(San Francisco, CA)- Here’s their latest report from the Bay by Bruce Stone, owner of the J/105 ARBITRAGE:
“The racing season for SF Bay J/105s never stopped last fall as it rolled right into Jeff Zarwell’s monthly RegattaPro Series, with a record turn-out of up to 22 J/105s. The fleet just gained a few new owners and this was their chance to build teams and learn the boat. A few veteran skippers crewed for them and offered coaching, and were even seen forward of the traveler, trimming sails and doing bow!
The fleet now kicks off its regular season schedule on March 5-6 with the St. Francis YC’s Spring One Design. Dave Perry, 5-time US Match Racing Champion and the premier racing rules advisor of our era, has been invited by Fleet #1 to be on-the-water with a video camera, taking notes for dock-side commentary at the end of the day raft-up, and a more thorough presentation at dinner. While attention will no doubt focus on the fleet’s notoriously tight action at starts and mark-roundings, to support the many new members in the fleet and assist the under-achievers, the National J/105 Regatta Committee provided a one-time exemption to its rules so that Dave can approach boats in between races and offer some general advice and tactical pointers. Usually, support boats have to stay away until after racing so as to have a more level playing field, so this is an experiment that will be watched closely by the other J/105 fleets around the country as a potential model for their early season regattas.”
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