duker's Santa Cruz 70 Holua, the Division 2 frontrunner, for first place in the division, leaving Morning Light in third.

The younger sailors felt no disappointment---'None whatsoever,' said Charlie Enright, 22, of Providence, R.I.---and were happy just to have been in the hunt almost to the end.

Piet van Os, 23, of La Jolla, Calif., who teamed with Chris Branning, 21, of Sarasota, Fla., as navigators, said, Van Os, 'The fact that we feel good is an understatement.'

At Friday night's awards dinner they will share the podium with two strong teams of professionals, including world-class navigators Mark Rudiger on Holua and Nick White, who made the gutsy call that brought Samba Pa Ti a roundabout win. Holua finished less than an hour behind Morning Light, which owed it about 3 1/2 hours in handicap time.

Other finishers Thursday included, alphabetically, Denali, Enchilado, Hugo Boss II, Narrow Escape, Pegasus 101, Relentless, Skylark, Tabasco, Tango and Westerly. Twenty of the 732 starters remained at see as this was written. Five had dropped out. >more