Last weekend, fifty J/boats descended upon the St. Francis Yacht Club to go head to head in two days of fantastic racing during the annual J/Fest Regatta on San Francisco Bay. This long-standing annual regatta draws top competition in multiple J/Boat one-design classes, including the burgeoning J/111 and J/70 classes.

In many ways, this regatta doubles as a warm-up for the J/boat regattas of the season. May marks the J/24s Nationals on the Bay. In July, the J/70s will host their PCCs at the St. Francis Yacht Club. In September the J/105s return to host their North Americans in conjunction with the annual Rolex Big Boat Series.

The J/Fest Race Committee, with PRO Julie Wiard and Chief Umpire Grant Baldwin, ran three races on Saturday and two races on Sunday. Racing took place on two courses along City Front: a longer (1 to 1.5 miles) course for the J/105s, J/111s and J/120s; and a shorter (.75 to 1.25 mile) course for the smaller boats (J/24 and J/70s). Breeze blew steadily from the west and southwest. Races each day began in a flood tide, which switched to ebb by day’s end.

Top Finishers
J/24 – TMC Racing, Michael Whitfield
J/70 – IFA, Scott Sellers
J/105 – Gadot, Phillip Laby
J/111 – MADMEN, Dorian McKelvy
J/120 – Chance, Barry Lewis

Photos by Erik Simonson