NIUHI Dominates J/105s at Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta
(San Francisco, CA)- This past weekend, the St Francis Yacht Club held its annual summer classic on San Francisco Bay in the windiest month of the season- August! Known as the Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta, one-design fleets of J/105s and J/88s enjoyed the breezy, sunny days on chilly waters (55 F), blasting around the race track with the Golden Gate Bridge and the infamous Alcatraz Island serving as iconic backgrounds to the canvas of white sails floating across the white-capped bay waters. In addition, an ORC handicap division also enjoyed the spectacular weekend of sailing. Here’s how it all went down for the two-day regatta.
J/105 Class
With yet another huge fleet of boats, the twenty-three teams fought like rabid dogs at every start, every windward leg, and every mark rounding to get that very slight edge that would determine winning and losing a pack of boats. Not surprisingly, the most rabid team of all was Randy Hecht’s NIUHI crew on USA 27. To say the least, they sailed an impeccable series in the highly competitive J/105 class, posting a remarkable 2-2-4-1-1-3 tally for 13 pts total, 21 pts clear of the next team on the podium! WOWOW!
A past winner of the regatta, Ryan Simmons’s BLACKHAWK could not match the consistency of Hecht’s NIUHI crew. The BLACKHAWK boys took the silver medal with a 3-9-3-6-8-5 scoreline for 34 pts. Then, rounding out the podium was Rolf Kaiser & Justin Oberbauer’s familiar DONKEY JACK team. The DJ gang posted a 6-6-9-8-9-6 for 44 pts total to take the bronze medal.
Rounding out the top five was Tim Russell’s NE*NE in fourth place. They posted a potential regatta-winning record of 1-3-OCS-2-15-2, were it not for two massive “brain fades” taking the OCS and 15th. Fifth place went to Jeff Littfin’s MOJO with 51 pts.
J/88 Class
The half-dozen boat fleet of 88s also seemed to have been treated to a “schooling” on how to get around the race track smart and fast. In the end, Brice Dunwoodie’s RAVENETTE team smoked the fleet, posting all podium finishes and counting only two 1sts and three 2nds for 8 pts net! The balance of the podium included Steven Gordon’s INCONCEIVABLE in second place with a 2-1-3-5-3-3 tally for 12 pts net. Then, winning the duel for the bronze medal was Tom Thayer’s SPEEDWELL with a 4-6-5-2-2-1 tally for 14 pts net. Losing that battle by one point, Dave Corbin’s BUTCHER took fourth place. Logan Ashcraft’s HIJINKS finished in fifth place.
ORC Division- J/Sweep!
Eleven offshore teams enjoyed tight ORC handicap racing on the Bay. In the end, it was a J/Boats sweep of the podium in the gorgeous, windy, breezy conditions. Here are the results below:
1st- John Arens’s J/111 REVERIE with 12 pts net
2nd- David Halliwell’s J/120 PEREGRINE with 13 pts net
3rd- Daniel Brousseau’s J/109 TANGAROA with 13 pts net
4th- Nesrin Basoz’s J/111 SWIFT NESS with 16 pts.
For more Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta sailing information
https://www.stfyc.com/racing