The Farr 30 Class is making a comeback. This year they signed up to sail their World Championship as part of this year's Rolex Big Boat Series hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club on San Francisco Bay.
They signed up twelve boats from North America and Europe to come to the regatta based on what a great event the Big Boat Series always is. It's a prestigious event and every year sailors who know the Bay look forward to September. The strong winds and fog have mostly gone away and in their place there's sun and moderate breezes.
Not this year. The temperatures were chilly and the winds were rarely below 20k. That's a handful in a 30 foot boat and the sailors got a firsthand look at just what the Bay can dish out. It wasn't survival conditions, but it certainly put a premium on good boat handling skills.
You'll see some great downwind rides here: boats running through chop with spray flying and the front third of the hull hanging over the top of the next wave. There's also the requisite amount of carnage - sails so wrapped the only way to untangle it is with a knife.
American Deneen Demourkas, the Class president, won the regatta by sailing a really spectacular final day, beating out local Scott Easam who had led the regatta for the first three days and Jim Richardson (USA) who jumped into the Class because the boats are so much fun and of course they have the owner driver rule in place.
